Remember Erik Brannstrom? The Swedish defenseman was the 15th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft and had aspirations to be a Vegas Golden Knights staple. He could jump into transition and be one of the better attacking defensemen in the NHL.
He also had an incredible hockey sense and skated around the ice effortlessly. All these tools would be coveted by nearly every NHL team. That's especially true with puck-moving defensemen becoming all the rage nowadays.
However, that never came to fruition. Instead, Brannstrom was traded to the Ottawa Senators in a megadeal involving Mark Stone. In comes a forward who scored 108 goals and 215 assists in seven seasons with the Golden Knights. Out went a defenseman who scored... 10 goals and 67 assists in seven seasons.
Recent news has shown that trade continues to be a proven winner for Vegas. Brannstrom is no longer in the NHL after bouncing around with the Senators and Vancouver Canucks. Now? He's joining the Swiss club, Lausanne HC.
It's an interesting tale of going all-in on a trade. Normally, it's the team receiving prospects that's on the winning end of such deals. However, that centerpiece in the megadeal eventually became the Golden Knights captain and a community staple. As for Brannstrom? You can't say the same about him.
Winning organizations make moves like this
Say what you want about the Golden Knights and the LTIR jokes. But it shows why a team like Vegas has made the Stanley Cup playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons. Having tremendous foresight into a prospect's abilities (or lack thereof) shows how well the front office operates.
Just look at the Jack Eichel trade as a perfect example. When Eichel was traded from the Buffalo Sabres, people said the center was a locker room cancer and a liability. His injury history and need for an artificial disk in his neck would be too much to bear for Kelly McCrimmon and company.
However, the outgoing piece, Peyton Krebs, never lived up to the hype. The first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft only has 30 goals and 64 assists in six NHL seasons. Yes, one can say Alex Tuch stood out and remained his scoring Misfit self. However, you can't say the same for Krebs.
As for Eichel? Well, he just set the single-season franchise records for most assists (66) and most points (94). Tell me how that worked out for Vegas.
That's why the latest news is another notch under the Golden Knights' belt. It proves the Mark Stone deal worked wonders for them, giving them a leader who also scored a hat trick in the Stanley Cup-clinching game.
But the trade goes beyond a mere hat trick. It shows how organizations win and lose. Tell me, dear reader. Have the Ottawa Senators won a Stanley Cup since that trade? Think about that for a second.