[kehatch]

Originally Posted by New Era

Matt Duchene: 572 GP, 174 G, 418P (.73 PPG, .30 GPG)
Jordan Eberle: 507 GP, 165 G, 382P (.75 PPG, .32 GPG)

Arguably, Eberle is the better producer, but only by the smallest of margins. Having said that, Eberle was traded for a middling player on a smaller contract to clear cap space. To me, that is the market for a $6M player with no record of success. You don't put together a massive package for a player like Eberle or Duchene, especially if the guy is holding out or has demands to be traded.

Duchene for Ferland and call it a day, because that's all Duchene is worth.

If you boil it down to career offensive numbers and cap hit you are correct that the players have similar value. But that is a really limited view of the players. I think Duchene has a lot more perceived value by NHL GMs.