Quote:
Originally Posted by 868904
Won't happen now, but would Flames fans have been okay with it if the Flames sent Iggy to the Canucks straight up for Kassian? Would that have been a better return than what we ended up with?
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To answer your question, NO! I would not be okay with it because Iginla means too much to this franchise to trade him to a hated division rival, that means no Oilers, no Canucks.
But I would trade Penguins' 1st, Agostino, and Hankowski straight up for Zach Kassian. Kassian is exactly the type of "prospect"/young player the Flames need. If previous drafts are any indication, you won't get a player like Kassian late in the first round (a guy like Tom Wilson went 16th last season) unless you get lucky in later rounds. And it's not like prospects with Kassian's size and skill set are a dime a dozen either.
From what I saw of Kassian, he's going to be an NHL player, likely a nice, physical top 6 player, a meaner post-Canuck version of Bertuzzi. He's inconsistent which makes his upside questionable, but he has one of the nicest skillsets I've seen in a "power forward prospect" in a while. Compared to other power forwards his size and age, I think he's top 3 in terms of combination of size, physical play, skating, shot, puck protection, fighting, and playmaking. But of course that can mean little since he's still a prospect.
Honestly, I didn't like the Hodgson trade at the time since I felt the Canucks traded a useful player for a player who won't contribute to their playoff run and they should aim to win now, but after seeing them get run over by Boston, I felt Mike Gillis had the right idea. You need guys like that in your lineup.