Chiasson is player that needs to be upgraded on, but I'd hope we'd be looking for someone better than Prince, perhaps even a player that plays the same position.
Prince does play RW. He's played it in the AHL for the most part. I think Prince is already better than Chiasson and has potential to be a solid 3rd liner. That's way better than what Chiasson is now.
Prince earned a good long look and proved to be nothing special, not terrible, but not a character or role player for the bottom line and not good enough to push a player out of the top 6-9. now it's Puemple's turn to get a shot at LW and prove his worth. Why in the world would we trade him without giving him the same shot we gave Prince? He has also been a good prospect for us in Bingo. I'd rather see if he pans out than lose him for nothing just to keep Prince.
A good long look? Really? I don't think I'd qualify his 42 games as a a good long look. Chiasson had a good long look.
Again, it's your opinion that he's nothing special. But there are many people out there (including myself) that did see glimpses of what he could potentially become. If I were management I'd give him more than 42 games. Now, before you start crying about his 3 years in the AHL, I consider that a different beast. Prince is a rookie, that should have been received a longer look than 42 games in the NHL. If after a longer look he still doesn't look like an NHL then I'd have no issue with him being dealt/released/waived. The third round pick is nothing in the grand scheme of things.
Dzingle has proven to be a better and more impactful fourth line player than Prince. Small sample size for sure, but common sense would dictate that Prince is not an ideal fourth line role player long term while Dzingle is being looked at for that role. Again, Dzingle also doesn't have a spot on the roster, and is being given a look at the end of the season. This is not a Prince or Dzingle situation, it is likely that he won't make the team either.
Debatable whether Dzingel has been more impactful. I don't see Dzingel as a fourth liner either, and his deployment by the team seems to corroborate my thinking as well. He's played on the 4th line, but more so in the top 6/9. What has Dzingel done that is so much more impressive than Prince? Scoring? Nope. Defensively? Nope.
Paul is a looking quite good on both sides of the puck in his first games. He is also getting a little look in his first pro year. Even you can't seriously think it would be a good idea to trade Paul over Prince. Paul is also a centre, and has the skill set to be a solid fourth line player with a chance to move up the line up.
I'm not suggesting we trade Paul. I'm suggesting Prince should be played over Paul THIS year. To see what we got in Prince.
Prince was waiver eligible, so going into next season if he was beaten out for a spot in training camp, or if we wanted to trade for a top six guy and everyone was bumped down, he would have to clear waivers to be sent down. Not only did BM do him a solid by identifying that he wasn't really good enough to displace a player on our long term roster and trade him in order to give him a chance to forge a career with another team, but he also prevented us from losing him for nothing next year (hella run on sentence).
That's cool that BM did him a solid. BM is a nice guy. The problem is that being a nice guy interferes with building a winning team. BM should be concerned more with building a talented team over being a nice guy. Of course you can't be ruthless, but being nice shouldn't be the reason you get rid of a talent.
As for next season, even your tea leaves probably can't predict what's going to happen. So your argument is moot. There is no way we can predict how the team will look, even if BM acquires a top 6 player. It could be at the expense of another player (looking at Hoffman here).
A third round pick is a nice deal for Prince, one asset out, one in that will be younger and can be added to the bottom of the conveyor belt. As was mentioned earlier, we can't keep everyone, and we have a new batch of draft picks and pro prospects every year, which means that we have to let players go every year. Preferably we get something for them rather than just letting their rights expire or lose them on waivers.
As mentioned already, a 3rd round pick is pretty much worthless. Even with our draft record. It's a nice thought that we want to keep the conveyor belt moving. If that's true, then why not jettison someone else and keep the more talented player?
We don't have to lose him to waivers, there are always options. The timing of this trade was very odd.
Yet I don't see one...
MacArthur-Hoffman-Smith in the top-9
And was in competition with Paul/Dzingel/Puempel for the last LW spot...
Prince could end up a decent 3rd line player but the thing is the organization decided he was not going to be better than what they already have for that role (or about to have)
Big deal.
Chiasson is a RW who will probably be gone in 1 game. The other 3 are still fighting for future spots. Prince was let go because he wasn't clearly better than any of them and has had more time/games.
You can be a Prince's fan and it's ok. But that doesn't change the fact that he was seen as expendable.
The bold is your opinion, which is fair. But I disagree with it. I believe he is better than the rest, by not much, but still better. Eye test and stats back that up.
BTW, Prince can play RW as well. That's where he spent most of his AHL career. So Chiasson for sure is in the conversation.
