Quoting: emoprettyboy
oh I have read that part. it just doesn’t matter! no Jiricek, no Tkachuk. no amount of saying “you can have other stuff though!” changes that
Okay, let's analyze this, and why it's a strong indicator of bad-faith reasoning. Why would Jiricek be a prerequisite?
Well, there's the obvious - he's a high-quality RD prospect. It could be that Ottawa also needs high-quality RD. In such a case, the #4OA is quite likely to provide exactly that, depending on who you pick - a high quality RD prospect. Jiricek isn't "better" because he's ready now or something - the guy needs more development time. He will not be fixing problems "now". So you're getting largely the same thing, if that specifically is your goal. Our preference for keeping Jirieck instead of just taking the #4OA ourselves would be mostly because he's already familiar with the organization and the systems here and so that's a bit of a head start - one which he would not have in Ottawa, because Ottawa is not Columbus, so the value proposition isn't there.
Most of the time, however, when someone demands a high-end prospect like that and declares it non-negotiable, it isn't because said prospect fits a need for their team - it's strictly punitive towards the requesting team for daring to ask about Their Beloved Guy. Since you are actively turning down an asset that is equivalent or even potentially
better in terms of fitting the ostensible need that Jiricek would fit, I am obliged to conclude one of two things.
Either:
1) You have a severe misperception as to how NHL-ready Jiricek presently is and haven't bothered to reseearch further, or
2) You're just being punitive and petty, and doubling down less out of Ottawa's interest and more out of pure vindictive spite.
Which is it?