[brooks] #KarlssonWatch is Over: Traded to SJS for a Grab Bag of Meh

[phillyb]

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Burns and Vlasic?

[jjweimar]

 

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[jjweimar]

Love Nashville

 

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[phillyb]

Lol!

[Stephen]

LOL!

:cheers:

[Ranger Lothbrok]

We can bring this full circle back to the McDonagh trade though. Players are seldom ever worth in trades what you think they're worth, especially when they're the big fish in a small pond. Now, that's not to say Erik Karlsson is AT ALL analogous to Ryan McDonagh; McD was definitely the big fish in a small pond, and Karlsson is objectively (and empirically) arguably the best defenseman in the league. However, the fact that he was the entire Senators roster by himself matters little to San Jose. To them, he's a luxury, not a necessity. To the Senators fans it feels like having your soul ripped out with nothing but an empty husk left behind. To San Jose fans, it's putting another gun on the battleship. Though to us McDonagh may have been the greatest thing since sliced bread (or Brian Leetch, as it were), and though it may have been trading our captain and heart/soul of our team, to Tampa he was a luxury.

 

Some of us felt we got hosed by not getting one of Tampa's top three prospects, but as Phil often says on here, market value is what the market is willing to pay. You can bet that the Senators weighed A LOT of options prior to pulling the trigger on this. With how much disappointment they've had in recent years, there's no effin' way their GM makes this move without having reason to believe that it was the best offer on the table. I'm sure news will trickle out that TB had this offer on the table, and we had that offer on the table, and Team X was offering A/B/C, etc. But as Kevin pointed out, you're talking about a potential rental (if he doesn't want to stick around) that's had some pretty severe injuries. And the teams that are interested in trading for him aren't in rebuild mode, so they've either been low in the draft order in recent years, have traded their draft picks in recent years, or both. Ottawa's looking for futures, and unless they're dealing with teams like Buffalo or Phoenix, there ain't a hell of a lot of blue-chippers on the market. Teams like San Jose don't have a Rasmus Dahlin to trade. And as Phil pointed out (quoting Phil TWICE in one post??!! How dare I...), he's been on the market for quite some time (6+ months). If this is what Ottawa arrived at, then this is the most a team was willing to pay.

 

I think it's a pretty solid haul overall. And in fact, in light of the return EK got, I'd say it's looking more and more like Gorton got a good return for McD, who would have been a free agent next summer if not for the extension. Howden alone may have made that trade worth it. We'll see.