They’re open to a move. That’s all the Buffalo Sabres have really said about the Jack Eichel situation, as GM Kevyn Adams tries to maintain control. In fact, control is exactly the word he used when free agency began and he was asked about the future of Eichel:
I think what’s critically important to make sure is clear is that we’re in control of this process, we have a player under contract, we don’t feel any pressure. If there’s a deal out there that we feel is the right thing for the Buffalo Sabres, that we feel is going to help us improve, whether that’s improve right away or improve down the road – those are all the things we weigh – we’d be open to it.
A few days later, Eichel’s representatives released a statement to the media that made clear the talented forward wanted and expected a trade out of Buffalo. Today, those agents were dismissed by Eichel as he moved to Pat Brisson and CAA. That change immediately sparked more speculation about a trade, with fans and media alike scrolling through Brisson’s client list to see any connections around the league.
The fact is, there are connections to be made wherever you want to find them, as Brisson is arguably the most powerful agent in the hockey world and has clients all over the NHL. His personal friendship with Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin is well known, for instance, which could lead to one avenue of speculation, but so is Eichel’s friendship with Brisson client Noah Hanifin of the Calgary Flames. The agent change doesn’t necessarily mean anything in regards to a trade timeline, other than it will now be new representation working with the Sabres.
But what are your thoughts on the situation? Which team will Eichel be under contract with when the season begins? Due to a neck injury that will require surgery, he’s not expected to be ready in time for opening day in October, but will a trade have been completed by then? Or will he still be with the Sabres, sitting in limbo with an uncertain future. We’re now just a month away from preseason hockey and it’s not at all clear where Eichel will play his next game.
So cast your vote and leave a comment down below on how you think it plays out!
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I don’t know who’s doctors are in the right but paying a player and not letting them get the neck surgery they want, can’t be the best option.
For both sides.
What do they call a Mexican standoff in hockey?
A Mexican face off?
Let a player decide 100% & disregard the insurance company, owner who has to pay the salary or the team that has to deal with the aftermath on the ice of a surgery that doesn’t hold up. It is not a Mexican standoff. The team can require Eichel to report to training Camp or they can fine him & he loses a season of accredited service time & salary if he does not show up.
So Eichel shows up and is declared unfit to play. Back to Mexican stand off.
Eh Mexican Stand Oof
@Discostu – I believe that translates to, “Two burritos and an enchilada for spearing — extra hot sauce, please!”
A Canadian Standoff, after all it is about hockey and still relatively polite.
Buffalo will hold out until the offers dwindle and will end up getting less for Eichel than they could have. It’s why the Sabres are the mess that they are.
You are much too positive. They will get nothing.
No they are a mess because it still requires players on the ice to perform. A few seasons the team started out very well & if they played about .500 hockey the rest of the way they would have made the playoffs. Rhino never wanted to play #2C (& only wanted to play on the top line with Eichel) so that created another need for a top Center. Risto never had very good overall stats. With Rhino wanting to play wing that made the team rush Mitts into action to soon.
You sound like an idiot using all those nicknames. You’re not one of their teammates.
This so-called ‘control’ only truly lasts through this year, after which he has a no-trade clause that kicks in. Once that happens, it (theoretically) becomes significantly more difficult to trade him. If they want to have any hopes of salvaging this situation, they need to trade him sooner rather than later.
It’s very much like the Sabres to claim to be doing what’s best for the franchise while actually handling the situation about as bad as you can. Like I’ve said before, if you have teams willing to trade for him AND sign off on this surgery, why the eph are you playing hardball here? Just pull the trigger. You’ve already lost the ability to get a great deal. The deals only get worse from here.
Still takes both sides to agree. Buffalo can basically keep him for the next 5 seasons. Eichel wanted to get paid & he accepted 8 years max length. He could have also signed for 3 to 5 years.
Great, Buffalo keeps him and not only doesn’t have Eichel on the ice but none of the players they could’ve had if they had made a trade. That’ll help the team!
What would be the point in keeping him other than just spite? He’s disgruntled. He’s not going to play, and if he does, it won’t be well. Forcing him to do that is only going to completely kill his trade value to the point where you’re lucky to get anything for him. What do they have to gain from that? They already came out at the beginning of the offseason and effectively said they don’t want Eichel there, either. So you keep him just to spite him? How does that benefit the franchise?
