Quoting: God8069
All fair points, but the Rossi/Boldy part is confusing to me. For the Sabres in this trade they have to do go for best available, not need. I think it isn't much of a question that Rossi>Boldy, and especially if it's a choice, I think they'd be foolish to go Boldy. Rossi can be a 1C imo, been a big supporter of him for awhile, very sad Sabres drafted Quinn over him still. Really hope I eat my words on that statement
Agreed, Rossi greater than Boldy. Of that, there is no dispute.
However, your not drafting the prospect, you're
acquiring the prospect and heading into a rebuild where you need to start thinking strategically about how everything fits once your done. When you draft a player your looking at players who most typically won't be making an impact on the roster for at least 3-4 years. Unless you're drafting within the top ten, in which case players can jump in right away or be up to 2 years out. The margin of error and time necessary is therefore shorter.
But by acquiring a more developed prospect that's closer to the NHL, you need to start thinking about overall team fit too... the best way to put this is its kinda like trying to put a square peg in a round hole analogy. Boldy and Khovanov/Khusnutdinov provides more overall depth and deeper scoring and better overall fit than just Rossi does. You've filled more holes on the upcoming roster and players can play where they best fit and not be forced into playing a secondary position because of a overabundance at one position.
Both Rossi and Cozens are best suited to being a 2C behind a Franchise center on a true cup contending team. They are too good at the center position to reasonably play them on the wing or on a 3rd line.
Shayne Wright is considered to be the next Crosby or McDavid. Brad Lambert a Mackinnon type. Mathew Savoie is a player in the same vein as Matthews, Eichel or Barkov. They are all Franchise level centers who will out class Rossi or Cozens and force them into a 2nd line role. Rossi has top line potential, but is considered to be a low-end 1C, high-end 2C. He's on a similar level to Scheifele, Barzal, or Larkin. So he's not necessarily what you'd call a franchise center like one of those 3 that Buffalo has a chance on.... and this is where strategic fit has to start being considered.
Kent Johnson has playmaking skills on par with Rossi, but there's a good chunk of people who think He'll be a winger in the NHL. This is perfect. Draft him in this years upcoming draft, and one of Wright, Lambert, or Savoie in 2022 and your team is literally going to be a top-six monster with added scoring depth... which is another major issue that Buffalo has.
Boldy-Wright/Lambert/Savoie-Johnson
Olofsson-Cozens-Quinn
Skinner-Khovanov/Khusnutdinov-Reinhart
Asplund-Mittelstadt-Routsalainen
Obviously, things and players could change and there are bad contracts to consider. But the lines above iterate my point. Players and lines complement eachother, are well balanced, and the overall roster is deeper more skilled and should provide much better depth scoring.
You've filled two major holes who fit the roster better instead of just one player who may or may not wind up on the wing or push Cozens to the wing instead.
My point is that keeping Rossi is more beneficial for us for our own center depth and Buffalo taking Boldy and Khovanov/Khusnutdinov is the smarter option for Buffalo due to a sped up rebuild, requiring less holes to fill and increased depth in its offense.