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Jack Eichel

Several Teams Spoke With Buffalo About Jack Eichel

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When a franchise struggles for a long period of time and changes their general manager, installing someone with little front office experience, you can assume that the rest of the league takes flight like vultures to try and pick the roster clean of any talent. That’s exactly what seems to have happened in Buffalo when the Sabres made the move to fire Jason Botterill and hire Kevyn Adams as GM.

Bob McKenzie of TSN tweets that several teams including the New York Rangers called on the availability of Jack Eichel, though none of those conversations resulted in “trade traction” with Adams and the Sabres. McKenzie also makes sure to point out that neither the Sabres or Eichel himself have expressed any desire to part ways, in fact just the opposite appears to be true at the moment.

Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston tweets that he was told the Bruins were also one of the teams speaking with the Sabres regarding Eichel, though again these talks don’t seem to have gone anywhere.

It’s easy to imagine why other general managers will continue to poke at the Sabres on the status of Eichel. Not only is the 23-year-old center one of the best players in the NHL coming off an incredible 36-goal, 78-point campaign, but he’s also a $10MM ticket on a team that hasn’t played a postseason game since 2011 and is reportedly looking at working under a drastically reduced internal salary cap due to recent financial restrictions.

If Buffalo is going to turn things around, it’s hard to imagine it would be without Eichel leading the charge. The young forward is a true franchise talent that now has 337 points in 354 career games, despite often playing with an underwhelming roster. Even at that $10MM cap hit he likely represents excess value for the team, unlike some of his high-priced teammates (Jeff Skinner, who carries a $9MM cap hit through 2026-27, scored just 23 points this season).

All that said, Eichel has been quite clear in the past about his desire to win. His agent Peter Fish even re-upped that stance with McKenzie today, explaining that the star center doesn’t want out but is frustrated with the team’s results so far. If the Sabres can’t turn things around, this won’t be the last time that teams are calling about his availability or his name pops up in trade rumors.

2020 King Clancy Trophy Nominees Announced

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The NHL has announced the 31 nominees for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, annually presented to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.” Last year’s winner was Jason Zucker of the Minnesota Wild.

Each team submits one nominee. This year’s are:

Anaheim: Cam Fowler

Arizona: Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Boston: Patrice Bergeron

Buffalo: Jack Eichel

Calgary: Travis Hamonic

Carolina: Jordan Staal

Chicago: Jonathan Toews

Colorado: Gabriel Landeskog

Columbus: Cam Atkinson

Dallas: Tyler Seguin

Detroit: Justin Abdelkader

Edmonton: Leon Draisaitl

Florida: Sergei Bobrovsky

Los Angeles: Trevor Lewis

Minnesota: Matt Dumba

Montreal: Carey Price

Nashville: Pekka Rinne

New Jersey: P.K. Subban

NY Islanders: Matt Martin

NY Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist

Ottawa: Brady Tkachuk

Philadelphia: Kevin Hayes

Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby

San Jose: Evander Kane

St. Louis: Ryan O’Reilly

Tampa Bay: Alex Killorn

Toronto: Mitch Marner

Vancouver: Alexander Edler

Vegas: Marc-Andre Fleury

Washington: Garnet Hathaway

Winnipeg: Blake Wheeler

Sabres Fire GM Jason Botterill

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The Buffalo Sabres have relieved General Manager Jason Botterill of his duties after three years in the role, per a team release. Senior Vice President of Business Administration Kevyn Adams will take over as Botterill’s permanent replacement.

The move comes as a bit of a surprise as we’re just three weeks removed from ownership announcing a plan to keep Botterill in his role. Botterill joined the Sabres as a respected hockey mind from the Penguins organization.

Sabres’ owners Terry and Kim Pegula released a statement this morning with the news, reasoning the change thusly: “This morning, we informed Jason Botterill he will no longer be the General Manager of the Sabres. This decision was made after many candid discussions with Jason during a full review of our hockey operation. We recognized we have philosophical differences regarding how best to put ourselves in a position to compete for a Stanley Cup. So, we decided to make this change.”

The statement goes on to thank Botterill for his time with the Sabres. During his three years span, Botterill signed star Jack Eichel to a long-term contract (8-years, $80MM), but the Sabres failed to finish higher than 6th in the Atlantic Division. This season, they finished 25th overall, just one spot out of the 24-team playoff. They haven’t reached the postseason since the 2010-2011 season – the longest active postseason drought in the NHL.

