3 years is a long time when we're in a rebuild. If we were in compete mode I'd consider it, but we're not.
And if we're judging on last season's stats, we should package Zadina+Larkin+Rasmussen+Hronek for a couple of mid-round picks. Entire team had terrible stats, get over it.
The argument for trading Zadina and Larkin for having bad seasons is kind of weak. We know Larkin can be better, and we've seen enough flashes from Zadina to truly expect him to be better.
And I'm not judging this on only last season's stats. It's judging that Rasmussen hasn't shown any noticeable improvements in his game since 2018. No flashes of being a good netfront garbage goal getter. No flashes of being a defensive monster shut down guy. And like it was pointed out a million times in the Rasmussen signing thread, he's paid like a 4th liner because that's all he has shown to be right now. He's replacement level at best until proven otherwise.
Second, you don't ONLY trade for an older player when you're in contention mode. You trade for a guy like Dvorak because you think he can help improve your team. A 22 year old for a 25 year old isn't throwing away the farm. Barring disastrous injury you're getting 5+ quality years from Dvorak.
Dvorak's points per game the last 2 seasons are 0.543 and 0.554. That's a 44.5 and 45.4 per 82 games. And in a full season he hasn't finished below 0.423 points per game. Rasmussen's is definitely not that high. Dvorak has consistently been the better player.
You're banking on Rasmussen's imaginary upside when he hasn't shown the kind of potential that some people here love to pretend he has. If Rasmussen can turn into a Martin Hanzel type 3rd liner I'll change my tune but I'm not holding my breath for the guy to put it all together.