Anaheim Steals Chris Pronger

Edmonton has traded Chris Pronger to the Ducks for right winger Joffrey Lupul, defenceman Ladislav Smid and three draft picks.

At first glance, it's an underwhelming return for the man who practically owned the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Lupul is a solid young NHL scorer. Smid is a high-end defensive prospect. The Oilers always seem to have boatloads of both, and their fans must be roundly sick of hearing about "potential".

As for the draft picks - two first-round selections and one second rounder - what are they worth? Teams trading their picks are often said to be "mortgaging the future." Please. Unlike 30-minute defensemen who command the flow of a game, draft picks are plentiful and infinitely renewable: every team gets one in every round every year. There's plenty to go around. If Anaheim finds itself short on prospects a few years from now, it can simply restock the draft-pick shelf by unloading a few veterans.

In any case, a draft pick is nothing more than a chance to get someone who might turn into a player someday. And with Pronger and Scott Niedermayer manning the blueline into the future, how high will Anaheim be picking?

Postscript: In Edmonton's defense, the long run will likely show that the Oilers got more back for Pronger than they paid to get him a year ago (sending defenseman Eric Brewer, defensive prospect Jeff Woywitka and minor-leaguer Doug Lynch to St. Louis). They also probably did better than the Bruins did in the Joe Thornton trade. The moral of the story: unless one of the prospects or draft picks turns out to be a home run, it's impossible to get full value when you trade a blue-ribbon hockey star.