Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashasx
We trade an elite player for players we hope can fill a void eventually? Good players, but players who aren't nearly as rare and competent as Hamilton.
Yes, it's very similar. And we saw the character assassination from the Edmonton media following that trade, we're seeing the same now from our own media.
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Hamilton wasn't an elite player though. When tasked with carrying his defense pair he was a mess. He played his best when he was second-fiddle to Giordano (or Chara).
Hall was an elite player. He carried his line, and made guys like RNH, Eberle, Draisaitl appear better than they actually were.
Hamilton, like Monahan and Nugent-Hopkins, is a Robin. Giordano, Gaudreau, and Hall are Batmans. Brodie has even had more success carrying his pair with scrubs like Russell, Stone, Engelland, etc.
Saying Hamilton is an elite player is like saying Justin Schultz is an elite player. No, he's a very talented player who can have success in the right situation. He wasn't Zach Werenski or even Hampus Lindholm. He COULD figure it out later in his career and become elite, but at present nothing about his play inspired confidence that if Giordano had gone down, he could even have held down the fort.
Let's consider it like this: We traded a 25yo Dman with 27 5v5 points for a 22 yo Dman with 23 5v5 points in about 150 fewer minutes AND only 1/3rd the amount of penalties.
If any part of the trade stings, as Treliving noted it's the Ferland part, because while Ferland isn't elite, his package of tools makes him pretty much a unicorn in the NHL.