We’ve officially entered Trade Deadline Silly Season, that time of year where anyone with a Twitter account can throw out a ridiculous trade proposal. One thing you’ll notice about trade proposals: the team giving the prospects always, always, always overvalues the prospects.
Somewhere in the bowels of Twitter, for example, you’ll find Bruins fans who wouldn’t trade Anders Bjork for Alexander Ovechkin. Based on the oft-repeated and rephrased excuse:
“He’s got so much potential, you can’t move him! Think of his upside!”
You might remember this line of thinking from this Family Guy clip.
Fans always want to get without giving anything that hurts, which is obviously never the way it works. If the Bruins are going to upgrade their lineup by a week from today, they’re going to have to lose something of value to do it.
With at least one prospect likely heading out of town as part of some kind of deal, Bruins fans are going to be doing a lot of talking about their prospects in the week to come.
It’ll hurt, but are there any who should be completely left out of trade discussions? For the sake of discussion, we’ll leave current roster players (Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, Peter Cehlarik, Matt Grzelcyk, etc.) out of this and go strictly with prospects.
The Untouchables
The only two prospects who should be considered untouchable are Jack Studnicka and Urho Vaakanainen. Each is the Bruins’ best prospect at his position, and each very nearly made the pro roster out of training camp. Hell, one might’ve stuck around had they not gotten clobbered by Mark Borowiecki. Both have distinguished themselves as members of their respective clubs and of their countries. They have little to prove anymore.
Both are ready to step onto the Bruins’ roster next season if their camps are good, with little seasoning required. Plus, each player fills a need for the Bruins: Studnicka as a center who can provide offense, and Vaakanainen as a mobile defenseman.
There aren’t any players on the market right now who would provide enough of a boost to make it worth losing either of these guys. Two months of Artemi Panarin? Nah. Several weeks of Mark Stone? No thanks.
So, who isn’t considered untouchable?
Literally everyone else.
First-round pick, second-round pick, Ryan Donato, Bjork, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Ryan Fitzgerald, Jeremy Lauzon, Jakub Zboril, Jakub Lauko...you name it, they should be considered.
I’d even throw roster guys like Grzelcyk or Heinen in a package before including Studnicka or Vaakanainen.
It’s tough, of course, because none of these players has the same value as Studnicka or Vaakanainen, so you’re likely going to be faced with a situation where you have to give up a couple of them to make up the difference.
Would you rather give up, say Donato and a first-round pick, or give up Studnicka and a third?
To me, the upside offered by Vaakanainen and Studnicka dwarfs that of the rest of the prospect group, making it easier to part with more than one of them.
What do you think? Would you be fine with dealing Studnicka or Vaakanainen? Are there other prospects who should be considered untouchable?