Hey I know arguing with a leaf fan is like arguing with a wall but I'll give it a try...

Nylanders closest salary comparable when he signed.. pasternak, lindholm, and kuznetzov... kuzy cokehead, is a centre and was the only one signed for more, the other 2 are making less and nylander is ranked 4 on that list..

Matthews however good he is, signed for 11.6 over 5 years, buying up 1 UFA year, now had dubas bought up 4 UFA years then 11.6 would be reasonable as now toronto could pay him and the he can walk for nothing in 3 years now I believe.. so Dubas bids on the open market for John tavares who at the time was a top 5 player in the league and JT actually takes a lesser deal to play in Toronto for 11mil aav, the the next year pays a kid 11.6 while still an RFA for 4 more years... it ridiculous and it's why the league is in such rough shape nowadays and why guys like a joe thornton have to take league minimum just to make a team since the nhls middle class players are going to be out of jobs in the next few years

we arent talking politics were talking cap hits, based on cap hits no one is overpaid, joe thornton is a walking piece of glass that can barely skate anymore , i can tell you are like 40+ years old and so out of touch with how the world and money works nowadays

honestly if it was just

Bellows + Aho or Panik and a 1st Dubas would probs consider it. Retention and cap dumps would probs not be wanted by Dubas especially when we consider him needing to replace Rielly.

The issue is though if Rielly is moved Dubas probs wants a guy who can slot into the 2nd pairing coming back. So basically what Risto went for is probs the kind of package Dubas will want back and it makes sense as Rielly despite what people say is a top 4 dman who can play 20+ mins a night.

The Ristolainen comparison falls short here. Go listen to Chuck Fletcher himself on DFO podcast. Ristolainen is a righty, BIG, tough, will play in all situations etc.. terrible idea, but still Rielly is not viewed even remotely the same as Ristolainen regarding those attributes. Totally wrong, but still the truth.

& yet all the numbers say that Rielly is drastically better than Ristolainen. The Ristolainen return is the bare minimum for a Rielly deal right now. He's likely return more for Toronto if he was moved.

Did you even read what I wrote? I agree with everything you’re trying to say, but it doesn’t matter as long as the perception of Ristolainen is that he’s a legit top 4 right handed, BIG defenseman. I don’t agree, but GMs in this league value him like that and believe it or not, I am certain his value is higher than Morgan Rielly’s. Fletcher also talked about (Ristolainen) having bad stats because playing on a bad Buffalo team for ages. What do they say about Reilly? Playing on a (fake) contender for years, good offensively, doesn’t win or step up in the playoffs, it doesn’t help him either that Muzzin and Brodie outshines him defensively. This is not my opinions, just reasoning about how players perceptions is viewed by the GMs..