In the end, the whole point of making trades is to improve the team's performance on ice, not just comparing numbers of the assets involved in a vacuum. Some Flyers fans all day long will talk about individual point totals and how they'd drive Richards and Carter to the airport etc, while failing to realize that the changes those trades brought forth also saw their Stanley Cup hopes board that same plane to LA in a first class seat.
Since the Kings acquired "'em both", the team has been elite. Since the Flyers got rid of 'em both, they have taken a pretty big step back. So what's the net result? The Flyers have been a team that is out of contention and loses as many games as it has won over its last 84 games. There is no victory in that. Zero, zilch, nada. Until the Flyers actually reach the level they were under the leadership of Richards and Carter, I don't want to hear the rationalizations. You have to take a step forward first, before claiming victory. The Kings took a leap forward. We're entitled to at least make an argument. The other teams involved nor their fans have anything to crow about.
