Quoting: Radu47
Oof I hate getting into this but it's gotta be done:
Did y'all watch Garland play this season?
Often he was their offensive catalyst and carried their tope line, constantly creating chances, dominating the possession, arguable he outplayed Keller/Schmalz
I actually did watch his videos because of all this hype on him and I have been checking him out because of how much talk has been around him. He is good, but if the Devils are going to trade Mercer, I'd rather it for a pure scorer.
The guy has a real nice shot, but he's also 25 and should be right about his peak.
The Devils shouldn't be buying on someone like Garland while they are rebuilding and selling off a guy like Mercer.
Have you looked at the division the Devils are in? Is it wise to sell off for "now" assets while the top end is still on it's last gasps of holding on until PITT and WSH finally fall off?
Are the Devils going to be better than CAR, NYI, WSH, PITT, or even NYR next season? Now even PHI after the Ellis trade? What would be the point to trading off Mercer now for a piece that by the time the Devils grow into a real contender, now Garland is 27-28?
Leave the big asset deals for when you can actually make the move up. Now is not the time.
The Graves trade was one to at least establish something on the backend and only cost a 2nd. That I can live with.