I have read many comments from Leafs fans regarding this trade and most of them seem to think he has potential to be more than just a 4th liner, if he can stay healthy. I am willing to bet Soshnikov is a much better player than Musil, especially at this point.
People bag on Jaskin because he's got 6 goals in his last 104 games, 10 in his last 169. He's had plenty of chances. If Soshnikov can be better than Jaskin, it will be a good move. And I doubt he will do any worse. Also, Sundqvist has shown me pretty much nothing this year. Hopefully Soshnikov can push either of those guys out of the lineup.
You list Jaskin's goals, but conveniently forget that Jaskin has a career PPG higher than Soshnikov. They are the same age. Soshnikov is a career .2 ppg. Jaskin has beaten that 3 out of the last 4 seasons and tied it the other one. Jaskin has gotten a lot of opportunities because he has earned them by playing solid defense and strong possession. Soshnikov can't beat out career .19ppg Matt Martin for a spot on the Leaf's roster, but according to some posters here who have likely never seen him, yea, he's going to fix our 3rd line.
Our teams problem is we have too many 4th liners playing up (and 3rd liners playing up). That's why we don't get points from our bottom 6. Our fourth line actually produces well for a fourth line. Our
third line actually produces well for a FOURTH line. Our
second line produces well, for a THIRD line. Adding more 4th liners to play on our 3rd line is not an answer to anything even if they are slightly better than the 4th liners we currently have on our 3rd line. We sent Tage Thompson down, a kid who has top 6 upside, so we can acquire another 4th liner. That is why I can't get excited about the trade. Marginal upgrades to our bottom 6 will not fix this team. We need to fill the top 6, and push the 3rd liners out and onto the 3rd, and the 4th liners off the 3rd and down to the 4th. We have far too many guys "who can play up in a pinch" playing up. We are pinched way too damn much. So acquiring another guy who can play up in a pinch is not exciting. I don't know how many more ways there are to say it. Just watch. He'll score a couple killer goals that will get Blues fans excited, but when he continues to produce at a .2 ppg pace, the bloom will be off the rose.
Anytime an organization can flip a future 4th-7th round pick which has a slight chance of playing in the NHL in 3-4 years (or in this case 4-5 since it is a 2019) in exchange for a young player who has NHL experience you do that. It just makes sense from an organization direction. You may flip that player in a bigger deal, who knows, but you are getting an asset in exchange for a hope.
| Pick | Appeared In NHL | Played 100+ Games In NHL |
| Top-5 | 100% | 96.3% |
| 6-10 | 100% | 78.1% |
| Rest of First Round | 88.6% | 63.0% |
| Second Round | 65.7% | 31.1% |
| Third Round | 50.7% | 27.9% |
| Fourth Round | 36.0% | 18.7% |
| Fifth Round | 29.9% | 14.2% |
| Sixth Round | 30.0% | 14.3% |
| Seventh Through Ninth Rounds | 27.1% | 11.6% |
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That's logic is assuming all NHL players are equal. A 2nd rounder only has a 31.1% chance of playing 100 games. Would you trade our 2nd this year for another guy like Thorburn? He is an NHL player who has 100 games, and its more than likely the second will. Leaving hockey, would you give $1 for a 16.7% chance to get your money back and a small 2% chance to win $1 million? People lay the lottery with worse odds every day. That 4th could bust, or could be just as good as Soshnikov or could turn into a Parayko who would have fallen to the 4th had we not taken him. By giving up the 4th, you are giving up the chance, albeit small, of getting a game-changer and in return getting a bottom-6 player, something we have in spades.
