Quoting: Pensfan89
That’s a weak argument. Detroit has drafted top 10 for how many straight years? Just because he wouldn’t be a top 5 prospect in Detroit doesn’t mean he loses value. As you said he is still a top prospect and still a 1st round quality prospect. I’m not saying Detroit should trade him. They are in no rush as he still has 2 years left on his contract. If they do trade him, they likely retain half on his contact too so they get more. But that’s not suggested in this scenario.
That would be 5 years. Michael Rasmussen, Filip Zadina, Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond, Simon Edvinsson, 9, 6, 6, 4, 6 overall respectively.
Not every team is gifted a Lemieux or Crosby when they hit rock bottom. Although, to be fair, in the early 2000s, Pitt had 5, 1, 2, 1, 2 overall consecutively in order to build their success. Not exactly a fair comparison, as talent tends to drop off after pick 3.
Not all prospect pools are created equal. Poulin may have value to Pittsburgh, but would he better than Bertuzzi, Vrana, Zadina, Fabbri, Raymond, and Berggren? Some of them, maybe. If Detroit retains 4 of those players, then Poulin's best bet would likely be in the middle 6. Is it worth trading your only Top 6 center for a middle 6 winger and a mid-late 1st? Even if Poulin somehow becomes better than all of those wingers (unlikely, to say the least), Detroit doesn't have another Top 6 center. Would a better winger replace a Top 6 center? Not worth it.
For clarity, I'm not saying that Poulin doesn't have value. What I'm saying is value fluctuates depending on which teams are involved. Poulin doesn't have as much value to the Wings as he would to other teams.