Consensus I've heard is that he wants to play for a team with a shitty D so that he can jump right in to a top 4 role.
Even NYR isn't that great a fit though unless they can move Shattenkirk. Anthony DeAngelo really broke out the second half of the season and while he hasn't been great I don't think they're ready to give up on Pionk just yet, especially if they can create more room for him in the lineup by moving Shattenkirk. Regardless he would still be a RD3 there.
Yeah, I don't know if guys like LeBrun are giving too much weight to the NYR fandom element or if it's with the expectation they move Shattenkirk.
Would you take Shat if the Rags eat half? I'd probably take a $3.4 mil Shat. I think he'd still be pretty good in the right situation - away from the top pairing, put with a great stay at home guy. Muzzin-Shattenkirk as a second pair sounds pretty fun to me.
If the trade price came in low enough, I'd take him at full price. He'd definitely be an upgrade on our pathetic blue line. Salary is too high, but we're not right up against it and he's only got two years left.
