I like it for the Blues, get instantly better and paid next to nothing.
I kind of like it for Carolina as well. It's good to trade away UFAs that have no future with the franchise. But all this acquiring futures for cap space and veterans makes the Calgary trade even more worse, because they are wasting away years they could be really competetive and next summer they might be in the same situation with Hamilton.
I'm confused as this makes no sense at all to me.
First, this has nothing to do with the Calgary trade. Had the Calgary trade never happened, the Canes weren't going to sign Faulk to that deal and would have likely moved him all the same. Second, the Canes missed the playoffs for 9 straight years and the first year after the Calgary trade, they made the playoffs and went all the way to the ECF. How is that "wasting away years they could really be competitive?" Thirdly, the Canes aren't just "acquiring futures"for cap space and veterans. They also acquired guys they think can and will help their team now in Gardiner, Haula, Dzingel, Edmundson, Forsling and Claesson this off-season along with Niederreiter, Hamilton and Martinook last season.
It seems that many on HF fail to look at the real purpose of a trade, which is to make the team better, not to win the "on paper value championship". For all the crap Waddell took with the Calgary and Skinner trades, in the end, both deals made the Canes better and changed the culture of the team. In just 1.5 short years, the Canes have gone from a team that missed the playoffs 9 straight seasons with no light at the end of the tunnel to a team that:
1) Made the playoffs and ECF
2) Is one of the youngest teams in the NHL
3) Has a very strong NHL line-up. (goaltending is still a question mark)
4) Has one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL
5) Already has two 1sts, two 2nds and 2 thirds in this next draft, which is reportedly very deep.
If next summer, Hamilton prices himself out of the market, then so be it.