Trottier

True. But it's an even better time, as you suggest, to not do anything to disrupt a strength of the team. Nothing.

Just an opinion, but I see this as a deal for the sake of making a deal. Especially for the Ducks, there is really no specific feature (incentive) to this trade. I consider Sykora to be clearly the more versatile offensive forward compared to Parrish, and he has significant playoff experience, which counts in trades.

I think the question needs to be asked: why does Edmonton do it? Smith, I understand, is headed toward free agency, correct? Still, Janne is a $2.9M contract, which is more than Smith makes. Don't see it. If Smith goes, he'll go at the deadline for a younger, cheaper replacement.