It's certainly not a bad deal for Calgary. There is probably a bit of overreaction from fans with takes on the extreme edge of either side.
- Kuzmenko isn't talentless. He will probably score some goals for Calgary. But the idea that he's just having a down year is extremely flawed. He rode an absolutely insane shooting % and PDO on a very bad team last year to some gaudy counting stats. He's not suddenly going to be flip-able for a 1st even if he does get hot for the Flames over the next month. He can be a contributer but is he going to move any needle or asset package in the long-run?
- Hunter is not a "throw-in". He and the 1st are the main attractions here. His OHL stats are great. He's certainly increased his stock from 3rd round value last year. He's also heavily flawed when it comes to projecting a "high-end" NHL player down the road.
- The 1st...to me, even if #30 or #31 - that's still the main piece. What Calgary does with it will matter but it was important to get that.
- Lindholm is probably not ever going to be 40-goal Lindholm again but there is track record here, there is elite level defensive play here, there is positional premium here...so to take an extremely lucky Kuz year (I will eat my hat is his 22-23 season isn't a ridiculous outlier in his entire career) and then say Lindholm is a 9 goal center is absurd. He offers the Canucks an elite 2C who let's them keep their mega-line of EP and JTM together while stiching together a bunch of all-weather, all-zone 2nd line possibilities.
