Its a strange instance. Nuge popularity among fans is still very high. He's the teflon player in this lineup. Even in this thread in the poll this is kind of indicated. The majority of fans seeminly would pay over 6M, with term, for his continued services. How that reflects at box office or in say merchandise sales I don't know. But my take is that Nuge is more of a commodity for the org off the ice, in his appeal to fans, ticket buying fans, or even community work and efforts. Its clear he's a loved player here in Edmonton by many. So its very complex negotiation and not just involving what occurs on ice.
HOWEVER, the decision on Nuge will communicate a few things one way or the other. If for instance Nuge gets overpay here it seems an ode to optics and PR importance of keeping him here vs spending cap resource responsibly.
It may also communicate too much deference to players opinions on retention of the player. Its up to GM and org staff to evaluate respective players, not the non impartial colleagues.
Conversely if the demand is continuing to be 7M, and the org lets the player walk its clear that they have faith in using that $ to improve the club more efficiently. Or to even improve the club more specifically, at EV.