Seeing all the Madden posts in the #2 prospect thread got me thinking. That Toffoli trade could be a blockbuster for the Kings in the next 5-10 years. The Kings got Madden and eventually Faber from the Canucks for Tyler Toffoli.
Muzzin was traded for Grundstrom and eventually Bjornfot. This was a great trade for both teams.
Campbell and Clifford were traded for Moore, eventually Laferriere (last year was the team MVP and Offensive Player of the Year), and eventually packaged a pick for Kirsanov.
So far pretty damn good job by Blake!
Just to be Devil's Advocate:
- Blake used the pick from Vancouver for Faber but didn't get Faber for Toffoli. Kudos to Blake for moving up to get Faber but they are separate deals. As for Madden, I really liked how he looked at the very start of the season but then he looked worse prior to getting absolutely lit up on a clean hit due to his style of play. Important learning lesson but it basically cost him a year of development and it highlights the fact that he is very slight. Hopefully it doesn't take away from his swag/confidence because he looked like he had "it" during pre-season and the first few games but that tailed off and then he got crushed. The flip side of this is that Toffoli has lit it up immediately after leaving here and, to be fair, was going to score 20 or LA when he was traded. I do feel that he had to go because a long-term deal here in LA was dangerous but, still, Madden and a 2nd might not look so hot compared to the player given up in the deal.
- I said back at the time of the trade that if Grundstrom becomes a decent 3rd line guy and Blake hits on the pick, then it's a fantastic trade. Still a good trade if Bjornfot hits as a solid #3-4 but the Grundstrom thing might not happen and I don't think the Durzi thing is ever going to happen. Kind of a bummer that the extra pieces on top of the 1st don't look so hot now but Bjornfot is obviously more valuable to this team moving forward than Muzzin was going to be. Would be epic if they got two long-term contributors out of it though.
- Leafs probably give up more if they knew what would happen with Campbell. Not expecting anything from Laferriere but Moore was a real nice surprise last season. All about getting assets though which is the same thing as the 2nd round pick in the Toffoli deal: the actual draft pick can be packaged with other accumulated assets.
I've probably liked how he's used the picks he's accumulated to go grab stuff more than each of the deals in a vacuum. Look at the success Martinez, Campbell and Toffoli have had. I'll wait to add Carter's name to that list too. It's frustrating because they are better players than their respective returns but they weren't looking like it here so it is what it is.
