How can anyone be upset with either the Nash trade or the Gaborik trade?
Nash is a great player, but with him on the team, the team wasn't doing anything. The players we got in return have helped this team establish itself with an identity - something it never had in the past.
On the contrary, the Gaborik trade was born out of necessity above all else. It helped the team continue an incredible streak that left us finished tied for the last playoff spot in the league - something nobody would have dreamed up in February, or even early March. Yes, we had to pay to get him here - but what's important is that we retained all three of our first round picks in getting a guy with 40 goal skill. Brassard will never be anything more than a second line center ... and here, he wasn't even giving us enough of that. He needed a change of scenery bad - and sending him to New York was as big a help to him as it was to us. Same goes for John Moore, who was likely to be lost in the mix of young defensemen in the system, already surpassed by Tim Erixon, and made expendable by the solid defense of Dalton Prout, as well as upcoming Ryan Murray. The last piece, Derek Dorsett, is a third line wing at best ... while I'll miss his effort and determination, his production is easily replaceable, and we have a handful of other guys who do the same thing, only more effective.
I can't complain about either trade, with full honesty. Essentially, we part with Nash, a couple of mid round picks, Brassard, Dorsett, and Moore ... and come away with Dubinsky, Gaborik, Anisimov, Erixon, and a first. When you look at it that way, I think we upgraded on every player except for maybe Rick Nash ... and that's only because he brings more tangibles than Marian Gaborik.
You caught me!
