Granlund was just a move that didn't work out. Don't understand why trading a 2nd for him is considered some sort of 9/11 event that needed to be rectified (cap dumped) at all costs. He's had a solid career overall.
I think this is revisionist history of the trade. Hextall and the Penguins were absolutely clowned on for that deal. It was from basically all aspects, they were dunked on from everywhere for that trade.
Media members said their sources were completely perplexed by it, with some reports saying that Hextall basically offered the 2nd before even hearing the Predators asking price. The entire analytics crowd hated it because Granlund had become a horrid analytical player. Combine those two with his contract left (3 years at $5 million) and the Penguins plan to play him in a completely different role (one he wouldn’t fit in), it’s not hard to see why the hockey world responded as it did.
“It was only a 2nd” is pretty much the only saving grace of that trade. It’s like trading for Daniel Sprong with the hopes he can be a Selke caliber center, it was just a downright bizarre decision for a NHL GM to make. Part of it was the flaws of Granlund, but another legitimate part of it was how the move just made no sense.