Quoting: A_K
NYR can definitely ask for that but I think the part you're missing is STL's internal valuation of Kostin, which goes beyond his pts/gm in the AHL as a teenager. He's probably our 2nd-best prospect so it wouldn't make sense to move him AND a first rounder for a rental. I think you'd have to expect one or the other. If some team with a better prospect pool goes after Kreider, maybe NYR can get a return value like this, but stl cant afford to do it.
Also, regardless of whether they drive play/impact the game equally, it's just a fact that wingers have lower trade value than centers so using Hayes as the comp isnt accurate.
One more - I would be hesitant to call a guy with 53 pts as a career high a top line producer.
I agree. Your prospect pool is thin. And for that reason your cup window is probably now. Hence you'd be more* likely not less to actually go for short term success since you're probably looking at a rebuild in a couple years like Nashville and San Jose.
Also, his defensive quality negates the argument about position. It'd be the equivalent in saying Brayden Schenn has more value than Mark Stone because he's a C. Stone is so much better defensively that it doesn't matter.
Finally, the raw stats are down because of the coach. The Rangers have been a rebuilding team for a few years now, so they don't lean on their top line nearly as much as say Boston. That's why I use Goal Rate and Point Rate as opposed to Goals and Points. You can't blame Kreider for what his coach does. All that matters to you as a team trading for him is what happens when he's on the ice. And when he's on the ice, he scores at a top 50 forward pace. If you want to use him more in your playoff push, the raw results will start to match. You don't need to look very far to see that point in action, JT Miller saw his ice time go up by 2 mins a game in Tampa - he became a pt/gm player.
If anything the value will be swayed way more in the other direction. In terms of rentals, this year it's just Hall, Toffoli, or Kreider. As opposed to Duchene, Zucc, Hayes, Nyqvist, Johansson, Dzingel, Stone, Ferland, Simmonds.
The market is completely different.