The flip side to this is that the game actually gets played by players, not assets. We talk all the time about guys that will get too much in free agency because they put up big numbers in an advantageous situation, but inevitably won't live up to their next contract. Their value as an asset > their value as a player. Fenton's obviously trying to do the opposite: identify specific players that have the skills, talent and drive to be better than the players he's giving up, but just need time and opportunity.Here it is:
This is basically the same as the other 2 big trades Fenton has made (Nino and Coyle). I started thinking this would be the case after the senseless Nino-Rask trade, and now it's confirmed.
And if anyone is wondering, this is the case: what you are seeing here is a lifelong SCOUT turned into a manager (=businessman). He sees things very binary. He sees a player, he likes a player, he picks him. That's it. That's what he has done all his career. The whole business side of things doesn't exist for him. You know, the thing that's the manager's primary responsibility. Like for example creating bidding wars and extracting the max value out of your assets.
Fenton, a scout, sees players. What a competent manager should see, is assets. A big difference.
Keep this in mind whenever a scout is promoted into leading an organisation. VERY different skillsets, and you see the results of that here. "He did not ask the Predators to include a draft pick". Can't imagine a more telling sentence of someone being unqualified to be a manager.
As an example: with the Granlund trade the other name that came up was Eeli Tolvanen. Say that Fenton was presented with two options: Tolvanen+1st, or Fiala straight across. Conventional wisdom on the boards says that a bluechip prospect and a 1st is better value than Fiala alone, but if Fiala's the guy Fenton seems to think he is and Tolvanen never puts it together he absolutely made the right choice by taking "worse value." The scout's eyes win there.
I have no idea if that's how it'll work out, but I do think there's a danger in getting too hung up on "value."