Palat's just playing poorly. Reuniting the Triplets didn't change that. If and/or when he finds his game it's not going to suddenly vanish whenever Coop shuffles the lines on him. Drouin shows up when he feels like it. Again, this happens whether he's playing on the first line or on the fourth line. Furthermore, neither Palat nor Drouin is making 8.5 mil per (2 of which should probably be going to Kuch).
Over the past few seasons Stamkos has "clearly" been our #1 center on paper. Johnson's been our #1 on the ice. Not even sure that's debatable, to be honest.
Duchene is a phenomenal two-way center if we're comparing him to Stamkos. He's more versatile, and plays with a lot more energy. You slap Stammer's C on his jersey and you let his play show your younger guys how it's done. I mean, you're right in that, ideally, you bring Duchene in without moving Stamkos... a rich-getting-richer Kessel to Pittsburgh type of move. But Stammer's new contract makes that pretty much impossible, and Denver's going to want something in return. And, no, they can't have Drouin.
Look, Stamkos is an elite sniper when the wind is blowing just right, and Venus is in retrograde, and he happens to have an elite playmaker who's selfless enough to feed him the puck, night-in and night-out for an entire season. But an elite playmaker, like Kuch, can make anyone look good. And in Kuch's case, he's probably going to get bored with snaking passes through a sea of people to a statue near the face off circle. So you bring in Duchene, and use that extra 2.5 million dollars to shore up the D.
