Edited Jun. 7, 2023 at 8:31 a.m.
Quoting: MitchJr
The league is full of players that have ‘grit’ - work hard, take the body, show leadership, win face offs. I’m not discounting that but bottom 6 players can be obtained (Acciari for example) at lower aav and no acquisition cost. And Yes points matter more than anything else; offense is what pays the bills. Players like Laughton are valuable but in no scenario, under no circumstances, in no way are they worth a 1st round draft pick +. Just insanity to try to argue that but keep on trying
I get what you're saying but again, Acciari is not a Laughton. In the simplest terms, acciari had a career high of 27 pts back in 2017 or 2018, and has been pretty pedestrian/an afterthought in the bottom 6 since, similar to Motte and a dozen other guys. Its also Accari was a 1mil+ UFA, and TOR didnt just give up a solid midlevel prospect, a 1st, a 2nd, a 3rd and a 4th for O'Reilly alone, so Accairi did cost some of that. Theres a contract and age difference too, but as you've posted before if Laughton is an Engvall or an Acciari to you, we'll never agree.
And Toronto doesn;t lack on offense, they lack on all around skill, leadership and yes, grit that can play in top 6-8 minutes. Theres a reason leafs have brought in Foligno, Nash, Ritchie, Bunting, O'reilly, Clifford, Simmonds, Gabriel, Lafferty, Acciari in the past 2-3 yrs, its to bring top 9 grit, and hopefully some production with it.
Laughton comparables, much older guys like expiring and more expensive UFAs Foligno and O@reilly brought in a 1st and more by Toronto alone