oddoublee

That is a great question. As of now, he is the 32nd highest paid player in the league (annually). If we just look at his last two years, he is 46th in goals scored, and 37th in total points this year. Last year, he was 34th in goals scored, and 70th in total points. We could say he is a top 50 point producer...top 40 goal producer in the league. His corsi the last two years is quite impressive. He is a well liked, and good teammate. He is a bit pesty on the ice. 9 million...probably not. 7.5 million...feels more like it. So I would argue he is overpaid - but not to the degree that it hurts the franchise - or requires all of us to gather our pitchforks.

Yeah - I am not seeing how this would hold up a 'financial' negotiation. There is not much to read into here, in my opinion: Based on his production, the Sabres Mngt believe he probably falls in the approximate 9 million a year range. They want to negotiate based on 'what is'. Eichel and his agent, wisely, want to negotiate on what they believe 'will be' - so they are probably asking for 10-11 million a year. The reasons the negotiation has probably been so cordial; is that both sides understand the other sides position. So it is simple - if Jack put up a 0.75 - 0.80 point per game season, AND they fall short of the playoffs, he is a 9 million dollar player. Maybe 8.5. If he averages a point a game - and serves as a winning force getting them into the playoffs, or close to it, then he gets his 10.5 or higher. Both sides feel like they won with the latter outcome - and I am sure both sides will feel like they lost if the former happens.