What makes an NHL player a good value? Typically want to get the most you can for the least amount of money possible. That’s why when you’re grocery shopping, it’s always better to buy 12 rolls of toilet paper for $6.00 than 4 rolls for $3.00. The more rolls you buy, the price per roll goes down.

But what about quality? Twelve rolls of single ply isn’t exactly the same experience as 12 rolls of double plush quilted TP. So some sort of trade off has to be made.

When looking at value forwards, I tried to balance quantity with quality, and provide a level playing field at the same time. After all, third- and fourth-line players are the most likely to have cheap contracts, but they also put up the least amount of points. In the end I decided to use all situation primary points per 60 minutes (only counting goals and primary assists in this time based rate).

To narrow the field, I excluded players on entry-level contracts because often their salaries were artificially deflated. For example, Vladimir Tarasenko and anyone who didn’t put up at least 20 points last season. No matter how effective a player might’ve been per 60, if they didn’t actually score they can’t be a great value.

Without further ado, here are my picks for best bargain forwards in the Central.

Patrick Eaves, Dallas Stars

Last year Eaves was paid the paltry sum of $650,000 for a one-year contract. The winger was coming off a larger contract with the Detroit Red Wings, but his time with them had been less fruitful than expected due to injury. Eventually, the Wings traded him to the Nashville Predators who let him walk as a UFA. Initially brought on as a depth piece, Eaves found himself bumped up to the top line, playing with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, and being a key piece of the top power play unit for the Stars.

With Dallas, he put up his one of his best seasons ever — 27 points, 20 of which were primary points, for a Primary P60 per $1 million of 3.86, a divisional best. He only played 47 games due to some unfortunate injuries, but it was enough to get him another contract, at a bargain price of $1.15 million for one year.

Jaden Schwartz, St Louis Blues

The most productive guy in the top 10, the 23 year old Schwartz scored 62 points for the Blues last season, 50 of them primary points. He did this all on a $2.35 million AAV, giving him a 1.16 Primary P60 per $1 million. He was helped by playing with linemates Tarasenko and Jori Lehtera (Lehtera also made the top 20), but his overall production only received a slight bump from his 2013-14 totals, when he was shuffled all over.

Schwartz’s consistency means that he’s probably due a huge raise next summer, as he’ll be an RFA. Can he keep up the production to stay on this list of bargain forwards? He certainly has the talent to do so.

Tie: Colin Wilson, Nashville & Mathieu Perreault, Winnipeg

Why a tie?

Because both of these guys averaged 88% of all their Points as primary ones. Last season saw 37 Primary Points for Wilson and 35 for Perrault, making their Primary P60 per $1 million 1.00 and 0.800 respectively.

Perrault played in 15 fewer games than Wilson because of injury, but when healthy was a huge part of Winnipeg’s attack. Wilson impressed the Predators so much that he just signed a big extension with the club — this season he’ll be making over $3.9m a year, almost doubling his salary. Perrault has two years left on his current deal, so hopefully the Jets can get similar production out of him before he needs a hefty raise.

Here are the Division’s top-20 Primary P60 per $1 million:

Highlighted players are no longer in the division.

Some overall takeaways from the exercise: Dallas, Minnesota and Nashville seem to have stockpiled on inexpensive talent, whereas teams like Chicago and Colorado are paying a lot more per point.

Up next: The Best Bargains in the Division – Defensemen