That Brodie trade is a long ways off fair value. 1st and 2 2nds is what top 4 dmen his age have gone for coming off down years. He was still top 40 in scoring. Ultimately the trade as posed is Goligoski + Cousins + 3rd + 4th for Brodie + Frolik which would be fairly one sided.

The Dougie Hamilton trade was a 1st and and two 2nds. Brodie isn't quite worth that, but I see what you're sayin

How do you expect to get Bozak, Tavares and/or Carlson for that cheap?

Tavares is 11m GTD, Carlson is 7.5-8.5 and Bozak is 3.5-4

Hamonic, Reinhart, and others started with a first

Personally, I feel this is the ideal prices for the players. The prices you have listed are overpays, for the role they'd play. I know what you mean, though.

I agree
With 2nd/3rd line centres in such demand I wouldn’t be surprised if Bozak even gets 4.5-5
The other 2 players could fetch a lot on the open market as well, I have to think Montreal will give Tavares a blank cheque.

I think this is what you're getting at, but FA plays a huge factor in this. They're not RFA, it's a bidding war for their talents, and as much as you "think" that they're worth, you need to be realistic in contracts in this case. Don't make the trade and then you have realistic cap room for these guys IMO.