Quote:
Originally Posted by ColonialsHockey10
Are you ****ing kidding? Waddell is a moron. Staal and MDZ are waaaayyy better then Bergfors, Dubinsky pretty even with Oduya, Kreider/Grachev/Stepan are 10 times more valuable then Cormier and our 1st round pick most likely will be more valuable then the devils.
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Waddell may be a moron, but not when he asks for so much. Teams have the right to say no. They also have the right to make a counter offer. I'm sure he asked the Devils for much more and compromised with the offer he eventually took. That's how deals get made.
I was once told by a WHA GM that every organization spends a great deal of time rating their own players. For example, the Rangers have all of their NHL defensemen and defensive prospects ranked internally. You will hear Gordie Clark or Jim Schoenfeld talk up a player but they will never say so and so is ahead of what's his name in our eyes. That's classified. My GM friend (who is now deceased) told me that once a team sours on their own players, that's when they get moved. The trick is to make the deal before everyone else finds out what you know. Knowing your own players is a big competitive advantage. And it also accounts for why a deal sometimes gets made where a new GM gets a player(s) from their old team that they know well.
Waddell ended up with a similar return as he got for Hossa; a useful player (Oduya/Armstrong) a younger player who may/may not work out (Christensen/Bergfors), a prospect (Esposito/Cormier) and a late 1st. The Kovalchuk return was a little better because of Bergfors. Unfortunately, for Atlanta, it's not a lot.