My point had nothing to do with the moves involving Ghost, it's simply that my evaluation, which got pooh pooh'd by those convinced Ghost was a top 4 D-man, proved correct. He's the 5th D-man and power play specialist, and was traded at the TDL for a 2025 3rd, less than Braun garnered two years ago.
Doesn't mean Ghost is a "bad" player, just a role player, and wasn't a great loss to a rebuilding team that needs young starters, not a 29 year old specialist.
The real problem wasn't losing Ghost, or even overpaying for Risto, it was the mindset that the team could "aggressively reload," so it spent assets to clear cap room to add a player who couldn't move the needle. Even if Risto was a legitimate top 4 RHD, it wouldn't have made the team much better. TDA was just another reflection of the bill of goods sold to Scott by Barber, that the team could remain competitive while getting younger - so no painful decisions had to be made.