Let’s jump into a modified Game in 10, starting with some first thoughts on the trade.
I’ll start by saying that I must be careful comparing actual trades to hypothetical trades. What was the specific asking price from Craig Conroy that Brad Treliving would’ve needed to meet to win the Tanev sweepstakes over Jim Nill in Dallas knowing Treliving did not have second-round picks available? We need to know this information before making any concrete judgments.
After sizing up the Dallas-Calgary deal (2nd+cond. 3rd+okay prospect), I can picture a version of the Leafs trading a first-round pick and a prospect for Tanev, getting back a mid-level draft pick in the deal, and then seeing the gap in ability between Tanev and Ilya Lyubushkin (it’s large) as totally worth the difference in the aggregate pick/prospect value.