Quote:
Originally Posted by Oil Stain
I would think he has to come close to a 20 goal scorer for this to be a win down the road for Calgary.
You don't give up a second rounder for forechecking and decent without the puck. That's Lance Bouma.
Lazar will need to be an above average third liner for this to be a win IMO, because you can get an average third liner for free from free agency.
Can he be that player? Maybe.
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The difference between Lazar and a UFA third liner is he is in the young 20s age range. I'm looking at it as yet another kick at the 2013 draft can. So far the Flames haven't graduated any of their lower 1st rounders from that draft and didn't have one in 2015, so need to beef up that age range. (The other difference with a UFA is proven production, but I digress)
I'm not having much patience for the endless parsing of the value of a second round pick. They paid futures for a player who can contribute now and should hit their prime in the next few years as the Flames start to seriously compete. Whether it was a good 2nd or a bad 2nd is not that relevant.
Ultimately it comes down to how he performs. On paper he looks pretty meh so far but if he contributes in the next few years then the trade worked as intended.