The issue is he's only useful as a top-6 winger. You talk about "20 goals", but he's not scoring that from the Eller line, and he's probably not scoring that from the Plekanec shutdown line. He can only score that from the Desharnais line as our team is currently structured, and there are other players who can do that better: Pacioretty, Cole, and soon, Galchenyuk.
Like I said, re-evaluate at the end of the season.
I disagree. Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of Bourque. I would have kept a home grown talent in AK over him, if having an inconsistent/depth player.
That being said, I think RC greatly contributed to Bourque's poor outcome.
He was placed with Plekanec (and grinder) with tough match ups in a shutdown role. Not at all what his ideal spot should be.
I think he could fair well versus weaker opponents, with a skilled forward like Eller.
He has no business on Plekanec's wing. But our offensive should be better balanced. Putting Max-Cole with DD again won't lead us anywhere. Plek needs one of those wingers, ideally Cole, to be completed by Gionta. They could be a strong first line capable of shutting down top oppositions.
DD can keep MaxPac as they've been great together. You can even try adding Bourque to those two, with MaxPac there, he'll have a lot less pressure to be that bigger body who needs to be the first on the forecheck and have a net presence.
If he's placed with Eller, he again gets another big body next to him, he also gets a strong puck handler and faces much weaker opponents. So again, it helps him.
I don't think all is lost with Bourque, and at a 3.33M cap, I think he might just be worth the risk.