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Originally Posted by Resolute 14
Brandon Saad is a winger, not a centre, and had only one 23-goal season to his credit at the time of that trade.
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Tyler Toffoli is a winger in the NHL as well, though. But yes, Saad had a worse resume. But value with young players isn't always defined by resume.
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Ryan O'Reilly is your best comparison. And he was dealt for two guys drafted in the first round and a second rounder (plus spare parts both ways). This for a guy who already held-out once.
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Drafted in the first round, but neither of those guys even together hold remotely the value of Sam Bennett. Whether we have guys of exactly comparable value is debatable but I'd think the Shinkaruks and Jankowskis are closer than the Bennetts and Tkachuks. That much is clear from draft position alone but post-draft value also favours Bennett over the other two.
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In terms of Toffoli, Lombardi is no amateur. He knows the value of his player, and unlike the Hamilton and O'Reilly situations, isn't in a spot where the relationship is damaged. So yeah, based on what O'Reilly got, I would say Bennett and a first would be a good comparable.
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I agree Lombardi is no amateur, but there also aren't 29 other teams that have the cap space, asset base,
and roster hole to pursue aggressively.
Very rarely are Sam Bennett type players moved at all and the Kings know that kind of ask is unrealistic. Teams in cap hell generally accept that they are "losing the deal" assuming they are not much worse off.
And this is all digression from the initial point - that there are always options IF you have the cap flexibility. Which in itself is an asset whose value needs to be considered. There just isn't much room in the NHL specifically to make that flexibility - particularly when over-30 players are involved - outside of expiring contracts and a handful of unequivocally undesirable options like Buyouts, Salary Retention, and negative-value trades.