The bold just isn't true. Bergman was a 2nd himself and is neither knocking it out of the park nor busting. He looks like a typical second round pick. So from Ottawa's POV, even to that point. The odds are very good that neither the 4th nor the 5th ever play 200 NHL games. Boedker is an NHL player, even if he has declined. Maybe the problem in SJ wasn't Boedker. Maybe he flourishes in Ottawa. But whether he does or not, that package of picks is not much. The 2nd has what? Maybe a 25-30% chance of playing 200 games? I'd say that Boedker has at least a 30% chance of playing 200 more games.
Would Ottawa have done better dealing directly with Florida? Maybe, maybe not. I don't think the odds favour that. The cap space is a factor but its value depends on what happens in the future. Ottawa did save some cap and more salary with this deal. They will have to pay 6 mil over 2 years and the cap won't matter if the Sens are not going to spend to the cap anyway, which they likely are not. So Boedker needs only be worth 3 mil per year.
2019 2nd rounder is a pretty good trade chip at draft and all next season. Don't lose sight of that.
