I find it easier to respond point-by-point than to posts as a whole, especially when posts contain so many different points. I apologize for making it hard, but my responses would be way harder to follow otherwise.
How, exactly?
That may be the case, and if we're talking about trading the two for each other, I probably agree completely. We're talking about contracts here, though, and in contract talks, stats speak loudest, not eye tests or goals vs assists or improvements. That said, statistically, they are probably a good comparison, though I'd point out that Ehlers 64 point season last year came after a 72-game rookie season at 19 where he got 38 points, while Nylander got his 61-point season after 22 games at 19 where he scored 13 points, and I think Nylander's camp will be smart enough to make the point that comparing Ehlers and Nylander's 2017-18 stats to argue he should be making the same money is not reasonable considering Ehlers signed his contract before the season started. I still think Nylander makes significantly more than Ehlers, therefore.
1) Drouin signed his contract with Montreal before the season, so, just like Ehlers, using this year's numbers to compare Nylander's contract is faulty.
2) Contracts aren't going to take into account the surrounding players. If someone like Drouin isn't going to put up the same numbers as Nylander in a worse situation, then that comparison has no merit in a positive or negative way towards what money Nylander should or shouldn't get. I mean, I could argue Nylander suffers in Toronto compared to Ehlers in Winnipeg because he doesn't have the veteran presence of a Wheeler or Schiefele that can shield him from things that Matthews and Hyman can't, but that really doesn't matter when you get right down to it in contract negotiations. If you can't preform in your environment, you don't get the money.
How do you compare contracts if you don't compare players?
How do you rate "similar calliber prospects"?
How on earth is Johnson, a 27-year-old 6-year vet, ever somparable to a 21-year-old, 2 or 3 year vet like Nylander?
Schwartz is still a bit absurd at 25 with 6 full seasons under his belt, but he did sign his current contract after his 4th season at 23, so I'll take a glance here anyway. Schwartz has put up more than the 61 points Nylander scored at 20 once, as a 22 year old in 2014-15, when he put up 63. He has put up a PPG this year, but again, since he signed his contract 2 years prior, using this year's numbers is a bit faulty. Schwartz suffered an injury during his contract year, limiting him to 33 games and 22 points, which probably played a role in his contract being 5.35M instead of in the 6M range. As well, since he signed in the 2016 off-season, that contract came in a 73M cap, meaning there needs to be inflation considered. I think, considering age, health, stats and inflation, 6.75M is still very reasonable to expect in this comparison
Same response to all of these as the one for Johnson. For Oshie, it's even worse, considering he's almost 32 years old. These guys are being paid for what they've done. Nylander will be paid both for what he's done as well as what he might do. There's no point talking about those contracts.
Now, if you want to talk about the 2nd contract these guys and compare their first 2-3 seasons to Nylander and use those numbers with cap inflation to make a point, I'm absolutely willing to listen to that.
ETA: A further point for Oshie and his age: a large reason for why that's a 5.75 cap hit is because Oshie took far less money over the last 5 years of that contract than he did for the first 3 years. He's making 8, 7.5 and 6.5 over the first 3 years, for an AAV of 7.33M, but then he'll make 4.5, 6, 4.5, 5 and 4.5 for an AAV of 4.9M over the last 5 years. That's another reason why comparing contracts of older players versus guys like Nylander is completely useless.
I've yet to see one, but I'm still more than willing to have you keep trying.
I disagree entirely.
Monahan had 38, 62 and 63 points in his ELC playing 75, 81 and 81 games, Nylander has 13, 61 and, so far, 55 points playing 22, 81 and 77 games. Pastrnak had 27, 26 and 70 in 46, 51 and 75 games, and while, yes, he was a year younger than Nylander, Nylander has shown much more consistancy at the NHL level in his 3 ELC years. How is that "little proof"?