Honestly the amount of pearl-clutching that has occurred because of this move is just incredible. We had that 2nd round pick for how long, 10 minutes? And some people around here acting like they just lost a kidney. Yzerman said himself they got a prospect they had ranked similarly to Gibson in Kiiskanen, so that 2nd rounder was pure gravy. And it was in one hand out the other to get rid of Walman's contract. Why the attachment? We didn't lose any of the draft capital we had the day before, and we cleared some valuable cap space.
Walman was playing badly and needed to be moved. The team had lost confidence in him, and there were valid questions about his commitment and consistency. It cost some capital to move him because cap space is at a premium these days. Moving Joseph cost Ottawa too. But Yzerman cleared that cap space without giving up anything we had the day before, and made a lateral prospect move from a position of lesser (defense) to greater (wing) need.
Looked at in tandem, as they should since they happened minutes apart and were clearly connected, we made out okay in those two trades. Edvinsson will be a better player than Walman very early next season, if he isn't already. Considering all factors, it's about as good as you can hope for.
You have to believe one of two things here: 1) that our predictions of possible returns were realistic and that Yzerman really didn't even do the bare minimum and reach out to all GMs to gauge interest before offering a sweetener; or 2) that he did in fact gauge the market and determined what it would cost to move Walman and made the best deal he could.
Ottawa lost a draft pick to get rid of Joseph. Yzerman figured out a way to swap prospects who were chosen 26 picks apart and add an asset he could then flip to package with Walman's contract, not really losing anything more than Walman's contract in the end. The only thing left to be determined is what becomes of Gibson and Kiiskinen. Since they're both mid-2nd and later picks, odds are neither of them will develop into a meaningful player anyway.