I have nothing against JT, but a lot against the signing.
We had Matthews going to be our 1C, we had Kadri and Bozak and Nylander all capable of being a 2C. We did not need a 2C enough that we made him not only the highest paid 2C ever (and by a lot!), but one of the very highest paid players period.
"If he wasn't here where would we be now?" Who knows. But imagine what might have been the team if we had his $11M, plus the overpayments to Matthews and Marner and to a lesser extent Nylander available. What might have been done with possibly $20M more each of the last 6 years?
We did not need the most expensive 2C ever when we already had quality 2C and had up-and-coming Matthews, Marner and Nylander, but desperately needed defence and goaltending.
And, no, much as I like JT I would not have signed him, as I said at the time and repeatedly even since.