Quoting: coga16
NO he isnt, Skinner out performed him last season and he is 4 years younger. Pacioretty isnt going to snag some giant haul when E Kane, Hoffman (for other reasons) and Skinner didnt bring anywhere near what Habs fans are going to assume Pacioretty will bring back. The market for wingers is pretty set and Pacioretty as the oldest, lowest offense production last season of the bunch isnt goign to be magically more costly
Ok so welcome to the NHL, you must be a new fan who only started watching last season. Evander Kane could have a career year and it would only match Paciorettys average season, Kane also had locker room issues and he can’t play defence (defence is that other 50% of the game that NHL coaches and GMs actually care about).
Skinner is the closest to Pacioretty offensively and yes is four years younger. He also had a limited no movement clause and said no to multiple offers Carolina came to him with until he got the team he wanted play for, basically handcuffed Carolina. And once again, he can’t play defence, Skinner can’t play the PK unit, doesn’t get ice time when protecting a lead and has been given more offensive duties throughout his career because of it.
Pacioretty literally is better in every area. He is well liked by everyone in the room and is respected throughout the league, he averages 29 goals a season while never actually playing with a number 1 center in his entire career and he is one of the best defensive left wingers in the league, able to play the top PK, gets put on the ice in every situation. If your going to question his defensive prowess consider that he has gotten Selke votes in 2014-2015 and 2016-2017.
So maybe look at the situation as a whole and not just from The 2017-2018 NHL stat page.