There is a very old expression that goes..."You can't argue with success." That is generally true, but it is pretty hard to square off what has happened with Montreal over the last week and say it's "ok" because the team went to the Cup Finals.
The Canadiens have acquired Christian Dvorak for a first-round pick and a second-round pick and Kotkineimi...The chances that Dvorak, who has yet to score 20 goals or get 40 points in a season turns out to be better than Kotkiniemi, or the the first-rounder or the second-rounder isn't very good. Dvorak is a serviceable second or third-line center. Kotkiniemi has already shown to be a strong second-line center with serious upside and the strength of next year's draft anywhere in the first round should land you a top-line player...
Ok so maybe it's a bit unfair to say this trade is Dvorak for Kotkiniemi, a #1 and a #2, but the reality is the Canadiens chose Dvorak OVER Kotkiniemi, a #1 and a #2. Montreal bet on Dvorak over the other three because they were in serious damage control land, embarrassed to go into next season without a Kotkiniemi replacement. So Arizona held ALL the leverage. And honestly, I'm surprised they didn't hold up Montreal for even more. However optimistic you are, I don't think there is any way of saying Montreal WON this trade or came out better....
And this whole thing, Kotkiniemi willing to sign away from Montreal goes to how they mishandled this kid over the last few years...especially this past playoff run.
Eichel Update... "The Kings also are VERY much all-in on Eichel." This from a highly trusted LA source...I am getting a sense that once Eichel has the surgery something could happen as soon as his rehab begins...