How is it not valid? You basically said yourself his draft status has a bearing on his trade value. I never said the kid was untouchable. I said ideally he's one of the 4 we'd hang onto especially since there's still quality beyond those 4 to use as trade bait.
Yes, he is supposed to have higher value than someone drafted 22nd, for instance. The further you get from the draft, the less draft position matters. We are still close, hence his top10 pedigree is still a big factor when defining his value.
But what I said was that him being picked where/when he was, and him being part of the Staal deal.... that has or should have no significance by itself. They are not valid reasons, or indeed reasons altogether.
Only the return should matter - weighed against our managements expectations of what Pouliot can/should become for us.
It is a pet peeve for me to say that the sentimental factors in drafts are and should be irrelevant. I said the same when people argued that Staal wouldn't/shouldn't be dealt because he was the first pick Shero ever made for the Pens.
I otherwise agree with your post, and I assume we could also say that Pouliot has a higher ceiling than most the other top prospects we have. I think a lot of that is something people assume on the strength of his draft position though, because at this point in time I still consider him a big time reach.
