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People lost their minds over a dime a dozen 4th liner who it ends up REQUESTED to leave. Lol
The organization has always been very good about accommodating players who
quietly ask for a trade. I'm sure they could have gotten a 3rd from someone from him if they were running an auction, but that 4th they got is going to be high in the round, and it puts Lemieux in a decent enough situation to earn a larger role.
Lemieux saw the writing on the wall that he wasn't going to be able to earn more icetime, so he asked for a trade. He still played hard, and didn't show any outward signs of sulking. I wish him the best.
With that being said, Lemieux just never really developed, and maybe even regressed from the player he was when we traded for him. Whether Quinn neutered his play style, or he just doesn't have another level to reach, remains to be seen. I don't think the team is going to miss him all that much. His brand of physicality consisted almost exclusively of post-whistle scrums and dropping the gloves, neither of which really helped the team win. He has the foot speed to run around and punish people like Tom Wilson does (to a lesser extent, obviously). But for some reason, he never does. Then again, no one on the team finishes their checks, which is maddening to watch. So, maybe it really is a Quinn thing.