1. Jack Hughes weighs 170 dry. He could easily put on 5 pounds of muscle over the summer. Nico Hischier is 170 pounds, played at 18 and did fine. Hughes is far more talented than Hischier. First overall centers don't play anywhere other than the 1C spot. History will prove me right.
2. If Sutter is so valuable, he'd have been moved by now. He doesn't fit on Canucks roster, but he fits on new jersey's roster? 6 points, -12 in 24 games for a defensive center? Barely even 4th line numbers. You aren't looking at it from New Jersey's perspective. They have absolutely NO REASON to be spending nearly $5M on a player that is no upgrade from any other spare player you can pick up for league min.
3. New Jersey centers: Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Travis Zajac, Blake Coleman, Pavel Zacha, Brett Seney, Kevin Rooney, John Hayden, Michael McLeod, as well as Jesper Boqvist, Fabian Zetterlund, and Brandon Gignac in the minors.
Every player I just mentioned has a chance to make their roster next year. All are natural centers. You would take Sutter over all but 2 of those guys? Really? Again this is where paying almost $5M for a bottom 6 guy just doesn't make sense.
4. Which do you value more? Having Tanev, or having McLeod, a 2nd round pick, and Gardiner? You decide. It's not otherworldly to play a defenseman on his off side. But, to humour you, I hear Dion Phaneuf, Andrew MacDonald, and Dan Girardi are all available, all who put up similar numbers to Tanev last year.
After considering your response, it appears you think you know more than you actually do about hockey. Give your arrogance a check, I hope you aren't like that in real life.