Seriously, I really don't get people that still hope we do.
Last year and part of the EK trade was also to move out a few bad contracts along with the 1st overall that I'm sure KD regrets doing.
Look at how the draft played out, we would have had a shot at Helenius, Eiserman etc..
This is exactly it on the EK trade. We got a hall of fame defenseman who was on a contract that couldn’t be traded to 90% of the league. We were in the exact right position in terms of having contracts we needed to get rid of, and not being true Cup contenders, to take on EK’s contract. As fans, instead of watching Petry, Granlund, and Ruutta every night, we had the opportunity to watch EK. But to your point, we lost a 1st. We don’t need to stay in the business of trading away 1sts.
Graves to a team needing a LD.
Maybe Accairi to Columbus and we take Laine.
Not adding anything.
I’m curious to see how this defense does with Rierden gone. I know it will take some time to see how this defense finally shapes out under Quinn, but maybe Graves ends up looking better by the trade deadline, and that is the time to trade him. We don’t need cap space right now, we need assets. . . Graves isn’t an asset unless he establishes himself as being a positive contributor.