Marc Bergevin might have made the same mistake as Stan Bowman once did...
In 2016, the Chicago Blackhawks were still considered a good team in the NHL. These were full of good players, who also had big paychecks, including, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith to only name a few.
Stan Bowman, the team's general manager, was in a precarious situation with the salary cap at the time. So he had to get rid of a heavy contract that off-season. The sacrificed was Bryan Bickell, one of the Hawks' Stanley Cup winning heroes in the spring of 2015. However, this one had slowed down considerably in 2015-2016, hence his two meager points in 25 games that year. Remember that he had an average salary of $4 million per season.
Bickell was then traded to the Carolina Hurricanes along with a certain Teuvo Teravainen, in return for a second round pick in 2016 and a third round pick in 2017.
Obviously, the cornerstone of this deal is Teuvo Teravainen, now an All-Star for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Stan Bowman was not satisfied with the young Finn's performance with the Blackhawks, so he threw in the towel very quickly with him. Teravainen had 35 points in his second NHL campaign, at the age of 21. However, he only had one assist in seven playoff games. So the Hawks gave up early on the man who was the team's first round pick in 2012.
Not for nothing, Teravainen has accumulated a total of 260 points in 334 games, including a 76-point season in 2018-2019, since his arrival in Raleigh. It's easy to say that Ron Francis, the Canes' general manager at the time, slammed a whole circuit. The Canes no longer have Bickell on their payroll, as he is retired, and the two players sectioned with picks received by the Hawks have not broken into the NHL... Carolina can easily afford to scream VICTORY on this one.
Could we see a repeat of this scenario with Jesperi Kotkaniemi? It's déjà vu for the Canes to acquire a 21-year-old Finnish forward who hasn't reached his full potential. Marc Bergevin gave up quickly on KK, just as Bowman did in 2016 with Teravainen. Are the stars aligned for such an outcome to occur again? In all honesty, it's possible...
