I don't think anybody is arguing that Bergeron and Backlund are equal players.
But when it comes to contract negotiations, both sides are going to present their group of players they feel Backlund belongs to in order to support a specific dollar value. I wonder which players Backlund's agent will present? The other centres who finished in the top 5 of Selke voting and put up nearly identical points last year?
And it will be Treliving's job to argue all those reasons why Bergeron is superior to Backlund, while Backlund's agent will argue that Backlund started in the defensive zone almost 20% more often than Bergeron, and so forth.
I think it's ignorant or at least naive to say that they are night and day non comparable groupings because I can guarantee Bergeron, Kesler, and Koivu's names will feature heavily in contract negotiations for Backlund. It doesn't mean anybody believes he is a $8M player, but that his useage, production, and value ultimately can be compared to other players in the same category.
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