At that price id be shocked if Paul left Tampa

I wouldn’t give up that much for Puljujarvi…

Tampa is over the cap for next season already. Pretty sure Paul is moving on for any price unless Lightning make some serious room. Same goes for Palat, Rutta

too much for Pulj and not enough for Fiala (although slightly - probably a slightly better prospect or a draft pick instead).

I like the idea of adding Paul but interested to see what his market will be like after the Tampa effect.

Agree with you, Goodrow has a good third line job with Tampa and he got a 3.6m X 6 contract from the Rangers as a third line winger. That's pricey in today's market.
Average player can elevate their game at least for a the short term when they are playing with stars. Can they continue it when they play with lesser players? Not saying. Canes are that much "lesser" but Tampa does have the swagger as Cup Champs.
To take a more extreme a example. A good QB on a good team leaves as UFA to become more high paid on poor team. Unless the his new team improves their overall roster, this same good QB will suddenly look bad.

If that’s the price for PJ, Edmonton is better off not giving him a QO, since nobody is going to pay that. Might be a little light on Fiala. Paul would be a pretty good signing.

Don’t forget that Seabrook is an LTIR piece, so there’s 6+ million that can be used elsewhere. I assume we will try and keep Paul with our remaining money based on his grit and PK ability.

So if it's a choice between Palat or Paul, who do you think they go with?

Paul. I think he’ll ask for less money, he’s younger, and he can play all throughout the lineup (including excelling on special teams)