And again, what Matteau is as a player is completely irrelevant to my point.
I am not sure why this is such a hard concept to grasp, we traded a former 1st rounder for a guy who was literally one step away from being available for free this summer after Montreal most likely walked away from resigning him.
You cannot come to any other conclusion than piss poor asset management.
A pick for Matteau would've been much more advantageous for New Jersey OR giving up a low pick for Pelly would've been better for us as well...but throwing away an undeveloped former 1st round asset for what really is the type of player you can pick up for nothing is just bad management...
Players like a Bernier, like a Carter, like a Kalinin, like a Tootoo...Or like a Dale Weiss or a Chris Stewart this summer --- Or like a Stempniak... Free, no cost at all, None whatsoever. Pelly was one step away from that with Montreal.
Now if All Matteau was worth on the open market was 6th round pick, the value of giving him an opportuuntiy here has to be worth more than that...
And if all Matteau was worth on the open market was 6th round pick, we should've paid that for Pelly...Any way you want to slice it, it is poor asset management.