The Buffalo Sabres finished re-signing their restricted free agents recently when they inked Zemgus Girgensons to a two-year contract, and immediately turned their attention (if it hadn’t been there already) to an extension for budding superstar Jack Eichel. With Connor McDavid receiving his eight-year, $100MM extension early from the Edmonton Oilers, many wondered if Eichel would also be locked up this summer. The Sabres are clearly trying to get it done before camp, and when Dan Fetes of WROC in Buffalo caught up with Sabres GM Jason Botterill today he seemed very confident they’d be able to.
Our discussions continue to be very positive. It’s obviously a little bit of a new market this summer with some of the different contracts that have come out, but our discussions have been very positive. At the end of the day, we certainly want to get Jack signed up for the max amount of term possible and he has the belief. All our discussions have been positive about the contract, but also just about the season and his preparation in general.
Botterill goes on to discuss the connection Eichel and new head coach Phil Housley have already made, but the most important takeaway for fans is that there is no animosity between the two sides. An extension seems inevitable at some point, but negotiations have definitely been impacted by McDavid’s deal and others like Leon Draisaitl or even Ryan Johansen and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Eichel remains under his entry-level deal for one more season, but will be in line for his big raise starting in 2018-19.
Though he missed a big chunk of last season to injury, Eichel still recorded 57 points and ranked 15th in the entire league in points-per-game. That was ahead of other star centers like Tyler Seguin and John Tavares, leading many to believe that he could take a step and push towards the top of the leaderboards next year. That’ll take a healthy season and an improved overall game by the Sabres, but with the added comfort of an eight-year extension behind him it’s definitely not out of the question.