Hodgy
Registered User
- Feb 23, 2012
- 4,240
- 4,196
What's your definition of core pieces? A healthy Baertschi would probably be a core piece in the Jannik Hansen category of core players. The same applies to others if they work out. It's the same with the draft. The Kings targeted Roland McKeown. He hasn't played a single NHL game this season. I would be happy if Gadjovich can be as good as Baertschi at 23 years of age.
A good example is Virtanen. Would you trade him for the 53rd overall in this year's draft? I would keep him.
This is a pretty bad way of thinking about it and what led Benning to make so many poor trades. It ignores the fact that one out every 10, or 15, or whatever, second round picks will turn into first line talents. So while you will always be able to trade a pick for a player that is better than the average player picked with that pick, it ignores the fact that you are essentially giving up a chance at a truly elite player. Not only that, but Baertschi is the result of this strategy when it works. When it doesn't, you get bad players like Vey, Clendenning, etc., who didn't have the potential upside of the pick traded at the time they were acquired, but also never panned out. So essentially, the worst of both worlds.