I think you kind of proved his point because ROR brings a shitload to the table that Eberle doesn't.
As an Isles fan, I was SCREAMING on our boards at Eberle for all 3 of the latest playoff runs. It's because if Eberle is not scoring, he is a negative. And frankly, the Isles can't survive that given the game they play. The 2019 playoffs, him and Brock Nelson absolutely owned the Pens (he scored every game in the sweep). Every time you would score, one of them would score. But outside of that, he was kind of weak.
For example, in 2020 he scored a goal in the 1st game of the 1st round (after play-ins) and then went 11 straight games without a goal, including the entire 2nd round 7-game series against the Flyers. And he was awful during that stretch. He's also been a minus or even player in all 3 playoff runs.
I like Eberle but I see what Oilers fans said about him. I wouldn't call him a non-playoff performer by any stretch, but he's a guy that you just end up scratching your head over why he can't do more. It's the combination of streaky, being allergic to contact, not working hard enough, and not having enough skills to compensate.
The best hockey I've seen Eberle play is when he was taken off of Barzal's line this past season and was tasked to be the line driver / puck carrier. And I am one that strongly admits that Barzal is hard to play with, so that's a credit to Eberle. But I think that explains Eberle perfectly -- he needs too perfect a situation which is why he is kind of a tweener that leaves you wanting more. He needs physicality with him, he needs someone to do board work, he needs to carry the puck, but he's an OK playmaker and is a streaky goal-scorer with streaks that aren't long or big enough. When he starts struggling, he's a huge hole because he can't do anything else. Palmieri is built for playoff hockey and therefore I think is an upgrade. Eberle's skill will be missed, but the cap space might make up for it.
The Isles are an interesting team because not many teams would lose their RW1 and kinda shrug... but here we are. Maybe we'll eat crow on it, but if we made buckets that centered around guys Lou likes (e.g. Pageau, Palmieri, Parise) and guys that fit the never-ending-1st-round-pick-one-dimensional-Oilers, Eberle is in that latter group. It's not surprising they exposed him because with the understanding that a player was going to be lost, the cap space gained by the Isles versus the player they lost was one of the better swaps they could do. And I still think it's dumb that the Kraken didn't take Bailey because of everything I said above and because Bailey is a perfect leader for that team.