Conacher's always been an AHL monster though. Didn't he lead the league in goals/points with Norfolk?
Even if he is significantly better than that now, I don't think that necessarily translates into a better NHL performance. It's just hard to develop much faith in Conacher at the NHL level, given how many times we've seen him be an elite AHL player, and then a fringe NHLer.
And the thing about Joseph is, even if Conacher could put up more points, I don't think he could provide the other things Joseph provides, like beating out icings, killing penalties, and extending possession through hard work. Our third line was effective way before they started scoring. Up until a few games ago, they were all at 0.3 ppg or under. Now they've blown up a little bit, which makes it even better, but I'm just saying, there are more reasons Conacher won't make this team other than scoring ability. We have a pretty good thing going, chemistry-wise, right now. And Conacher's never proven himself to be such a make-or-break player that we should disrupt that.