Being a D liability shouldnt be a black flag tho... We have the worst one (ok 2nd worst one - the other is actually skilled) on our team with Marleau.. The 1st worst one is Ovie.. and while im not comparing Goldo to Ovie... would you really not want Ovie on your team cause he is awful in his own zone??? - back to the 2nd wrost - We have marleau, who is n albatros given his contract vs points vs his awful D... So SJ really should have no right to black flag Goldo for lack of D almost, when they pay a guy 7mil to completely blow nuts every game.. If Goldo can put up 20/40 at 1mil a year, hes worth the roster over Marleaus 25/45 7mil -25 a year...
While anyone who follows this board knows I am no big fan of Patricia, it's not a fair comparison. Patty has declined tremendously and that's part of his issues. Patty also has a much better two way game, even if he's still not very good in his own zone, and his salary is a relic of the past. Of course dougie would never give him anywhere near 6.7M that he makes now if he could change the deal. You cant compare the salaries, and while trading patty is always an interesting topic, its unlikely not because patty has great value or contributes so much, but for locker room and chemistry reasons. Like it or not, to many people, patty is the face of the franchise after nearly 20 years in teal. Chemistry in hockey is like a wild ghost orchid: very very hard to find, a beautiful thing, and quite easily destroyed with sudden ill advised moves or poor nutrients.
back to Goldo: being defensively responsible is a non-negotiable trait for any prospect, especially in the sharks system. Goldo, though apparently slowly improving, is atrocious there (worse than ovie) and of course is nowhere near as offensively gifted as Goldobin is well under a point per game in the minors. For a guy like goldobin, with nice hands and deft moves but certainly not dominant, he has to be good in his own zone. Scoring 30 goals is not worth much if you are personally responsible for 50 against. Dougie, Deboer, and Sommer know this which is why Sommer is working so hard to improve that side of his game. If he makes strides in this arena, we will see him in teal because his skating and hands are certainly NHL quality.
p.s.: Your evaluation of Ovie is probably his biggest criticism, but its changed a lot once a very good, defensive-minded coach in Trotz took over. Trotz was used to minimal talent in Nashville and always got max value from them by getting max effort, having great structure, and defensive emphasis. He brought that culture to washington, which is why they jumped to #2 in GAA as a team and won the presidents trophy with Ovie a whopping +21 (2nd best on team) despite his 2nd lowest points per game output in his career. Ovie took giant strides last year in his own zone, and while it likely cost him some points, it made the team way way better.