Jack Eichel: Trade rumors and speculation

[Gabrielor]

2 minutes ago, I-90 W said:

Rossi alone (+) is not enough for me. Throw in Boldy and I’ll feel a bit better

Zegras alone (+) is but it seems like the Anaheim rumors have cooled a bit.

I’m not knocking Rossi but Zegras is just more of a proven player (obviously) at this point. I would like a serviceable 1a or 1b coming back in whatever trade we do make. 
 

Give us Rossi and Kaapo (+), keep Boldy.

Zegras is my favorite possible result of this Eichel trade, and my best life. Anaheim seems locked on keeping him though.

 

Rossi+Kaapo? did MIN and NYR merge teams?

[I-90 W]

2 minutes ago, Gabrielor said:

Zegras is my favorite possible result of this Eichel trade, and my best life. Anaheim seems locked on keeping him though.

 

Rossi+Kaapo? did MIN and NYR merge teams?

Kachonen not Kakko.

[Zamboni]

I must be getting old or just never been around people who use the phrase “and my best life” when describing things, like … a hockey trade  🤔 

 

Zegras as part of a package would be a nice fair return. Understandably… GM’s are pretty hesitant it seems to give up a lot for Eichel in his current situation.

[I-90 W]

7 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

I must be getting old or just never been around people who use the phrase “and my best life” when describing things, like … a hockey trade  🤔 

 

Zegras as part of a package would be a nice fair return. Understandably… GM’s are pretty hesitant it seems to give up a lot for Eichel in his current situation.

I don’t know what it means either. Anyway, I’d push past these GMs if they want an injury discount and remind them that their prospects and 1st rd draft picks are also unknowns. Both sides have risk involved here. 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

What if this whole thing turns upside down?

I have a *hockey trade* proposal along the lines of Smilin' Ger when he went to Long Island and turned 'o la la Pierre into LaLaLafontaine ...

Not saying it is my prediction and don't think it would ever happen, but ...

Jack for Nathan (😎) ... straight up.

I would be all over that ... big time heavy duty.

 

[SabresVet]

33 minutes ago, jahnyc said:

Jack plus a back injury that will need surgery and significant recovery time is not going to yield four significant assets.  Added to the uncertainty around the neck surgery are a long term contract at a high salary and questions (whether deserved or not) around his character and leadership abilities.

I agree that if there had been a real market, Jack would have been traded before the draft.  Jack's agents did us no favors yesterday.  At this point, I probably would be satisfied with a top prospect and a first round pick that is not protected in next year's draft.  I was surprised with the return for Sam, even with the need for him to be extended.  I expected a lot more, so I am prepared to be very disappointed with the return for Jack.

Jack's agents did as their client wished - leverage his departure from Buffalo as Adams drags his feet insisting on 4 pieces.  Each side in this and other teams are doing their preparation to attain identified objectives.  Nothing wrong with any of it.   

Looking ahead, I don't see the yield from this trade being as high as Adams had wanted You've got the injury and, among other things, the flat cap.  But the real impediment being placed on this franchise is the owner balking at taking back contracts for 1-2 seasons.  It's been a theme that he negatively intervenes and that's alive and well.  I get the impression Pegula wants to be just above the cap floor - a stark reversal from the gas drilling comment days.

Adams may well have a solid rebuilding plan and the minds to help accomplish that on board now.  With the NHL getting increasingly competitive, I find it hard the GM can overcome the owner regardless of what he does.  If it holds up an Eichel trade there isn't a lot of hope for this franchise - and I suspect that's a big part of why people don't want to play there.    

[PromoTheRobot]

43 minutes ago, jahnyc said:

Jack plus a back injury that will need surgery and significant recovery time is not going to yield four significant assets.  Added to the uncertainty around the neck surgery are a long term contract at a high salary and questions (whether deserved or not) around his character and leadership abilities.

I agree that if there had been a real market, Jack would have been traded before the draft.  Jack's agents did us no favors yesterday.  At this point, I probably would be satisfied with a top prospect and a first round pick that is not protected in next year's draft.  I was surprised with the return for Sam, even with the need for him to be extended.  I expected a lot more, so I am prepared to be very disappointed with the return for Jack.

When did Jack's neck become a back injury?

The question is how many teams really want Eichel? All you need are two bidding against each other. Right now everyone is playing it cool, trying to see if the rookie GM cracks. So far he's not. Eventually one of the suitors will break rank.

