Artturi Lehkonen trade continues to be the talk of the town

We had a big day yesterday at the trade deadline, especially with the Montreal Canadiens.

The big trade of the day, from Kent Hughes, continues to generate a lot of reactions from journalists and fans in Colorado.

They like what Artturi Lehkonen can bring, but they simply can't believe Justin Barron was traded, especially with the precarious health of their other excellent young defenseman, Bowen Byram.

Barron is a mobile, agile back with great potential, compared even to a certain Alex Pietrangelo.


On top of that, let's remember that Kent Hughes also got his hands on a second round pick, a very solid return for Lehkonen.

Plus, let's remember that the organization was short on quality young right-handed defensemen. They have a whole bunch of them now.

The trade makes many happy in Montreal (even though we loved Lehkonen), but it's not unanimous in Colorado.

In particular, Adrian Dater, one of the main reporters assigned to cover the Avalanche, was really not happy that Joe Sakic let the young Barron go.


Dater really seems to see it big...and reading the fan comments in Colorado, he's not the only one who is very skeptical of the trade. Again, nothing against Lehkonen, but the price paid is a big one and in a few years, Justin Barron could really make them regret March 21.

And you, are you happy with the deal?