Curious what Eberle's play would look like without Barzal. I think Eberle's been great this year. I've always been an Eberle fan and thought he got a raw deal on the Oilers BUT Barzal's been so outstanding this year that he's made all his wingers look amazing (yes, including Ladd)
And I can't stand Nelson BUT imagine a line of Ladd - Nelson - Eberle -> I don't see two wingers (a combined $12MM give or take) producing at a high level with Nelson as the centre (or Quine/Fritz/Cizikas).
I think Tavares and Barzal can really make wingers looks great (better than they would be otherwise) - so I worry about this.
To be clear, I think Eberle's a really solid player and can produce even without Barzal, but the Barzal impact (similar to the Tavares impact on the stats of Nielsen, Okposo, Parenteau, Moulson, Boyes, etc.)
Since the Isles will be near the cap and have MAJOR holes, their only area of strength is at forward, so if there's a deal to be made, players like Eberle/Lee (pending UFAs) make sense to move. As much as it's painful to think about in Eberle's case. But let's face facts, the team sucks and we can score goals. So trading goals for preventing-goals has to make some sense.