Joined: May 2015
Posts: 19,601
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Ok lets not exaggerate. Neiderreiter is good but he's not that good. Yeah they probably could got a better return for him but their must have been some other motives like cap saving and such.
Nino's had a couple 20 goal seasons but other than that 1 year where he scored 50+ points and earned that big contract, he hasn't done anything that amazing. Not that Rask has either but Rask is a faceoff winning center that can score pretty much in the same ball park as Nino can and will do it for approx 6M less over the term of his contract.
Can't just look at this years stats and make a judgement on a player. Rask may have less points than Nino but he is not that far off in terms of quality of player. The only reason people are crying bloody foul is because Rask, with the season he's had thus far, should have been worth a little less. So technically since Nino is not having a terrible year, Carolina should have had to add a pick IMO. With that said, it all depends how much money is a factor. Like I said, Minny just saved approx 6M over the course of that contract and replaced a winger who are much easier to attain with a decent center whose younger and cheaper.
Yeah Minny may have "lost" the trade in the public court but its by no means a steal either. Rask could very easily come in and score the same pace Nino has been this year and Nino could very well have trouble scoring the same way Rask and Carolina as a team are having. That isn't a stretch. Who here thought Tatar would be outscoring Pacioretty? Who here thought Domi would be outscoring Galchenyuk?