Quote:
Originally Posted by jayswin
I mean there's no way for the Flames to know they're facilitating getting a true number 1 center or else the trading partner wouldn't be trading said player.
It's about taking an asset that has expressed he doesn't want to be here through a rebuild, combined with the fact that not signing him means signing a 10 goal, 40-50 point D-man to an $8+AAV retirement contract at 29, where most of the years will be declining vs trading him where the league views him as a huge asset for teams competing now and his ridiculously low cap hit with 50% retention is a prudent move for this rebuild.
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If he's worth $8M+ X 8 (so, say $68M), another team would have to pay him $9.7M AAV over a 7 year deal for the same dollar value contract. If he's worth nearly $10M/yr, he has to be seen by some GM as a #1D, and if he's not, then he won't get paid that much, either by the Flames or by another team. And I haven't seen any recent statement from Andersson that he doesn't want to be here for the rebuild, and in fact, he very recently said that he wants to stay, knowing full well what the team's current situation is.
He is definitely our most valuable trade piece. So we can't trade him for a less valuable piece, particularly not a middle 6 forward or a middle pairing D. There has to be a plan in place to turn him and other assets into a top line player, either through the draft or through the acquisition of a high-end prospect. Or else easily transferred assets that could collectively turn into something bigger.