More changes could be afoot for the Sabres, as Botterill’s firing did not happen in a vacuum. Wholesale changes are being made to the Sabres’ hockey operations department. Assistant GM Randy Sexton as also let go by the club, per the Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. Steve Greeley was another casualty, tweets Frank Seravalli of TSN Sports, though Seravalli thinks Greeley and Sexton should have no trouble catching on with another organization.

East Notes: Pageau, Hurricanes, Martinook, Palmieri, Eichel

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Earlier reports have the Ottawa Senators holding two of their top trade chips out of their lineup Saturday as the team have made both Tyler Ennis and Vladislav Namestnikov healthy scratches. However, one player who isn’t going to be a healthy scratch Saturday is center Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who is considered to be one of the top three trade candidates at the moment.

That could change, however, as TVA’s Renaud Lavoie reports that Pageau and the Ottawa Senators are still negotiating a contract extension and the center will continue to play for the team. After failing to lock up any of their pending free agents last year at the trade deadline as they lost Mark Stone, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel, the team is hoping they can convince the 27-year-old to remain with the team. Pageau is having a career year with 24 goals and 40 points, both career highs. The team hopes to come to terms with the forward before being forced to move him on Monday.

  • Speaking of contract extensions, the New York Rangers are also in discussions with their top trade target, Chris Kreider, about a contract extension. However, there are plenty of teams that have been discussed that might be willing to pay big to bring Kreider aboard for their playoff run, including the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that the Carolina Hurricanes have also expressed interest in adding Kreider. The Hurricanes, who are still battling to even get into the playoffs (they are one point out of a playoff spot at the moment), do have one of the best prospect systems in the league and have the picks and prospects to make an enticing offer if they want.
  • Speaking of the Hurricanes, TSN’s Mark Masters reports that Carolina will get back forward Jordan Martinook tonight after being out since Feb. 4 with an upper-body injury. The 27-year-old has two goals and 11 points in 37 games with Carolina this season.
  • New Jersey Devils forward Kyle Palmieri isn’t worried about trade rumors. The 29-year-old has been traded before and understands how the trade deadline works, according to Abby Mastrocco of northjersey.com. “It’s just a lot of noise,” Palmieri said this week at Prudential Center. “It’s not something I can control. There are plenty of Twitter GMs out there but right now, I’m staying focused on the game and the guys in this room. Until someone tells me otherwise, that’s what my focus is on.” Palmieri could fetch the Devils quite a return if they are willing to move him. He has 22 goals and 42 points in 57 games for New Jersey, but more importantly has one more year on his contract after this one, which many teams might be attracted to.
  • Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel didn’t take any faceoffs during Saturday’s game and The Athletic’s John Vogl found a source who said that Eichel suffered a midsection ailment and the team didn’t want their star to bend over for faceoffs Saturday. It doesn’t look like the injury will keep him out of the lineup, however, as the 23-year-old still potted two goals Saturday against the Penguins in the 5-2 victory.

2020 NHL All-Star Skills Participants Announced

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Before Saturday’s All-Star Game three-on-three tournament, the NHL’s best will take the ice on Friday night in the annual All-Star Skills event. There has been considerable hype around this year’s competition, given both the new “Shooting Stars” event, in which players will fire the puck at targets on the ice from platforms in the stands, and the participation of stars from the women’s game, including their own three-on-three scrimmage. Now, the league has announced who specifically will be taking part in each event, both new and classic. Below is the lineup for each event:

Fastest Skater

Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders
Chris Kreider, New York Rangers
Anthony Duclair, Ottawa Senators
Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers
Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks

Save Streak

David Rittich, Calgary Flames
Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh Penguins
Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues
Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning
Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs
Jacob Markstrom, Vancouver Canucks
Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets

Accuracy Shooting

Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes
Tyler Bertuzzi, Detroit Red Wings
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers
Nico Hischier, New Jersey Devils
Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks
Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues
Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets

Hardest Shot

Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets
Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
John Carlson, Washington Capitals

Shooting Stars

David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins
Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary Flames
Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars
Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators
David Perron, St. Louis Blues
Ryan O’Reilly, St. Louis Blues
Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs
American Women’s Elite All-Star (TBD)
Canadian Women’s Elite All-Star (TBD)

Women’s Three-On-Three

Team Canada: Meghan Agosta, Mélodie Daoust, Ann-Renée Desbiens, Renata Fast, Laura Fortino, Rebecca Johnston, Sarah Nurse, Marie-Philip Poulin, Natalie Spooner, Blayre Turnbull

Team USA: Kacey Bellamy, Alex Carpenter, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Brianna Decker, Amanda Kessel, Hilary Knight, Jocelyn Lamoureux-Davidson, Annie Pankowski, Alex Rigsby Cavallini, Lee Stecklein

All the action kicks off at 7:00pm local time in St. Louis, with coverage from NBCSN in the U.S and CBC, SN, and TVAS in Canada.

