Like I've repeatedly said, if the trade isn't there then it isn't there and we have no choice but to wait for it to materialize.
As for the cost, Dutchy & RyJo are really the only comparables that don't compare favorably to what I've suggested and there the issue is more in the type of return targetted; as RyJo was traded 1-for-1 and Dutchy was traded for a ton of pieces that at the time no one expected any of to become as valuable a #6-10 pick.
Stepan was traded by the Rangers for a similar price to what I've suggested, and that was with Raanta being attached as well...this being the comparable that I think is most applicable. The ROR trades compare favorably to the packages I've proposed as well; and same for the Schenn trade. It's the Stepan + Raanta trade though that I'm looking at most closely; Raanta's value was probably close to Grubauer's this past summer...i.e. a late 1st or a 2nd & eating a significant cap-dump...and Stepan was much more proven than Zibby; yet they only returned a package comparable to what I'm suggesting*. Not even getting into the pricetag that Henchy suggested that Zibby would require on our board, which I am most certainly trumping with either iteration.
So I don't think it's unreasonable to think we'll be able to find a trade for the caliber of C I'm talking about with the kind of packages I'm suggesting...whether it ends up any of the particular C's I've thrown out there or not. If it doesn't manifest for us, then sure, we should follow your plan. But that's why I want to Joe to be laying the groundwork now; whether that groundwork ends up paying off in the summer of 2019, the 2020 TDL, or even the summer of 2020.
As for the motivation for NYR, they're still in the selling-off-&-tanking phase of their rebuild for another season or two. Zucc & Hayes should get shipped out by the TDL, which would leave Zibby & Kreider as the only prime aged pieces of value left for them to sell...and with Chytil / Andersson / Howden & a likely top 10 pick of their own in this forward-rich draft; their young centers should make Zibby expendable the way ours did for us.
K'Andre Miller's their only blueline prospect that I really love...which is why I think they'd use a pick on a 1C prospect and one on Byram or whoever is able to challenge him for the top blueliner spot, if their own pick ended up in the top 10 as well...but they've got a lot of forward prospects that I rated highly. And the blueliners would suddenly become very intriguing if they had Byram, Timmins & Miller on their way to join Skjei, Shatty & Pionk, rather than just K'Andre alone.
*assuming that Timmins gets back on the ice & looks like himself before the season is over; so that NYR's scouts can check in on him before the trade.
