I just don't agree with this logic at all. It's like saying ''Zajac shouldn't be playing in the bottom 6 because he's a $6 million dollar (almost) player and has 3 years left'' or ''Schneider can't be the backup or 1b goalie, because he makes $6 million per year''.
I want the best guys in the best spots. So if Greene sucks, we need to keep him on the top pairing or middle pairing for the duration of his contract just because he's making over $5 million per? I mean, he's only got 2 years left, so it's not like we're paying him $5 million for the next 4-5 years to play on the bottom pairing.
Now you did say if the vets can't hack it, they have to go, but how do you make them go? Buy them out? Trade them? Who wants them? So I think we're better off playing him in the role that best suits him NOW and not worry about his salary, which was a salary that was given to him 4 years ago when he was still a pretty good player.