If you force him to get your surgery at this point, he’s out for a while. He has no time or ability to establish trade value and health before the trade deadline. Now you’re stuck paying him a $7.5m bonus and trying to trade him with a no-trade clause next offseason. There goes your leverage, and you’re still stuck in a best-deal-available situation, but with even less options than you have now. The Sabres backed themselves into a bad situation, and are trying to play like a tough franchise that calls the shots, which is completely making this bad situation worse. They literally can’t do anything right.
And smart franchises know all of this, so they have no reason to offer any value. The Sabres have no leverage here. They will completely lose this trade situation regardless of what they do. The worst part about it is, reports have claimed teams are willing to allow him to have the surgery he wants. If you have a team with a halfway decent trade package, just pull the trigger. There is literally nothing to gain by holding onto him, it is so plainly obvious.
There is absolutely something to gain (besides sheer ego, of course). Buffalo’s still $7 million under the cap floor. Now they’ll hit that when they sign Mittelstadt, Dahlin and Jokiharju. But unless they get equivalent salary back for Eichel, they’re right back in the soup.
Jack Eichel is on IR and his $10MM salary is not counted against the cap. Trading him before he comes off IR will not reduce the Sabres’ cap.
They have approx. $7MM to get to the cap floor, and with 3 significant RFA’s to sign, that’s not going to be a problem.
We should recall the immortal words of Tim Murray: “spending money is easy”.
The Sabres have considerable leverage here. Eichel has, essentially, no leverage. The balance will tilt a bit in favor of the player as the calendar approaches July 1, 2022. That’s a long time from now.
Meanwhile people may resume calling Kevyn Adams a dolt (while marveling at the genius, Joe Sakic).
That’s not how it works. Players on IR absolutely do count against the cap. Only if they’re placed on LTIR do the salaries not count against the cap. A casual glance at their cap list would tell you that their $53,622,764 cap hit does include Eichel’s hit. Now sure — they can always grossly overpay someone to make up the cap difference. Except how well would THAT go over with the fan base?
You’re forgetting something else: the Sabres only have “considerable leverage” just so long as there’s *another team willing to deal with them.* Eichel is ten million dollars worth of damaged goods right now. Only a madman would pay 2020 market value for him right now, and there aren’t many teams that could even if they wanted to. And if Buffalo got any less than 2020 market value, the fans would march on the team offices with shotguns, gelding knives and nooses.
This is right up there with the folks on this board shrilly insisting that Seattle would surely draft Price and/or Tarasenko, because of course they were Great Superstars. And those same folks are going to call Sabres’ management bums and losers if no one offers them a huge price for Eichel, and they’ll call management bums and losers if they seriously overpay their RFAs to get to the cap floor. I’m not saying anyone involved is at risk of a Jack Adams award any time soon, and a lot of this is their own doing, but Buffalo is seriously screwed right now no matter what they do.
Thank you for an incredibly intelligent reply on this subject.
The Sabres have no Eichel on the ice and no return for him via trade. In other words, they’re paying 10 million dollars for no on ice production. What kind of leverage is that?
Buffalo Sabres
They messed it up too bad to even get half of what they want for him right now. Adams is probably hoping some desperate team will be willing to overpay at the deadline now.
GMKA can just sit back because the hot potato is now in the hands of Eichel.
Regardless of who has Eichel he won’t be able to play for some time. That’s a dangerous injury.
I remember Tim Murray basically crying when he didn’t get McDavid like his dog was put to sleep and I and most other people were like, “what’s the big deal, you still got a franchise center?”
He clearly knew.
That they had incompetent management and coaching that would cause all talent on the team to underperform? It seems like maybe he should have done something about that instead of you blaming Eichel.
Eichel said he was the best player in the draft. Everyone knew this was Not the case, and only the media made it sound like there was a competition between Eichel and McDavid.
So for Eichel to say “he’s the best” is a red flag, but there is no team that would or could pass on him as he is a true #1 center for almost every team in the league.
He most likely would have done better elsewhere, but a player with a dysfunctional attitude (delusion in this case) could have been a problem for any franchise.
Most voters seemed to have voted for their favorite team in this poll. Realistically, very few teams have the cap space to land Eichel and virtually all of those are rebuilding. I can’t see the Rangers blowing up their rebuild to gamble on an injured player. The Kings would seem best suited to make a deal as they are furthest along in their rebuild and have the prospects to get a deal done. If neither the Kings or Rangers are willing to budge on Eichel, then his market value falls considerably. Buffalo better take what they can get, while they can get it.
Most voters went with Buffalo from what I saw. So does this mean Buffalo is most peoples favourite team?
If so, lots of folks rooting for the underdog. The underdog of underdogs really.