I know the Jets need help down the middle, but they traded out the most talented guy in the deal, and a solid 3rd liner AND retained salary. Surely they could have done a bit better then this?
- Usually when people say "they could have done better" that just reflects the fact that we don't see what the GMs see. You really think Chevy is dumb and passed on a better player than Dubois?
- The market for Laine was smaller than the market for Dubois. Laine wants to be paid like a superstar and he really isn't one yet. He has superstar talent and has fans like a superstar but he doesn't carry his team. Kind of the opposite at 5v5! Both of the Jets top six lines were better when Wheeler was on them instead of Laine. So GMs are seeing this and seeing his demands, and they know how risky that is. No one is taking him on without gambling on big improvements. I can imagine if not for Dubois' trade request that the return might have been much worse, perhaps only futures packages.
- I'm also guessing here that you're undervaluing Dubois. The analytics folks seem unanimous that Dubois has been the better player over the last two seasons. In the Athletic they said his closest comparable is Barkov when he was that age. I can also see a pre-breakout Getzlaf or Kopitar.
- Both players have a ton of upside left, but the Jackets definitely took on the riskier asset. I tend to think the Jets won this deal, and giving up Roslovic was a concession to that fact, but doesn't actually even it out in any meaningful sense, because Roslovic is worth next to nothing compared to the other two.
