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Jack Eichel

Latest On Jack Eichel

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The Jack Eichel situation continues to drag on with no resolution one way or the other. The injured forward failed his physical last week and was stripped of the Buffalo Sabres captaincy, but he’s still not moving forward on either surgery that would potentially get him playing again at some point this season. There has been almost no information coming out of the Sabres camp on what they intend to do with Eichel (other than move him to injured reserve, where he is now listed), but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet believes enough is enough. On his latest 31 Thoughts podcast, Friedman suggests it is time for the league to step in:

I think the NHL has to step in, I do. I understand that the NHL wants to protect the rules of the CBA, I get that. But at the end of the day I don’t think that it is a good look for your league when you have a star player like this and a team that can’t agree on this. This player, who is a star player who can drive a franchise, is in some way held back from playing because they can’t agree on a surgery. 

I think this is one thing that the NHL can do. If Jack Eichel agrees–and I think Jack Eichel would agree–everyone should be able to see his medicals. St. Louis and Tarasenko, anyone could have seen the medicals. If anyone has seen [Eichel’s] medicals aside from the Sabres, I don’t know it.

Friedman, like other reporters who have been following this story, can’t confidently confirm that no other team has seen any of Eichel’s medicals, but the shroud surrounding them is still making this an extremely difficult situation to resolve. It’s hard to trade a player making $10MM even when healthy, but the lack of information certainly makes this one seem impossible. Co-host Jeff Marek suggests that with opening day coming in short order, we could already be approaching a lost season for Eichel given the impasse the two sides have reached.

One other thing that Friedman mentions is the possibility of a tolled contract, meaning that this year wouldn’t count if Eichel sits out the year under a team suspension. It would mean his contract would be extended through the 2026-27 season, though that outcome does not seem likely at this point.

A few days ago, Nick Kypreos of Line Movement tweeted that Eichel had made it clear he would go anywhere, though he doesn’t have control over that anyway. His no-movement clause does not come into play until the fifth year of his contract. Kypreos added that at least one of the interested teams would want the Sabres to add conditions to any draft picks involved, based on his games played and scoring totals after surgery.

The Sabres start the regular season on October 14, and it is not at all clear whether this situation will be resolved by then.

Jack Eichel Fails Physical, Stripped Of Captaincy

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As expected, the Buffalo Sabres have announced that Jack Eichel did not pass his physical yesterday and will not be with the team in training camp as he continues to deal with a neck injury. Less expected was what Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said next:

I spoke to Jack two days ago, I spoke to the team yesterday and addressed this, Jack Eichel is no longer the captain of the Buffalo Sabres. From our perspective, the captain is your heartbeat of your team, and we are in a situation where we felt we needed to make that decision.

Eichel was named Sabres captain in October 2018 after a strong sophomore season. At the time, he called it “humbling” a “huge honor” and noted how it showed “how invested [he was] in this city and excited for the future.” Three years later and Eichel isn’t expected to play for the Sabres again.

Adams confirmed that Eichel is not willing to move forward with what the Sabres medical team is suggesting and the two sides will continue to work toward a solution. That solution, it seems, is one of the more difficult trades he’ll ever have to pull off. Eichel is a star player with a huge contract that is set on having a neck surgery that has never been done on an NHL player. The young forward and his team are reportedly pursuing a disk replacement procedure, while the team wants to do a fusion surgery that has been performed on many other NHL players.

At the very least, the Sabres players now have some clarity. Eichel is no longer their captain and won’t be on the ice to help them during training camp.

East Notes: Eichel, Chara, Hallander

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It was a busy news day in the Eastern Conference. It was highlighted by the New York Islanders signing Zdeno Chara and the Ottawa Senators signing Logan Brown, both to one-year deals. But those weren’t the only items of note from around the East today as things begin to heat up prior to training camps. The Associated Press’s John Wawrow reports that Jack Eichel will indeed report to the Buffalo Sabres for his physical next week. Considering the importance that Eichel’s health status plays in any potential trade from Buffalo, the results of this appointment will likely be of especially high interest to Buffalo and teams interested in acquiring the star center. It could provide some additional clarity about paths forward for Eichel, as well as a potential return date from his neck injury.