[Thorny]

https://www.si.com/hockey/news/sabres-back-at-square-1-in-seeking-to-trade-eichel

Reasonable article. 

Of note:

"The injury was but the breaking point for the 24-year-old Eichel, who has five years left on an eight-year, $80 million contract with a no-trade movement clause that kicks in next summer.

His days appeared numbered once Adams took over last summer and prepared to place his stamp on a floundering franchise. By September, teams were contacting Adams about Eichel’s potential availability, something Adams confirmed while saying he had no intention of trading the player.

Public speculation of Eichel’s status in Buffalo didn’t sit well with the team’s highest-paid player, who insisted he wasn’t the one seeking a trade.

What followed was a series of injuries, starting with Eichel breaking a rib during an on-ice session before the start of training camp, which led to the five-time 20-goal-scorer limited to a season-low two goals and 18 points in 21 games."

[WildCard]

Sounds like Jack didn't want out, and Adams pushed it in that direction. That's pretty disappointing if true.

[Derrico]

1 hour ago, darksabre said:

That said, if it doesn't happen, it's because Adams has no problem with doing his FA work with Eichel still on the books.

I'm sure Adams has no problem with it.  My concern is Minny et al will be spending in FA and may not have cap space for Jack after tomorrow?  

Let's just hope it's a fair deal and it happens today.  I think it starts getting much more complicated after that.

[darksabre]

1 minute ago, WildCard said:

Sounds like Jack didn't want out, and Adams pushed it in that direction. That's pretty disappointing if true.

It's basically what I've been saying all along. While everyone else was throwing Jack in the river for demanding a trade, I've never believed that that happened. If the Sabres trade Jack it's because they want to.

[LGR4GM]

1 minute ago, darksabre said:

It's basically what I've been saying all along. While everyone else was throwing Jack in the river for demanding a trade, I've never believed that that happened. If the Sabres trade Jack it's because they want to.

100% 

This is the truth. 

[WildCard]

2 minutes ago, darksabre said:

It's basically what I've been saying all along. While everyone else was throwing Jack in the river for demanding a trade, I've never believed that that happened. If the Sabres trade Jack it's because they want to.

Saw it didn't work for X amount of years, cut the cord while he still has value and try again.

Still, they're handling it about as poor as you can PR wise.

[Dr. Who]

17 hours ago, Mustache of God said:

How many cats would you trade Jack Eichel for? 6? 

Not really sure, but one of them better be a potential 1 C. Actually, my own cats don't understand my obsession with hockey as it doesn't obviously connect to food.

[Thorny]

Just now, WildCard said:

Sounds like Jack didn't want out, and Adams pushed it in that direction. That's pretty disappointing if true.

I agree with this. I do think Adams was, at the very least, open to the idea, right from the start, to the extent it definitely played it's part in initiating the process. Having said that, in spite of thinking it was more KA driven than Jack driven, at least until the very end, I do have to give Adams a bit of a caveat: Eichel was 23 years old at the time, still a kid imo at least from my own experiences (and only 24 now). In some ways all the troubles Jack had been through here were liable to spring to the surface with the single strike of a match - if all KA did was merely listen to offers, perhaps on an objective level doing nothing at all deserving of criticism, Jack simply *hearing* that's going on, after all he's been through here, could be enough to strike that match. I can honestly understand that from his point of view, especially at his age. In which case, the KA/Adams relationship was arguably inevitably doomed to fail. 

In the end, I do believe personally that KA should have been more careful with this prized asset and done what was necessary, right from the beginning, to prioritize his satisfaction. No, nothing to do with letting Jack make decisions, bending to his will, whatever: I just mean whatever was necessary to ensure Jack felt they weren't keen at all on moving him - he obviously felt disrespected. This is my opinion - if all KA did was listen (I think it was more than that), I get the argument that he had to operate in that fashion even if I disagree with it. 

[Thorny]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Who said:

Not really sure, but one of them better be a potential 1 C. Actually, my own cats don't understand my obsession with hockey as it doesn't obviously connect to food.

Last I heard Felix the Cat was a 1G prospect not 1C

[Dr. Who]

Just now, Thorny said:

Last I heard Felix the Cat was a 1G prospect not 1C

Nicely played.

[darksabre]

6 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Saw it didn't work for X amount of years, cut the cord while he still has value and try again.

Still, they're handling it about as poor as you can PR wise.

