Quoting: dp6154
that's an interesting notion because Schenn is a legit top 6 center and a good one and now he's signed long term. Does he get moved to center at all? Does Thomas settle in to either LW for O'Reilly or 3rd line center when Bozak leaves? Thomas has yet to even being a regular NHL center yet as good as he is, I'm not sure Schenn get's moved off for him. Him taking Schenn's spot at top 6 center that seemed inevitable had a lot to do with Schenn walking
Also I was all on board your analytical skepticism towards Barbashev (though I think playing center and primary points mean more than you think and relative to linemates at least evolving hockey and moneypuck actually have Barbie as better) but Schwartz has long been a possession God & Sanford has very good CF% and xGF% (over 51% on both each of the last 2 years) , let alone points and reputation, why is he even in the same convo as those two for other LW in the top 6? I'd really like to see a source that says Blais has better underlying stats than Schwartz and/or Sanford because I'd be very interested in what the methodology is that arrives there because looking at the components separately I can't find a possible path
Forgot about the Schenn stuff.
Thomas will probably be third line center next year, maybe even this year's playoff's too (they've been putting Bozak on the wing in line rushes so far). But, Thomas was our second line center for a good chunk this year too- our top six lines at the pause were
Schwartz-O'Reilly-Schenn
Sanford-Thomas-Perron
Which are dumb lines, imo, but they get they job done. My point is, the "Schenn to the wing" thing is already happening a bit, and I expect it to continue if Thomas keeps improving.
And it makes sense for other reasons. One, Schenn is a nautral scorer, Thomas is not, so you want the scorer playing the wing. Thomas is super young, Schenn is not, so if you develop Thomas as a center, he can play there for the next fifteen years- long after Schenn is retired, which is better for the long term of this team. Thomas is a righty, not a lefty, so if you were moving him to the wing he would probably be a RW- where we have Tarasenko, Kyrou, Perron, and maybe Kostin already. Schenn, meanwhile, is a natural lefty. Schenn has had really good scoring chemistry with O'Reilly dating back to last year and Tarasenko dating back to when he joined the team, so that's a pretty good line (Schenn-O'Reilly-Tarasenko). And, look at that team GAR chart again, Schenn was our leading scorer this year but Thomas actually provided a better GAR than him.
There's a good chance, in the twilight of his career, Schenn moves back to center in that third line role, as he declines. But I bet for the majority of that contract (unless we don't re-sign O'Reilly I guess) he'll be a winger.