nfreeman

This. Remember when everyone was so sure that the Habs were crazy for trading PK for Weber? I'll predict that the Keith trade makes the Oilers a better team. Keith still knows what to do and he still has enough juice in his legs to play -- he averaged over 23 min per game last season. Edmonton gave up a 24-year-old defenseman whose ice time has dropped from almost 20 min to 14 min to 13.5 min per game over the last 3 years. I would've traded one of the Sabres' glut of lower-pairing defensemen for Keith in a heartbeat.

I think this is the way it will shake out except that Bjork will be protected instead of Asplund.

If Vegas is the trade partner and we need to take back salary, which will almost certainly be the case, I'd like it to be MAF. He is exactly what the Sabres need.

Those last 2 fights were promising but anticlimactic and disappointing.

It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Good card so far.

Please forgive me, Mr. Grumpy! I thought the poll was worthwhile. Do you not find the results interesting?

I agree with much of this, but I think the bolded is not correct. There have been multiple reports from credible hockey writers that the injury is a major concern. Scott Burnside: https://theathletic.com/2690216/2021/07/07/is-this-the-nhls-summer-of-the-blockbuster-here-are-5-stars-who-could-be-traded/?article_source=search&search_query=eichel Michael Russo: https://theathletic.com/2689856/2021/07/06/wild-fan-survey-3-0-results-whats-it-worth-to-get-eichel-how-hard-to-push-in-kaprizov-talks/?article_source=search&search_query=eichel Elliotte Friedman: https://info.hockeyfeed.com/nhl-news/another-issue-emerges-in-potential-jack-eichel-trade?fbclid=IwAR3sAHiGBDbNhUVe1PJheQ5PygTDOkobM33YAWWENpgzEFdfW_tA8cbQVqA As for the reason KA hasn't said that he is assuming Eichel will remain a Sabre, this could simply be him trying to pump up the bidding frenzy -- i.e. trying to make the other GMs think that they are going to miss the boat if they don't pony up their crown jewels in the next 2 weeks. And while you are right that KA may simply be trying to squeeze more out of the interested buyers, it's also possible that he hasn't taken Comtois/3OA or the other offers because those offers may be contingent on the buyer getting comfortable with Eichel's health status, which KA may not want to agree to, or the offers may otherwise not be real. We'll see.

I doubt they would give up a good asset like a high 2nd-rounder for an expensive defenseman with lousy analytics and 1 season left before UFA.

FWIW, I think KA wants to trade him, but only for a rich package, and the injury creates a very real possibility that no one will offer a rich enough package, which in turn creates the possibility that he starts the season here -- and if that happens, and if the rest/rehab approach has worked, he could look like MVP-level Eichel, which would probably drive up KA's price, creating a longer period for him to play for DG and perhaps enjoy it, or perhaps make KA change his mind about keeping him, and give rise to the possibility of a reconciliation between Eichel and KA. Is it likely that all those ifs break just the right way so that he ends up staying? Definitely not. But possible.

Totally agree with the 1st 2 paragraphs -- there was a ton of wishful thinking around the Vegas expansion draft, and some of it is inevitable now. Not really on board with the last part though (although I think many here are), as I think KO is a net negative on the ice at this point.

Oooooooooooohhhh.

Interesting, but tricky to execute -- because as soon as KA starts providing names to the Kraken, they would know whom KA wants, which would eliminate their incentive to trade up from #2. I suppose they could do something clever like the Darcy napkin approach. But if they can work out the mechanics, I would do this in a heartbeat -- and it would be a great move by KA to shed KO without giving up anything of value. I totally agree with the bolded -- NFW would I give up a 2nd-rounder for them to take KO. But I would agree to make Miller available in the expansion draft if that's whom the Kraken want. Also, you're right that the Sabres aren't immediately desperate for cap space, but I think it's still a valuable commodity.

I agree, but it just seems like Seattle would require a much better sweetener than a 3rd or meh prospect.

So does that graph mean that 22-year-old defensemen contribute substantially more to wins than 28-year-old defensemen? If so, it's another reason to be skeptical of WAR, which to me seems like the least reliable analytical stat because my understanding is that it is built on assumptions on top of assumptions.

I think anonymous voting tends to give rise to higher participation and more accurate results, so would rather not make the poll results public. But I encourage anyone so inclined to declare how he/she voted.

Exactly. I'd also note that it's pretty unlikely that the Sabres get a better player than Marner in return if/when they trade Eichel.

At this point, we've heard plenty of speculation, although not many facts, about his injury, about KA's allegedly high asking price, about the teams who are interested, about what Jack wants and about what the Sabres want. The NHL season is over. We've been waiting for the shoe to drop for some time now. Is it going to happen in the next 2 weeks or not? Specifically, will Eichel be traded on or before the end of the first round of the draft, which is 2 weeks from today? I voted no -- I think the injury is creating uncertainty in the minds of the other GMs and driving down the prices they are willing to pay, to the point that their offers aren't good enough for KA to accept. Let's see what our collective wisdom thinks is going to happen.

FWIW, the Athletic's mock draft had Eklund falling to #9.

Now that is a beautiful spot, and is, in fact, where the salad dressing originated. If you can make it to the Canadian side, there is a great duty free store there to load up on booze and cigars.

Of course, but I am skeptical that any medical team is going to give an "I'm highly confident that Jack is going to be at 100% in October" determination to a trading partner -- I think it's much more likely that the medical advice will be qualified with enough uncertainty as to put the GM into the land of playing the percentages.

I think you're right that some won't entertain it, but I think others will simply play the percentages and discount their offers.

Good work inky.

Well, it seems like a million years ago, but I and I think most here thought the sky was the limit on Middlestadt when he was drafted. Reputable NHL writers were pretty high on him -- I think it was Corey Pronman who had him as the top prospect outside the NHL after the Sabres drafted him. Would the fan base have been excited to trade him for, say, Tyler Toffoli, who had just turned 25 and was a solid #2C? I kinda think we wouldn't have been that psyched about a trade like that.

Even in the GWN, sir, "lowsy" is not an accepted spelling. To my eye he looked unhappy on the ice too. Would you not be pretty surprised if he signed a long-term deal here this summer? I agree that he played well and conducted himself like a professional, and I'd like him back too.

It's an interesting question. The prudent move for him is to take $40MM or so if someone offers it, and someone probably will. He just seemed so unhappy this season (to me, anyway, although I know many here disagreed) that it seems likely that he won't sign a long-term deal here, at least not this summer, and, if he's traded, that he'll want to take his time and evaluate the new situation before signing a long-term deal with the new team.