I think there's a very real chance that Seattle wouldn't even take Arvidsson, particularly if we were exposing Ellis also.
Even if Arvidsson was a 20-goal scorer... and he has 25 in his last 107 games so that almost still computes... 19.15... I would argue that very one-dimensional small 20-goal scorers are not exactly a hot commodity in the NHL. There are a lot of talented unidimensional players who can't even stick in the NHL. If you played them on a 1st line, like Arvy, sure they'd get 20 goals. If you further stipulate that they are 5'9"... well... I think you'd find that type of commodity is actually FAR MORE REPLACEABLE in the NHL than big, strong, cheap young guys like Trenin and Jeannot.
And that's the key transition for Arvy. He has lost his edge. Scoring at a 19-goal pace over the last 2 years and getting frequently injured, it has taken away his value. People will make room for a small 30-goal guy who plays a kamikaze style. People won't make room for a small one-dimensional 19-goal guy who has lost that edge.
He does fall down a lot. He doesn't get his nose dirty as much. He makes a lot of really bad passes and turnovers. Do you think Carolina talks about Arvidsson in their gameplan? Do they even know he exists? He's not as good as Trenin or Jeannot right now. Will he ever be again? I sure hope so, but I wouldn't make an Expansion Draft bet on it. Like I said, he has been my favorite player for a while, but he's not the same, as much as it hurts to admit it. I held out hope for a while too, and through this thread I kept him in my protected list a lot longer than some people did. But it's just becoming increasingly evident watching the games that we need to update our thinking.