Alright, I haven't fired off any Fowler trade takes yet. A few things seem clear:
- Leddy isn't coming back anytime soon.
POJ isn't earning ice time.
They want to limit Suter's minutes.
They want to keep Broberg on second pair for now.
This trade really strikes me as the midseason MLB deal where a team acquires a middling starting pitcher just to eat innings. Fowler is going to play big minutes, and in fact led the team in icetime last night (nipped Parayko by a second). I'm willing to assume he'll play better in St. Louis than he did in Anaheim given that the Ducks seem to have a case of the Buffalo doom cycle going on recently. In that context, I get it. The price was about 50 spots in a draft 2 years from now, and a prospect that doesn't seem like he'll ever get close to the NHL. Value wise I think it's a fair deal after Anaheim ate about a third of the cap hit.
Having said that, was it the right use of resources for this team? I guess that all depends on Fowler. He's got one more year left after this season. At that point, if not sooner, you'd think Broberg would be ready for the top line role, and Lindstein will be on the roster. If they can jettison Leddy at some point, I think this is fine. Acquiring D is never cheap, and if it improves the current team while buying time for the young guys to get ready for the right role, sure. I also think we'll see some draft capital added through trading Saad and maybe Suter. Was it an entirely necessary trade? No, not at all, but I don't think it's nearly as bad as some others seem to.
In summary...whatever.