Yes. And really, I don't even see how either Tinordi or Beaulieu can be better than McDonagh. He has more tools than both of them. And that's assuming Beaulieu can make it as an every day NHLer because right now, his defensive play leaves a lot to be desired.
The only thing Tinordi has over McDonagh is size & physical play. Skating, hockey sense, defensive game, offensive output... McDonagh beats him in all of those. Beaulieu only beats McDonagh in terms of offensive game & skating. If he can't improve his defensive game, it won't matter how good his offensive game & skating is because he won't be in the NHL.
Nobody's making McDonagh out to be the holy grail, but if we had traded, say, Carey Price 5-6 years ago for some over the hill schmuck with a bad contract, everyone here would still be complaining that we gave up a starting goaltender for the next 10+ years for this schmuck and imagining how our goaltending situation would be better. If we never trade McDonagh, our lack of defensive depth doesn't look so bad right now. A top-4 of McDonagh-Subban & Markov-Gorges would look pretty damn good to me.
