Quoting: DH28Hockey
I think your big misconception is Couturiers value. He isn't a run of the mill top 6 C, he's a top 15, arguably top 10 Center in hockey. If Hayes were to somehow wave his NMC I could see that working, but Couturier is not the piece thrown in there
I think Couturier is a fantastic player that has a killer contract, but I don't see a deal with PHI without Couturier going the other way -- now the pieces I laid out don't all need to be in the deal, but I can't see BUF trading Eichel to PHI without Couturier involved. I don't know if all of the pieces I put out would necessarily be in a final deal, but that's where BUF would be starting I think. They have no need to trade Eichel as he is one of the best players in the NHL so they would start out asking for an overpay to even get them to the table.
As far as top centers in the league -- Crosby, MacKinnon, Eichel, Point, Bergeron, Malkin, Petterson, Draisaitl, Barzal, Tavares, Scheifele, Matthews, McDavid, Barkov, Zibanajed, Aho, Stamkos -- that's 17 centers I would probably rank ahead of Couturier. Granted, age is catching up to some of them -- but I think these players are superior centers to Couturier right now. Though I do think Couturier still has a bit of room to grow, he is not very close to being a top 10 center in the league -- he'd fall in the 15-20 range I think. Eichel on the other hand is on the list of best players in the NHL.