I think that you are comparing some players who are worse - look at Jeff Skinner, he had a pretty big sophomore slump and didn't really improve last year. Look at Taylor Hall in comparison, he didn't have as good of a rookie season, but every season since he has dramatically out produced Skinner. Same thing with Seguin - you are not only paying for past performance but also for future potential and with the exception of Tavares I think that the three Oilers players have the potential to be better... and when you factor in inflation I don't think that the Oilers contracts are that off the mark.
As for Jamie Benn you are comparing a player who broke into the league at 20 to someone who broke into the league at 18.
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