Ray Shero even said, this gives Jordan Staal an expanded role. He's going to be 24 soon, and there is only so much a player can take playing in a limited role. It stunts growth and development, and makes it hard to negotiate for a fat pay day. He's an elite scorer, as he has shown when injuries happened to Crosby and/or Malkin in 10/11, and then was our best player in the playoffs (6-6-3-9) this past spring against Philadelphia. He was taken 2nd overall to not be a grinder/energy grunt player like a Matt Cooke. He's a first line quality player. In Carolina he'll thrive with his brother, creating awesome chemistry enjoying years befitting of a player his stature. He just went from a 50 point third liner to a potential 75-85 point 1st liner over night. Bank on it, he'll be damn near a point-per-game next season.
So it's a great trade for both sides. Sprig, you'll love Brian Dumoulin. I believe he'll be as every bit as good as Kris Letang. Brandon Sutter gives us an appropriate third line centerman, who is strong on face offs. Owns a solid two-way game. Don't know much about the guy we drafted, but if the kid pans out, we burned Jim Rutherford on this deal. I just wished we took Filip Forsberg instead. I am not convinced we'll get Zach Parise. If we do, great! Then this really works in our favour! But if not, we just traded away a 1st line quality player. A young one. And as the Montreal GM said, those just don't come along everyday.
