WeThreeKings
Demidov is a HAB
Yes, but...
Just because a player was drafted in the 1st round doesn't mean they're a good player or automatically worthy of being traded for, or that it was a 'good trade' because we got back a former 1st round draft pick.
There was a reason Barron and Newhook were available, and boy did we find out.
He was in the midst of a 0.5PPG rookie season in the AHL when we acquired him. He was still looked upon as a good prospect when we acquired him.
Those guys were available because we had a commodity they wanted (Lehkonen) and Barron didn't help them at that point but Lehkonen did.
Newhook was available because they needed draft currency to get Colton and they didn't feel they could wait around for Newhook to develop while they were competing.
Must have been a reason why Zibanejad was available? Must have been a reason why Filip Forsberg was available? You are just dealing with future pieces and the range of outcomes are vast and volatile.
They got very good value on Lehkonen, the main piece didn't hit. That is the cost of a rebuild and acquiring futures. It was a good trade with an outcome that did not net us the upside we thought we were going to get with Barron.