I don't know. I don't think there's really a good way to handle "disgruntled franchise player who we as management have soured on is trying to bludgeon us into letting him have experimental surgery in the middle of our trying to trade him to reset the franchise".

[LGR4GM]

[Cascade Youth]

When you hire rookie GMs and coaches - which the Pegulas are ADDICTED to doing - you create these conditions.  Unproven leaders often lack the track record and confidence to execute their vision without jettisoning any perceived threat to their authority.  Hence why relatively new owners don’t want veteran GMs who threaten their sovereignty.  And with the Bills, their rookie GM Beane couldn’t wait to ship Sammy Watkins out of town.  Adams doesn’t seem able to instill his “culture” without removing threats like a sometimes-mopey star player who rightfully is fed up with losing.

But make no mistake - this is a Pegula problem, not an Adams issue.  These people are highly insecure and it cascades down the organization.

[Peter]

9 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Sounds like Jack didn't want out, and Adams pushed it in that direction. That's pretty disappointing if true.

 

4 minutes ago, darksabre said:

It's basically what I've been saying all along. While everyone else was throwing Jack in the river for demanding a trade, I've never believed that that happened. If the Sabres trade Jack it's because they want to.

This makes no sense to me but who knows.  Nevertheless, I seriously doubt that GMKA's agenda when he was hired was to trade JE.  For the past few years, I have read rumblings here and elsewhere that JE was wasting his career and presumably would like to get traded out of Buffalo.  I did not believe those rumors then but I am sure other teams did hear about them and contacted the Sabres about a trade.  The fact that a GM would receive those calls is not earth shattering. As we all know, GMKA did NOT trade JE then.

Fast forward to the end of this season. I fully believe that JE is trying to engineer a trade and is using the supposed dispute with the Sabres re the surgery that he supposedly wants done (that NO NHL player has ever had) as an excuse.

I hope that GMKA will to continue to hold out for full value for JE and if he does not get full value, JE has a choice as to what he wants to do for the next five years.

It is going to be interesting to see whether JE actually has the surgery if he gets traded.  We shall see.

[PASabreFan]

27 minutes ago, Thorny said:

https://www.si.com/hockey/news/sabres-back-at-square-1-in-seeking-to-trade-eichel

Reasonable article. 

Of note:

"The injury was but the breaking point for the 24-year-old Eichel, who has five years left on an eight-year, $80 million contract with a no-trade movement clause that kicks in next summer.

His days appeared numbered once Adams took over last summer and prepared to place his stamp on a floundering franchise. By September, teams were contacting Adams about Eichel’s potential availability, something Adams confirmed while saying he had no intention of trading the player.

Public speculation of Eichel’s status in Buffalo didn’t sit well with the team’s highest-paid player, who insisted he wasn’t the one seeking a trade.

What followed was a series of injuries, starting with Eichel breaking a rib during an on-ice session before the start of training camp, which led to the five-time 20-goal-scorer limited to a season-low two goals and 18 points in 21 games."

SI and The Hockey News bring you the Associated Press.

23 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Sounds like Jack didn't want out, and Adams pushed it in that direction. That's pretty disappointing if true.

Why the push? It'll go down in Sabres lore as another unsolved mystery.

[I-90 W]

If KA really did want Jack out of here before the injury (plausible), then logically Jack would have to be the toxic, head case that some make him out to be. I don’t see any other reason why KA would want a player like him gone, logically. I’m not saying this is the case, but if the theory is true, it would have to mean Jack has significant character issues.

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, I-90 W said:

If KA really did want Jack out of here before the injury (plausible), then logically Jack would have to be the toxic, head case that some make him out to be. I don’t see any other reason why KA would want a player like him gone, logically. I’m not saying this is the case, but if the theory is true, it would have to mean Jack has significant character issues.

Adams doesn't believe the Sabres can win during Jack's window and wants to reset the team 3-4 years behind that window. In order to make that reset function, trading Eichel to get younger high end prospects makes more sense than wasting another 2-3 years of Eichel. 

Not saying I agree just offering an option

[I-90 W]

Just now, LGR4GM said:

Adams doesn't believe the Sabres can win during Jack's window and wants to reset the team 3-4 years behind that window. In order to make that reset function, trading Eichel to get younger high end prospects makes more sense than wasting another 2-3 years of Eichel. 

Okay, that’s a fair point. I didn’t think of that but I can see that.