Quoting: Ross_Johnston
is it?
You can take this with a grain of salt because I'm a NYR fan, but Barzal is being paid like a top center in the league without actually being a top center in the league. By no means am I saying he's not a good player. In the right situation, I belive he could definitely be that 80-90 point player, but the islanders have not provided him with enough of a supporting cast since Tavares left for him to be able to hit that, nor have they given him a coach that's offensively minded (and he also hasn't proved that yet). Any team buying him, would hope that he could hit that next level by providing him with a better cast/coach. I think he would absolutely thrive/feast if he were traded to NYR but that'll just never happen.
Now in regards to the trade proposed, it is a massive overpayment from Buffalo not only because the players they'd be giving up but also because they are set at center with Thompson/Cozens/Middlestadt. They just aren't the right trade partner.
In terms of Barzal's value, you would likely be looking at a return around the same as the PLD trade (young roster player, player to make the cap work, decent prospect and a 2nd) or the Debrincat trade (young roster player, prospect, 1st and 4th), or even similarly to what Isles gave up for Horvat (1st, prospect and roster player).
My hypotheticals:
MTL: Newhook+Barron+ Conditional/Protected 1st
DET: Copp/Compher, Kasper, 1st
CBJ: Johnson, Boqvist+2nd
NYR just for fun: Chytil, Kakko, Goodrow + Jones + 1st (assuming Chytil/Kakko can pass physicals when they return from injuries)