I don't think Ekholm and Trotz would ever mesh. Trotz degraded him pretty seriously as a rookie and Ekholm is now a seasoned veteran. He'd tell him to eff off now and it would probably be deserved. And Trotz absolutely killed Craig Smith's soul when he lambasted him in public after that open net. Ruined him for awhile, IMO. I love Trotzy but those two incidents and one more kind of muddy the waters.
Hindsight says losing Duchene was a mistake on the ice, Joey not so much. Ekholm may have been a mistake but the return was okay (I liked Barrie) and he's thriving. Craig Smith's too long ago to be a factor. I do not know what Matt and Joey brought to the locker room if anything but there is no doubt in my mind that it was not a trade to either of their liking and we had to pay to move them. I give Trotz a C- on them, but I also think he was instrumental in the Jeannot trade (A+++) so that mitigates it somewhat. Overall B. Still I cheer for the laundry, have to at this point. I can have opinions but they're the ones running the team, not me. I don't know what's going on behind the scenes.
All that said, I will NEVER cheer for Dallas (or Ryan $uter) and my fervent hope is that no Canadian team wins a Cup til after we do.