Quoting: BStinson
I asked a question, to get down to the root of your initial comment. Top 6 players that make 1M aren’t moved or if they are moved they cost a lot more than a late second rounder. I asked my question to get to this point. If you don’t like Bobby Ryan that’s fine, just state that. My second comment explains what my initial comment was asking you and boils down to you get what you pay for. If you want a top 6 player then you’d need to cough up the assets to do so and it will cost more because you’d need to ship a bit of cap out considering you have roughly ~750k at the TDL. This point was why I brought up Ryan’s salary but probably could’ve spelled out only ELCs have that salary and they’re not getting moved. So no I didn’t call Bobby Ryan a top 6 player but posed a question to you so we can get down to the root of your initial comment’s argument using logic and reasoning.
To answer your question (which I did misread, I appreciate your clarification): I would break down what a "bonafide top 6 player" is, as its a pretty big group. For arguments sake lets just stick with wingers, as C's are by definition more valuable. We'll assume its a pending UFA winger at the TDL with either 1 M as you said, or a small enough contract that numerous contenders can take them.
(note the below are what they've shown they can do repeatedly and are doing this year)
I'd break "top 6" winger down to
legit second line winger (20-25 g scorer 40-50 point scorer)
Borderline first liner (25 ish, 50-55ish)
first liner not superstar (30+ goals/60-70 points)
superstar (35+/point per game)
So I'm going to assume your question is referring to legit second line winger/borderline first liner.
I'd expect it to depend on how many buyers, how many sellers, as the cost varies a lot by years.
A cheap year would be a 3rd and a meh prospect all the way to an expensive year being a first and good but not blue chip prospect.
By the looks of this year, I suspect guys like Pearson may only get a second and middling prospect, but time will tell.