Ironic, I mean few people would take Bobby Ryan over him now.
Since the trade, Ryan is still outscoring him though :
293 games 76 goals 109 assists 185 points
Silfverberg :
297 games 66 goals 85 assists 151 points
Tougher to put up points in Ottawa, as the Sens don't have a #1 center like Getzlaf.
It's because of perceived value because of name associated with the dollars they're making. Silfverberg is going to be paid on his next contract too, so the pressure to produce will be there.
Ryan was overpaid from the start but Sens had to, rather than lose him for nothing. If he was paid more accordingly at 6.0 per and wasn't as injury prone as he has been in Ottawa, he would be seen more positively. He's been dominant (~70 pts paces) in his first 3 seasons for the first ~50-55 games of the season but then ran into injuries each year