If he wanted out it shouldn't have made a difference. A prospective trade partner wouldn't question why we'd be offering McHugh around. We're rebuilding.
However, in a case like the Vallati situation, if I'm a team fielding calls from MM, I'm wondering why the Rangers would be shopping a young up and coming former 1st round pick who just had a promising post season playoff and is NHL drafted. Hence the low ball return for Vallati.
And before anyone points out that the return for Vallati was fair (2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd), keep in mind that at the time of the trade, Vallati had two full seasons left to play in this league plus a possible OA season.
There are OA's this season going for 2nd, 2nd, 3rd who'll play less than one season for their destination team.