NHL All-Star Selections Announced

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Although it took some time, with each individual team rolling out their own selections, the final rosters for All-Star Weekend have come into focus. Below are each of the four divisional team, set to face off in the Skills Competition on Friday, January 24th and the All-Star Game on Saturday, January 25th:

Atlantic Division

G Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs
G Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
D Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
D Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens
F Tyler Bertuzzi, Detroit Red Wings
F Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres
F Anthony Duclair, Ottawa Senators
F Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers
F Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
F David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins (C)

Metropolitan Division

G Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
G Joonas Korpisalo, Columbus Blue Jackets
D John Carlson, Washington Capitals
D Dougie Hamilton, Carolina Hurricanes
D Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets
F Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders
F Jake Guentzel, Pittsburgh Penguins
F Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers
F Kyle Palmieri, New Jersey Devils
F Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers

Central Division

G Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues
G Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
D Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
D Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues
F Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
F Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche (C)
F Ryan O’Reilly, St. Louis Blues
F Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets
F Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars
F Eric Staal, Minnesota Wild

Pacific Division

G Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights
G Darcy Kuemper, Arizona Coyotes
D Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
F Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks
F Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
F Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings
F Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers (C)
F Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
F Jakob Silfverberg, Anaheim Ducks
F Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary Flames

Additionally, each divisional squad will have one more addition as decided by the Last Men In fan vote. Voting opens on January 1st and closes on the 10th. Here are the candidates:

Atlantic Division – Patrice Bergeron, Rasmus Dahlin, Dylan Larkin Aleksander Barkov, Max Domi, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Steven Stamkos, Mitch Marner

Metropolitan Division – Teuvo Teravainen, Nick Foligno, Nico Hischier, Brock Nelson, Mika Zibanejad, Claude Giroux, Kris Letang, T.J. Oshie

Central Division – Jonathan Toews, Cale Makar, Jamie Benn, Ryan Suter, Matt Duchene, David Perron Patrik Laine

Pacific Division – Ryan Getzlaf, Clayton Keller, Johnny Gaudreau, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Drew Doughty, Tomas Hertl, Quinn Hughes, Max Pacioretty

Injury Notes: Seabrook, Kuhnhackl, Schultz, Eichel

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On Wednesday, it was reported that Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook’s absence from the lineup was due to him being a healthy scratch.  It turns out that this may not have been the case.  The team announced (Twitter link) that the blueliner wasn’t on the road trip for their game tonight in Winnipeg and is “undergoing further medical evaluation”.  To say this season has been a trying one for the 34-year-old would be a big understatement.  He has just four points in 32 games while logging a career-low 18:09 per night.  Considering his diminished role, it makes sense for Chicago to shut him down if Seabrook is indeed playing through some sort of issue but the way things have been trending for him, there may not be a lineup spot to return to when he’s cleared.

More injury news from around the league:

  • The Islanders announced (via Twitter) that winger Tom Kuhnhackl has been activated off LTIR. He has been limited to just six NHL games this season due to a lower-body injury that he suffered in late-October although he did get into four games on a conditioning stint before returning to the IR earlier this week.  As New York was carrying only 22 players, there is no corresponding move required to bring him back onto the active roster.
  • Pittsburgh has dealt with significant injury issues this season and their list has grown. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters, including Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that defenseman Justin Schultz is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury that he suffered back on Tuesday in his first shift against Calgary.  It’s the second time in the last month that Schultz has had a lower-body issue but it appears this one may keep him out longer than a week and a half like the first one did.
  • Just prior to puck drop tonight, the Sabres announced (Twitter link) that star center Jack Eichel was being scratched due to an upper-body injury; TSN’s Darren Dreger adds (via Twitter) that it’s likely the flu. Eichel is in the midst of a 17-game point streak but that has now come to an end.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Hall, Kucherov

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The NHL has released their Three Stars for last week, handing out the top spot to Vegas Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty. In four games the former Montreal Canadiens’ captain had five goals and eight points last week and leads the Golden Knights in both categories on the season.

While Jack Eichel’s continued MVP-level performance has landed him the third star, a new face finds himself in the second spot. Anthony Duclair has risen from the ashes to become a star with the Ottawa Senators and now has 18 goals on the season. The 24-year old has scored 26 goals in 54 games since arriving in Ottawa and now looks ready to land a long-term deal as a restricted free agent this summer.

