I've never understood the fascination and obsession with Jake Virtanen in this market....is it because he was a sixth overall pick?....or that he was a local kid? Has his career been a model of consistency? Obviously not. But when you look at the careers of a lot of top-10 picks around the league, it's no better or no worse than most.
He's basically coming off a 20-goal season and even if his contract goes to arbitration as an RFA, the most he'll top out at is $3m a season. For context, that's the same money Beagle and Roussel are earning; a million and half less than Sutter; and three million less than the press-box boy Eriksson. And they basically contribute next to nothing night after night in the regular season or the playoffs.
Benning went on the post-season presser saying he expected 'more' from Jake in these playoffs. But what about the other guys he signed as UFA's who've basically flopped. Do they get a free pass just because if he admitted they were bad, it would reflect poorly on the GM?
By all means deal him, if it will somehow improve the team. But this GM's record of extracting equal value from other organizations in these deals doesn't inspire much confidence from me.