Any examples come to mind of a recent depth dman playing less than 17min/night (on a bottom 5 roster no less) traded for anything more than a late pick?
So you think KH just decided to take a lesser offer for the fun of it?
That seems like dubious reasoning.
I think that's what it came down to.
Barring a trade, Kovacevic was sitting so far down on the depth chart that keeping him & his NHL contract in place vs getting an asset for him led to a pretty obvious conclusion.
Easy enough to sign a depth dman in August for <1M should we want to replace him, net difference is we'd be + a 4th Rd pick.
Solid asset management.
A lot of those guy depth guy usually have issues... pass their prime/contract/injuries... on the top of my head Edmundson was traded for a 3rd/5th, Kulak was traded for a 2nd+, Braun 3rd, Davidson got a 3rd... their might be others better or worst but not sure all depth guy are the same... Kovacevic is a NHL D entering is prime, no size or skating or skill or contract issues he doesn't have much negative or red flags other that he isn't a top 4 so to me he should have been worth a 3rd, ultimately a 3rd or a 4th isn't much difference but if it isn't a difference for us why would be a difference for the other team...
It isn't a bad trade but I would not say solid asset management because if your going to trade him they would have gotten better return at the last trade deadline where a bunch of team were laking D or looking for depth and had no cap space...