  • There is still no concrete news on New Jersey Devils forward Taylor Hall and where he’ll end up after the inevitable trade, but Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) is ruling out one team (for the time being). The Florida Panthers have pulled back their pursuit of the scoring winger according to LeBrun—though he notes that things can obviously change at any moment—because the winger doesn’t seem ready to sign an extension with whatever team acquires him. Hall hasn’t played in the Devils’ last two games as the team tries to protect their asset.
  • Nikita Kucherov has been listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury after blocking a John Carlson slapshot over the weekend. Kucherov was forced from the game but seems to have avoided major injury. Head coach Jon Cooper told reporters including Joe Smith of The Athletic that Kucherov will likely be back before Christmas.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Lemieux, Makar

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The NHL has released their Three Stars of last week and the presumptive Norris favorite is at the top. John Carlson gets the honor after a six-point week with two game-winning goals, taking him to an incredible 43 points in 31 games this season. Carlson is on pace for 113 points this season, something only Paul Coffey and Bobby Orr have done as defensemen.

Second and third place go to Tristan Jarry and Jack Eichel, two more Eastern Conference players just coming into their own. Jarry was picked over Casey DeSmith as the Pittsburgh Penguins backup at the beginning of the season and has been exceptional. Eichel meanwhile has improved his offensive production for the fifth season in a row and now sits at 42 points through 31 games. The Buffalo Sabres captain may be overlooked at times due to team success, but is one of the most explosive scorers in the entire league.

  • Brendan Lemieux has been fined $2,000 for his elbow on Cody Glass over the weekend. Lemieux tried to hit Glass in the corner and ended up contacting him in the head with his elbow when the two spun away from each other. While not a suspension, the fine will impact any future Department of Player Safety decisions in Lemieux’s career.
  • Cale Makar was missing at Colorado Avalanche practice today, but it sounds like he avoided major injury. The team listed him as day-to-day after he was injured on a hit from Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand. Makar has been an incredible story this season as a rookie and seems to be running away with the Calder Trophy.

Prospect Notes: 2020 Draft, Reinhart, WHL

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It may only be August, but The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler is already hard at work evaluating next June’s draft class. The 2020 Draft promises to be chock full of talent, with Wheeler calling it more impressive than the most recent draft class and deeper at the top. In fact, he believes it could be the strongest class since 2015, which produced superstars like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Zach Werenski, Mikko Rantanen, Jake Debrusk, Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor, and Thomas Chabot in the top 20 picks alone. Also unlike recent drafts, Wheeler feels the 2020 class will be deeper at forward than defense and will be lacking impact American prospects, with the scout failing to see a U.S. product even enter the conversation as a top-ten pick. So who might be in contention for one of those elite slots? Canadian forward Alexis Lafreniere has long been considered the presumptive top pick and finds himself at No. 1 on Wheeler’s initial draft board as well. However, Swedish forwards Lucas Raymond and Alexander Holtz could push him for that top spot. College-bound Dylan Holloway is an interesting name to watch as a top-ten candidate, as is Wheeler’s highest-ranked defenseman, Jamie Drysdale. Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov also intrigues Wheeler; he feels the Russian keeper could be the best goalie prospect of this decade. Plenty could change in the ten months still to come before the 2020 Draft, but it never hurts to get a head start on researching who your team could be eyeing next year.

  • Unsurprisingly lost in the shuffle of an off-season that has left many major names unsigned is a former top NHL prospect in Griffin Reinhart. NHL teams have been tantalized by Reinhart’s upside seemingly forever without any real results to show for it, but it seems that luck has finally run out. The fourth overall pick in 2012 by the New York Islanders, Reinhart recorded one lone point in eight NHL games in his first pro season before the Edmonton Oilers traded a first- and second-round pick for him. He proceeded to score just one more point in 29 games over two seasons in Edmonton before being selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Expansion Draft. In two years in Vegas, he did not see any NHL action and became a Group 6 unrestricted free agent. Reinhart received the benefit of the doubt for many years, but it seems no longer, as there has been practically no talk of the young defenseman this summer.
  • The WHL is headed outdoors for just the third time in league history. Sportsnet reports that the Regina Pats will host the Calgary Hitmen in an outdoor game this season on October 27th. The game will take place at Mosaic Stadium in Saskatchewan just one day after the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames square off there for the NHL’s Heritage Classic. The last WHL outdoor game took place back in 2011 and was another Pats-Hitmen contest, again coinciding with the Heritage Classic.

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