I'm not knocking it at all. I liked it then and like it more now (unfortunately for Drysdale). My point is that no one saw it coming, and the fact that there were plenty here that didn't like the return at the time is evidence that it wasn't a heist for Verbeek. It was fair value on both sides.
The Zegras trade proposed in that piece (Farabee + 1st + 3rd for Zegras) is a bit light for my tastes, but it's not ridiculous by any stretch of the imagination. Farabee is a good young player who is having a MUCH better season than Zegras. How much you want to mitigate that because of the injury is up to you, but injuries can't be hand-waved away, either.
I would argue that there is an organizational need for two-way players who can play in the top-6. Right now, there is one guy in the Ducks top-6 who you can legitimately call a two-way player, and that guy is hours away from being dealt. Terry is solid on the defensive side of the puck, but he's not considered a defensive stalwart by the organization as evidenced by his usage. Farabee isn't exactly Mark Stone, but he's been solid on the defensive side of the puck this year, and has been used to kill penalties in the past.
Further, I would somewhat disagree with the notion that Zegras is being dealt from a position of organizational weakness. The Ducks have three top-6 centers right now, arguably four if you include Gauthier. I'm all for it if they want to roll three deep with Carlsson-McTavish-Zegras down the middle, but that seems unlikely. If you move Zegras to the wing, he could potentially flourish there, but it's a risk. And the results were mixed when the Ducks tried that earlier in the season.
Farabee is not as good a player as Zegras, but I think what you give up in offense, you almost get back in defense, which is something the Ducks could use. And the difference in value there is at least partly made up by the two picks proposed in the piece.
To sum up - I am not enthusiastic about dealing Zegras, nor am I saying I love the proposed deal. I think it's light for the Ducks. But I think it's reasonable, and, while all the Zegras trade stuff is pure speculation, if the media are going to make stuff up to talk about, then why not talk about trading Zegras?