Well, I suppose. But that points to bad management. What would Yak and Gags have garnered a year ago? They hold on to their ace until the pot is gone. And why? Because they were "their" draft picks and were part of "their" plan. We have seen this pattern for some time now. They r married to their plan and course.
Gagner I could see, although nobody predicted this bad of a season...
...But do you really trade Yakupov after ONE season? Do you give up on him that quickly? We have no idea how high his ceiling could be. Trading him potentially to a rival would be idiotic.
Trading is a very, very fine science. There's a reason why apart from the TDL they rarely happen, and are rarely of significance. Bird in the hand and all that. The biggest trade of the season that wasn't at the TDL was Vanek to the Isles and that backfired HUGELY for them.
Apart from Hall or maybe Eberle most of the players on the team aren't going to get you needed pieces. That's just the grim reality of it. Selling low now is pointless. As painful as it might be you have to ride it out with Gagner unless a decent offer comes along. Best case scenario he bounces back and either you get something decent for him or you don't need to trade him.
If we can draft a 2C (which admittedly I don't want but might happen) then we can shove Gagner down a bit and shelter him and help him get his confidence back.
Also we really, REALLY shouldn't be trading defensemen. Not only are you not going to get what you want back, you'll be opening up even more holes than there already are.