The more I think about this, the more upset I am about the principles behind this deal. Obviously the actual consequences are rather minimal (a 5th round pick), but the management style behind it frustrates me to no end.
This trade embodies the continued meaningless squandering of draft picks. It's like the trades upwards for Vanecek and Walker. Sure the pieces lost aren't substantial individually, but in aggregate it becomes a drain on the farm system.
Graovac was on waivers twice this past season. Boudreau
openly criticized him on
more than one occasion. Graovac
floundered in even 4th line assignments. I know not everyone here is a believer in Corsi, but his Corsi was literally
3rd worst in the entire league. And that was in spite of receiving nearly twice as many draws in the offensive zone than the defensive, so he wasn't being given brutal shutdown assignments. He was just bad.
So the player acquired wasn't particularly good, what about protecting Eller/Beagle? Sure, in a vacuum that seems like a worthy move. But couldn't that have been done cheaper? Graovac certainly couldn't be the only plug out there available to fill that slot, and someone probably would be willing to move theirs for a 6th or 7th. And even more to the point, why bother? Why bother giving away assets at all to protect Eller/Beagle? There's no point in giving up assets when the protecting for those players is the presence of Schmidt and Grubauer on the exposed list. Vegas can only take one player, after all.