Quote:
Originally Posted by topfiverecords
We have Travis Hamonic. A young top 4 D man under a decent contract. Treliving didn’t just accidentally drop the first round pick out of his wallet on the sidewalk.
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This is true - its very unlike Florida who gave up Marchessault for nothing (arguably performing like a top 5 overall pick), Columbus who gave up Karlsson for nothing (arguably performing like a top 5 pick), Edmonton that gave up Hall for Larson, etc.
But it might turn out this way if the flames draft pick ends up being the first overall...in which case, you can say "no way brad knew this would happen". This is true. But equally true is the statement that "brad knew this was a possibility." And if he knew it was a possibility, why not try to mitigate it by adding the ability to protect the pick if it ended up being a top 5 overall? If the probability it would turn out to be the first overall pick was low, then logic dictates that the cost to insure against this event would also be low.
You know who did protect a draft pick? Burke. And those picks ended up being Seguin and Hamilton - but at least burke got a legit franchise player out of it. Hamonic is many things; a franchise player is not one of them.