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FireBednarsSuccessor
Being a preds fan I think the absolute hardest position to acquire a top player for is a centreman. Is this true? I think goalies are easier to acquire than a top line centre. What about a top pairing defenseman?
I mean Nashville has never had to worry about that because we draft the crap out of amazing defenseman, but do other teams struggle with this more so than a top line centre?
Basically it would come down to this:
Who would be the hardest to acquire out of Carey price, John Tavares or drew doughty??
I am not talking about team needs or weaknesses, I just mean what is the hardest position to trade for? Picture those three on any given team.
I mean I see centres as the hardest to get but we traded a top defenseman for a top centre straight up with the Johansen for jones deal.
Are centres the hardest to acquire or no? I can't imagine it being a goalie, but I can definitely see top defenseman.
As an Avs fan I feel like it's a #1 dman who's already shown he can play at that level. Seth Jones for RyJo is really the last true #1 we've seen traded with that expectation and he wasn't yet the Norris-caliber dman he's become...kinda like where Seguin was at the time he was traded. Whereas RyJo had already had an exceptional season as a #1C under his belt at the time of the trade. Similarly ROR had already had multiple seasons playing at a top line level at both C & LW when he was traded for a potential top pairing dman, a non-bluechip forward prospect, a reclamation project and the 31st overall pick. Matt Duchene will eventually be traded while having a PPG season under his belt, years as one of the elite ES producers in the league, and a 30 goal season just a year ago...a goal tally he was on pace to better this past season, until his game fell apart after new years and he slumped to a career worst campaign.
Going back further we see guys like Carter being traded after having played as a #1C in the NHL successfully, but we don't see the same with #1 Dmen except for the Subban - Weber trade where one proven #1 dman was traded for another. So while #1Cs are expensive, they seem to be traded more often than #1 dmen who have already broken out. Those are the guys you just can't trade for and either need to get before they break out, or develop yourself.