Sutter says a lot of things, but he doesn't always mean it. He does line-match. He does like to roll 4 lines, but often he line-matches as well beyond defence. He both shelters guys, and he also tries to utilize Backlund as the main shutdown line.
As for Pelletier - I can see him being 'gifted' a spot in the top 6 if he is showing a lot of flash while being defensively sound enough. I mean, he just had a damn strong rookie pro season. I think we can kind of remove a couple of layers off his ceiling - I thought he would be at best a middle-line guy, mostly likely a solid 3rd liner. Based on his development curve thus far, I think it is best to just open up his ceiling. This kid will be an NHL'er - and sooner rather than later - but how good he is remains to be seen. Limiting him to just a third liner as his ceiling is potentially setting yourself up for ridicule later on
I would be hesitant to move any of the top 4 D right now (Weegar, Tanev, Hanifin and Andersson). Sutter spoke about the defence being too young and inexperienced, and that it hurt them last season. Everyone in the top 4 are fairly young too, so it isn't like the Flames need to start thinking about replacement issues.