Wow. That’s all I can say. Check out the stats on Vaakanainen at the bottom of the article - he has 1 point in 5 games this season, and is currently on the IR. Overall he has 25 points - 1 goal, 24 assists - in 141 regular season games.
They traded the captain for a guy on the IR and a pick.
Yikes, not even a first round pick, either. I guess they decided they aren’t turning things around this season.
They just wanted out of the contract, they were going to waive him if he didn’t accept a trade