No thanks on that.

A 30 point grinder does not get a 1st. And before anyone mentions Barbashev's season last year. He shot 23%, that's an no insanely lucky year he'll never replicate. Engvall would have scored 30 we with the same shooting percentage.

While I agree it's unlikely Barby gets a 1st+, calling him a grinder just tells me you don't watch him play. And he's a career 18% shooter who had two other seasons over 23% shooting. Engvall is a career 10% shooter, so let's not get silly.

Actual goals per game is stat that matters most & it’s remarkably similar between Barbashev & engvall :
Barb - 78 in 404 = 0.193 gpg
Eng - 41 in 220 = 0.186 gpg
Those are 3rd line numbers.
Barbashev more physical but engvall bigger & the better skater. Engvall also has much better advanced stats (xGF%, HDCF %) but that could be due - in part - to Leafs being much better team this year.
If roles were reversed don’t think Blues fans would be offering a 1st for engvall, maybe not even a 2nd? Barbashev worth no more than a 3rd imo but time will tell.

Out of context, one could reasonably argue Barby is worth about a 3rd. However, we are at a TDL where loads of teams think they can win it all and most of those are calling for him. And with most of them strapped for cap, he's really cheap for all he does, plus he's young enough and skilled enough to re-sign. Supply and demand, bud.

Fair point, but context was if / how Barbashev is better than engvall. He’s not imo, and stats seem to bear that out. But you could be right - Barbashev will prob get more than he is worth but there are a number of forwards that could be moved this TDL so supply is pretty close to demand this year, but time will tell 🤷

Ehh except Barbashev is better than Engvall, and I'm an Engvall fan. He can play up and fares quite well whenever he does. I kinda wish they'd just leave him up in the top 6 already. He was killer with Thomas and Kyrou for 3-4 games, and then they moved him and hasn't been back with them regular since. Just before the break, he got stuck out there with them on a line change, and the Blues scored. Of course, they didn;t take the hint. And honestly, offense isn't the best part about him anyway. He does all the little things right, in all zones, which has been in short ass supply with the Blues this season. He's been their best defensive forward and every line he goes to picks up their play. I've lost count of how many slumps he's helped break.