I get what your saying, but for one, why would an equivalent player to Reinhart, but with I guess the "right stuff" suddenly help the team in any substantial way vs performative. And if there really is a personality difference between Reinhart and player X that will be that useful, why would the other team do that?
The problem with this logic, is that most fans only know 3-4 significant players on other teams, so they think those players like basketball primarily decide the outcome of games. The reality is, if Washington traded Eichel and Reinhart for Backstrom and Ovie, guess what Washington would still be an elite team that would be one of the favorites in the East.
The problem on this team is not the good players. It is the endless trash that Botts has brought in for the last three years.
O'Reilly wasn't a core player was proven wrong by simply joining a team with a good base level of talent.
It's definitely easier to just pick random player that is a big name you don't care for and think they don't have it cuz it's not happening and they will return something good.
But that's just not how winning is done. Get rid of the actual bums, bring in better talent to support your good players.
I can't believe this is still a conversation piece after the O'Reilly deal, regardless of how badly it went.