The Buffalo Sabres are losing again. Even with the offseason excitement of pairing Taylor Hall with Jack Eichel, the team is at the bottom of the East Division standings, sitting 4-6-2 with just 31 goals in 12 games. That MVP-caliber pair has produced just three goals combined, including just a single tally at even-strength. Add in the zero goals that Jeff Skinner has provided and the Sabres have just three for the combined $27MM cap hit of that trio. With that kind of offensive ineptitude from their highest-paid players, speculation about trades was bound to spark up.
Today, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet joined The Instigators on WGR550 in Buffalo and spent nearly 15 minutes discussing the future of Skinner. The 28-year-old forward has six years left after this season on his eight-year $72MM contract but has just 24 points in the 71 games since he signed it. He has just one point this season and has had his ice time reduced dramatically. It’s not clear at all how Buffalo gets out from under the Skinner contract, but Friedman doesn’t believe Buffalo should be trying to attach draft picks as a sweetener in a potential trade.
It was the next topic that really raised some eyebrows though, as the conversation turned to a potential trade of Eichel. Friedman simply stated “yes” when asked if a trade of the Sabres superstar was possible, before going on to explain his thoughts:
Look, we know that this was something that came up last summer. I don’t know that it was ever close. The feeling that I’ve always had is that Buffalo knew Eichel was unhappy. They asked Eichel to take a step last year and he really did, we’ve talked about how much of a step Eichel took last year. Still, when it came to team success it just didn’t really go anywhere. Now you look at where it is this year, you know he’s going to be frustrated, and there were conversations last year. But what I was told was, the Sabres just said ’we are not ready to do this. We are not ready.’ Teams made offers, it was communicated that he was restless. I don’t think he ever asked for a trade, I don’t think it got that far. But he was restless and teams knew it. The Sabres took some offers and said ’no we’re not ready to do this.’
It’s clear that there would be interest in Eichel, but a trade involving a $10MM-per-year contract would certainly not be simple. The 24-year-old center is signed through the 2025-26 season. Friedman notes that the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings could both potentially put together packages for Eichel from the number of assets in the organization, though doesn’t imply they have made an offer at any point.
One important difference between Skinner and Eichel, other than the obvious performance levels, is that the former owns a full no-move clause. Eichel’s NMC doesn’t kick in until the 2022-23 season, the year he would have normally been eligible for unrestricted free agency (players before that age are not allowed to include any trade protection in their contracts). That means trading Skinner would have the additional hurdle of getting his blessing, while Eichel technically doesn’t have to be included in the process.
Still, the only way the Sabres would be moving on from their franchise center is if he wanted it, and though Friedman suggests there was unrest in the summer, Eichel has never publicly stated he is looking for a change. In fact, he has done quite the opposite, by acknowledging his frustration but reaffirming his commitment to the Sabres organization many times. That feeling can change in a heartbeat though, and by the end of this season, Eichel will have played more than 400 NHL games without ever sniffing the postseason. Buffalo hasn’t even had a winning season with him, going 160-194-55 in his five-plus-year career.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
It would be very nice to see him in a L.A. Kings uniform.
What would it take to get eichel in a kings uniform? Outside of byfield I’m open to anyone even turcotte being delt.
Maybe turcotte, madden/bjornfoot/claque and this years 1st?
Pretty sure they’re gonna want NHL talent as well
Letting Byfield get in the way of a trade for Eichel would be madness.
Your not getting top rated talent for a guy already on a huge contract. Have to factor in sunk cost, the team trading for him is taking on the whole contract as well as trading prospects for star that could regress any day. Unless Buffalo eats half his contract then you can have byfield by all means.
Kings have the best prospect pool the could cobble together several packages that would interest sabers. I’d be willing to include Dustin brown who’s having a great year and from the area. Brown has 13 points in 14 games and is on pace for 60+ points again this season.
If the would want nhl talent, then why did they sign skinner? Haha
I’d say that’s true until you factor in age. Eichel at 24 is worth every cent of his contract and the Sabres aren’t looking to dump salary. They may have to take on another contract to make the cap work, but players of his caliber and age aren’t available, normally ever, regardless of contract. Sabres would be nuts to ask for anything less than a combination of top picks, top prospects, and NHL talent.
Eichel that is, not the overpaid Markham boy Mr. Skinner.
Eichel to the Rangers book it
Won’t help those “ranges” at all! With all those goal scorers they have & have had they could never do the one thing that keeps them in basement of the Original 6…Play No Defensive structure and outside of King Henrik they never have high end GTs…over their entire Franchise history it’s always the same story! With Gorton as GM & having trained under Glen Sather (Sather minus Gretzky=ZERO!) they have even less of a chance to succeed. They fish for GTs in the wrong pond(Russian Frontier) versus the loaded pond(Scandinavian Pool)! “ITS OVA”
Really weird, I could have sworn a Russian goalie just led his team to the Stanley Cup, and is the best goalie in the league right now.
I’ll say the same things I said last offseason…
Sabres aren’t even close to winning.
Eichel is a drip.
Taylor Hall should fire his agent.
Taylor Hall should fire himself
If I’m the Rangers I’d definitely check in but I’d be reluctant to move Kakko, Laffy or Fox and I don’t know if they could get a deal done without including either of those pieces.
I have a deal that could work fir both Sabre’s and Rangers. Mika and Kreider plus Morgan Barron and Matthew Robertson for Eichel and Skinner.
Lay off the weeeeeeduh
That’s a over pay for the ranges. Skinner has such negative value at this point. Plus rangers can’t take on 20 million in cap while only giving up what 12?
Stop it’s actually not far off when taking back Skinner contract. Stay off the stupidity!
Mika > Eichel
Mika cares if his team wins or not.
Eichel just whines.
Buffalo would be stupid to trade Eichel he is the corner stone of this franchise
His regression so far this year is definitely concerning. Only 2 goals, and under a ppg shouldn’t be how a star reacts when frustrated
Sabres hadn’t played in 10 months, there was a condensed training camp, and then spent 2 weeks in COVID purgatory. Its not regression, its circumstantial. He was well over a point per game last season until the shutdown.
Joe Thornton doesn’t seem to be having a problem and he’s old enough to be Eichel’s father.
They need to invest in their scouting an awful lot more than they do. Both the pro and amateur scouting has let them down for almost a decade now.
That’s exactly the problem. Can’t draft right, can’t sign the right players, and trades haven’t worked out. O for 3 means last place every year. They brought in a couple good players but the negativity hanging over the franchise is contagious in the locker room. Is it ownership?
If the Sabres trade Eichel it would be the stupidest thing in their history. The need to get ride of this joke of a coaching staff. As far as Skinner goes, put him back with Eichel permanently where he scored 40 goals. But this coach refuses to do that. This coach is wasting the talent on this team. OMG I can’t remember the last time this team had a good coach. The Pegula’s need a Brandon Beane and Shawn McDermott to run the Sabres.