Quoting: SirRobo
Yeah no fair question but I think it goes back to his goals per 60. Don't know how you can say he has poor “shooting talent” when the book on him has always been about his release, and he generally gets more goals than assists. Couple that with quick feet and the ability to find crevices in the defence and theres good reason to believe he’ll be on someone’s pp1 very soon. As in, I think a team like the kraken or hurricanes could use him for that reason, today. His skating ability allows him to find good positioning in the d zone, and he doesn't shy away from contact even though he is very much undersized. Think marty st louis, gallagher, marchand, or zuccarello - he just needs to put on some more weight (remember he’s 22).
If the leafs werent already so skill heavy and didnt lack physicality, you wouldnt see him in any mock trades. But for a team needing to add offence to their core, this is an attractive option. Happy to keep him in toronto till he’s a ufa if we cant redeem his full value.
I can see you have put thought into this and are not a Homer, so we can have a conversation.
I based his shooting talent on Moneypuck. It says his shooting talent is poor, though truth be told, I have no idea how it's calculated.
I do see that he is one of the better Leafs in terms of defense, which could be explained by being fast and somewhat gritty.
Based on what you're saying, I think he would be a good fit for the Pens to fix their PP. That said, he won't return a 1st. He could be a top line guy or he could be Nail Yakapov. There isn't enough data to risk a 1st. Time will tell.