[Jay Random]

I think both trades were perfectly rational for the buyers.

The Canucks wanted to add another top-6 forward who can play a strong two-way game, preferably a centre who can also play wing if they need to shuffle lines. They've got a good prospect pool after years of being bad, and want the best possible shot at a deep playoff run with the team they've built. Lindholm checks all their boxes, and the price they paid doesn't gut their future. Brzustewicz is a good prospect, but offensive D is not a position of organizational need; Jurmo is a long shot; the draft picks are in the normal range for quality rentals.

The Jets wanted a scoring centre to fill the hole while Scheifele is injured, and (assuming Scheifele returns when expected) for depth in the playoffs. They wanted to get that guy on a cheap contract so they would not have to dump a roster player for cap reasons. Monahan checks those boxes.

Calgary and Montreal, on the other hand, are out of the picture this season and neither Lindholm nor Monahan was expected to re-sign. Logically, they had to sell to the highest bidders, and those were both pretty damn good bids.