I see a lot of people calling JT overrated nowadays. Sure, he didn't have the best season, but 60 points in 63 games for a down year is pretty good. Also, he may be overpaid by a couple million but you don't get a player like him in free agency every year.
He's not the fastest skater, but is still very strong defensively as well as offensively. He plays a shutdown role while playing against other team's top lines and also manages to put up solid numbers at the same time.
Take into account that he had an oblique injury prior to the 19-20 season which took him most of the offseason to recover. He was also a brand new dad, his role changed from being an alternate to being the captain of a new team, suffered a broken finger, and was under a coaching change a few months into the season.
He did all this while being just under point a game. Elite player in my mind.
Still having 4 forward making over half the cap was never a good idea
if he was willing to meet with all 31 teams and they all could have made it work, then all 31 teams would have met with him, i dont doubt that for a second, one of the most coveted FA in history