He's producing at a 40 points rate. People have been lynching Plekanec for less around here.
The reason Hanzal costs less than a guy like, say, Duchene or RNH, is because he's a substantially worse hockey player. He also happens to be an upcoming UFA. And he's been plagued by injuries throughout his entire career.
Another issue I have with these guys coming from bottom feeders with decent front-value stats is that they play substantially more minutes than they normally should. Hanzal produces at a 40 points rate playing almost 19 minutes a night and nigh 3 minutes of PP per game. That's more PP time per game than Galchenyuk! Look at what happened to Vermette after he got traded to Chicago. Or Boedker now that he's on San Jose.
What happens when you cut down these minutes substantially, when you have him off the 1st PP wave, heck perhaps even off the PP entirely? What you'll get is production along the lines of Plekanec's. But heck, Hanzal's big! He'd be giving us Eller numbers, if he's lucky enough not to get injured.
I'm sick and tired of beating around the bush. I much rather spend assets like 1st round picks and former 1st round picks going after a guy that'll actually fill a need, but also be a part of the core going forward. If the plan is to jump into the bargain bin now and until Price really has nothing left in the tank, might as well sell him high, along with Weber, Radulov and Pacioretty, because we're not going to win ****.