It's hard to evaluate keeping Patch or trading him cause we don't know what actual offers we are getting for him. I am not in favor for trading him for cheap though. A fair deal to me is a solid 1st round pick in the 2018 draft and good grade B prospect. That is my bench mark (the lowest return I trade Patch for). Otherwise, I entertain re-signing him. He had a rough season last year and is not trending well. So I think we would be able to get him signed for 5 years (ish) at $6.5m (max)
I agree, his year end exit interview with the media had him stating that what counted for him was where he would be playing, not how much he would be making. Pretty certain that Pacioretty is ripe for a home town discount on a 5 or 6 year deal, provided he gets an offer in the offseason.
If MON can't get fair value for Pacioretty, I would entertain the idea of keeping him and moving Galchenyuk instead. I'm still not sold on Galchenyuk wanting to re-sign with MON when his contract is over in just two years. We do know that Pacioretty wants to play here. We just need to make sure he isn't the go-to guy on offense and he will thrive in that role, IMHO.
MON needs help at C, period. LW depth for the top-9 should be (if Patches remains and Chucky is traded) Drouin, Pacioretty, Hudon, with a scoring RW to play with Drouin (may be early for Zadina, but an eventual fit, so Gallagher to start), a playmaking RW with Pacioretty (Scherbak fits the bill as one of our better playmakers, period) and a two-way RW for the third line (Zadina at first and Gallagher afterwards).
MON won't have elite depth at C any time soon, so getting three balanced lines and a solid fourth line should enable the head coach to roll out for lines, with the top three lines (including Gallagher in an eventual 3rd line role -- the heresy, I know) getting comparable ice time and appropriate match-ups against opponents' lines.
I could see a trade of Galchenyuk, Weber and Lehkonen with FLA for Matheson, Borgström and the 15th pick. FLA won't be hurting at C with the young talent and depth already present on their team at the position and the GM did say that their priority was acquiring a top-4 D on the right side to play with Yandle because they were giving up too many goals. I'd even throw in the 66th pick if necessary
With MON then signing a Stasny for 4 years at 7M (I like the term and we can afford the Cap hit), after signing Pacioretty for 5 years at 6.5M and Danault for 6 years at 3.5M, the lineup could look something like:
Drouin - Stasny - Gallagher
Pacioretty - Borgström - Scherbak
Hudon - Danault - Zadina
Byron - Evans - Shaw
Matheson - Petry
Alzner - Juulsen
Mete - Benn
I'd concentrate on picking Ds with our 2nd rounders, maybe trying to upgrade from the 15th pick (throwing in one of the 2nd rounders) to land a C (maybe Kotkaniemi, Hayton or Veleno) or a D like Bouchard, depending on how far he slips. There are enough quality Ds, as well, to land in the 2nd round, IMHO.
In the third year of the Stasny contract, I'd hope to see:
Drouin - Borgström - Zadina
Pacioretty - Poehling - Scherbak
Hudon - Stasny - Gallagher
Danault - Evans - Shaw
Matheson - Bouchard
Mete/MacIssac?/Alexeyev?/K'Andre Miller? - Brook
MacIssac?/Alexeyev?/K'Andre Miller?/Mete - Juulsen
In the last year of the Stasny contract, I'd either use him for a playoff push, or trade him at the deadline for futures, depending on players acquired at LW over time. Danault can easily replace him at C on the third line.
