Quoting: dannibalcorpse
Honestly it's not the -worst- proposal until the pick. Fills the RHD demand, sends back a younger cost-controlled forward who can play all over the lineup, what's not to like with the players?
I don't get the idea that a contender needs to be so precious with their 1st rounder, though. Carolina's picks for their 4 years under Rod Brind'Amour have been #28, #22, #27, and #27. For the sake of this bit, they're averaging pick #26. Here's the 10 guys picked at #26 from 2010-2019, in reverse order: Jakob Pelletier, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Jake Oettinger, Tage Thompson, Noah Juulsen, Nikita Scherbak, Shea Theodore, Brendan Gaunce, Stuart Percy, and Evgeny Kuznetsov. You're just as likely to draft a guy named Jake as you are to draft a legitimate NHL stud or an absolute scrub. It's truly a wild card of a pick, and I think it's worth noting that even of the guys who "made" it, even they were projects. Kuznetsov was drafted in 2010 and didn't become a Guy until 2015-16; Shea Theodore was a 2013 draftee who didn't pop til getting picked by Vegas and playing every day in 2017-18, Tage Thompson was a 2016 pick who just *this* season became a stud (think about how long ago 2016 was!!), and even an older (19 y/o in June 2017) draftee like Jake Oettinger took 3 years until he started making an impact.
Point is, it's more likely than not that you're getting, at best, a project player at where Carolina is drafting. With a lineup that screams Cup contender now (what else do you call a team with two 32+ goalies and two big offseason additions in 37 y/o Brent Burns and 36 y/o Paul Stastny), why *wouldn't* you take the gamble on giving up a lottery ticket 4 years from now to get over the hump?
I don’t think you understand how the Canes front office runs the organization. The Canes have historically not been a team to go after rentals, which Miller would be in this scenario, but they also have historically been reluctant to move any first rounder. Look at who they have moved first rounders ever since relocating from Hartford. They moved their 2021 first rounder to Nashville to move back to select Morrow and Koivunen, since 2021 was a more unpredictable draft after the first couple of selections. They gave up their 2020 first rounder for Skjei, and that investment has been paying off quite well, as it ended up also getting the Canes Jarvis. They moved their 2012 first rounder in a package for Jordan Staal, that has also worked out well. They moved their 2006 first rounder in a package to acquire Doug Weight, who had a big hand in helping the Canes win the Cup that year. They moved their 2004 first to move up from 8 to 4OA to select Andrew Ladd. And the only other instance the Canes have given up a first rounder since relocating was the offer sheet to KK, who they then signed to an 8 year extension. There is a theme to these trades, excluding up and down draft movement trades. The Canes only move their first rounders for players who will help them long term. No rentals were acquired using a first, but players who would play with the Canes over a longer period of time.
As for the drafting portion of your argument, the current Hurricane front office is a much better drafting and developing team than what it had been during the drought years. Now the Canes are quite good at making something out of nothing. A normal 2nd round selection in 2015 is already 2nd in that draft class in goals, only behind McDavid. Or a 4th round selection in 2012 has become the best defensive defenseman in the league.
So unless a player will be with the Canes long term and help them throughout their contract, much like the Staal and Skjei acquisitions, and unlike what happened with Hamilton and Trocheck, the Canes won’t move their first. Miller would be a rental, and the Canes won’t move Necas or Morrow for a rental, and they won’t move a first rounder for a rental.
I do hope you understand why Miller to Carolina will never happen. Apologies for the long rant, but I digress.