Krejci is making 7.1 a year... I think that sets the market for Ryan... Ones a center and ones a winger but I feel they are the same level of talent
I think Krejci has a few things going for him; he's a center as you mentioned, and that tends to inflate percieved value a touch, he seen as far better defensivly, he's got a history of steping up big time in the playoffs, and finally he's been a much more productive player the last two years.
So while I would tend to agree they are in the same realm from a talent level perspective, Krejci to me has more bargaining power. Ryan's bagaining power all stems from our reluctance to lose him, and while that certainly is something, I'm not sure it's enough.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Ryan come in anywhere from 6.5-7.5, depending on the length of the contract, but my guess is the team will try and use Karlsson's contract as a cap for what they want to pay, and try to bargain from that as a starting point. My thought is they'll move to 7mil on the grounds that it's the average remaining in Karlsson's contract, and be very reluctant to go passed that as it would upset the teams salary structure.
Talk about looking for reasons to push your narrative. It must be exhausting to insist on finding fault with this move when all indications thus far are positive.
