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Originally Posted by The Coppernian One
I don't know how many of these are good examples though. If memory serves Beech wasn't really a high end prospect at that point, the Guerin trade didn't net a high end prospect in return, same for the Hossa trade (Erik Christensen was three years in the league at that point). Bernier may have been considered a good prospect, so I guess there's room to argue there.
The Smyth trade is probably a good example however with the inclusion of Robert Nilsson and to a lesser extent O'Marra.
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-Beech was 25 and had been traded for basically nothing earlier in the year; he wasn't worth anything.
-Bernier wasn't all that highly regarded and Buffalo shipped him off for a couple of mid round picks after 17 games, so they obviously didn't value him that highly.
-Esposito was in his 3rd straight year of decline and was barely putting up point per game numbers in the OHL as a 19 year old. He still had some hype from when he was 17, but his play was trending in the wrong direction.
Honestly, no one has come up with a top prospect being traded for a rental because it (almost) never happens. Nilsson's probably the closest, but even he was 4 years removed from the draft and there were real questions about his ability to adapt to the NHL at the time. Virtually without fail, it's always 2nd tier guys with some warts that get moved.
To use the Flames as an example, if they were a contender right now there's no way they'd ship out Baertschi or Gaudreau for a rental, but they might move a guy like Horak or Reinhart. That level of prospect (in addition to a 1st round pick and a half decent roster player and/or additional picks) is about what I'd expect in return for Iginla. Any talk of Hamilton or Pouliot is exceedingly unrealistic IMO.