I don't think so. As far as I can tell, I'm as much of a Sheahan fan as we have here. And I think plan A should be to upgrade 3C, or at the very list get a different 3C as good as Sheahan who is a better fit with Kessel. I'm calling new 3C our plan A. Where you and I seem to mostly disagree is that I give us higher chances than you do if we are forced to go with a different plan.
Out of every name I've heard, Brassard is easily my favorite
Well, he's by far the best center potentially available, so mine too. If the deal was built around Sheary, then fine. But we all know they will want Sprong. They are cheap, and Sprong is cheap. Riptide covered this the other night, but if we bring in Brassard, we need Sprong to offset his cap hit and fill out our top 9. But they will certainly demand Sprong. And even so, can we give them the best package?
Just like Duchene, we will be outbid by playoff teams that need a 2C (or 1C) for Brassard. So the question then is, do we bring in a guy with some offensive ability that can play with skilled guys like Plekanec, or do we bring in a more defensive guy / more traditional 4C.
Considering the costs of all involved, I'd most like to just bring Cullen back for cheap if at all possible, and then see if we can find a good fit (not a big name like Kane) LW to play with Kessel on a 3rd line, either centered by Cullen or Sheahan. The assets I'd be willing to send out are Sheary, Hunwick, Vancouver's 4th, our (2) 5th round picks, or our 2nd rounder if we want to reach up to a better LW. And of course B level prospects other than Bengtsson, Gus, Jarry. Ideally our deadline looks like this for me:
Hunwick to TOR for 4th
Cullen to PIT for 4th + B prospect
Maroon, McGinn, similar gritty LW to PIT for picks + prospect (Maroon will cost more, McGinn less)
Wild card (probably won't happen): Sheary out for grittier LW or C with some control or years under contract