Elsewhere from around the East:

  • Assuming Chara actually suits up for game action with the Islanders this year, he’ll be setting an NHL record in the process. According to Sportradar, Chara will have gone the longest amount of time between games with a singular franchise of anyone in the league. His last game with the Islanders was in April of 2001, making it roughly 20 years and six months since he last suited up for the Isles. It smashes the previous record held by Brendan Shanahan, who went 17 years and nine months between games with the New Jersey Devils.
  • After being dealt from and back to the Pittsburgh Penguins organization via trades with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Filip Hallander remains committed to making an NHL career for himself with the team. Participating in this year’s development camp with the team, he notes to Penguins writer James Leo that he’s “here to take a spot.” It’s not something that’s entirely out of the realm of possibility. Neither Sidney Crosby nor Evgeni Malkin will be ready for the start of the season, stretching the team’s center depth extremely thin. The 21-year-old had 24 points in 51 games last year with Luleå in the Swedish Hockey League, and could at least earn a few games out of camp in a bottom-six role while the team heals up.

Atlantic Notes: Cozens, Seider, Sogaard

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With the never-ending rumors of Jack Eichel’s eventual trade on top of the departures of several other core Sabres this summer, its fair to wonder who will fill the leadership vacuum in Buffalo. However, young standout Dylan Cozens is more than ready to take on that role. Appearing on WGR 550 in Buffalo, the 2019 seventh overall pick stated that he is confident in his ability to lead this next generation of Sabres. “I think definitely I could go out and be a leader on this team,” Cozens said. “Just by the way I play, leading by example and being a voice in the room. I think it’s something I’m ready to do. I want to lead by example and be a guy that guys can look to if they need anything or look to to inspire them. That’s what I’ve always been growing up – the guy that wants to lead and do things the right way.” Part of what makes Cozens a great candidate to lead Buffalo for years to come is an optimism that has been missing from other core members through a dark stretch for the franchise. “I think that we’re going to surprise a lot of people this year,” Cozens believes. “Everyone’s doubting us because we’re a young team, but if you look at the second half of last season, we were beating those veteran teams. So I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people and we’re going to have a good year.”

    • The Detroit Red Wings are looking forward to prodigious defenseman Moritz Seider developing into a leader for their club in the future. Yet, he was nowhere to be found on the team’s roster for the upcoming Traverse City Prospects Tournament. However, Red Wings Director of Player Development Shawn Horcoff tells The Athletic’s Max Bultman that this is actually an endorsement of Seider’s position in the organization rather than an indictment. Although Seider has yet to see any NHL action, Detroit is so confident in his ability to make the roster this season that they did not feel they needed to use a roster spot on him in the development tournament. “With Moritz, he’s played two years of pro now – he spent a full year in Grand Rapids, spent a full year over in Europe playing,” Horcoff explained. “Frankly, there’s some younger players that we wanted to see on the (Traverse City Tournament) roster and we just wanted to make sure that Mo was ready to go for main camp.” Fear not, Wings fans; the team clearly has no concerns about their top prospect stepping into the NHL lineup and making an impact this year.
    • The Ottawa Senators could face a difficult decision with young goaltender Mads Sogaard this season. As Bruce Garrioch details for the Ottawa Sun, the impressive prospect keeper could very well be in line for a roster spot at the Olympics for Team Denmark, making their first men’s hockey appearance at the Winter Games. Sogaard served as the team’s backup in qualifying tournaments this summer and while the those contests were played without presumptive starter, the Carolina Hurricanes’ Frederik Andersen, Sogaard is still likely to be the Danes’ first choice at third-string behind Andersen and qualifying starter Sebastian Dahm. The problem is that the AHL does not have an Olympic break like the NHL. While Ottawa’s players will have full flexibility to attend the Games if selected, Belleville’s may not. Garrioch points out that the farm team has ten games during the NHL’s Olympic break and, depending on how the organization’s goalie depth plays out this season, that could be a number of missed starts for Sogaard and a detriment to Belleville as well. The massive 6’7″ keeper had a strong first pro season last year and if fellow promising youngster Filip Gustavsson cracks the Ottawa roster, Sogaard could be the starter for Belleville. Will the Senators allow him to leave the team for an extended period in order to ride the bench for his country?

Buffalo Sabres Limited By Salary Cap Floor

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The Buffalo Sabres will be over the NHL’s salary cap floor by the start of the season, that much is obvious. While CapFriendly currently has the club sitting $2.3MM below the $60.2MM benchmark, that is with a 22-man roster that does not include unsigned RFA defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. While the 2018 first overall pick is not quite yet proven himself worthy of the considerable long-term deals signed by other top defenseman this off-season, he will surely make more than $2.3MM AAV on his next contract.

Yet, that does not end the Sabres’ battle with the cap floor. Just because they begin the season over the floor, does not mean that they will remain as such all season – or at least not if they wish to have flexibility with their transactions. Buffalo is again expected to be among the NHL’s worst teams this season and will be open to selling current members of the roster. Of course, Jack Eichel is the biggest name who could be available. However, at $10MM AAV it has been brought up numerous times that an Eichel trade is not as easy as it may seem. A team may offer a plethora of top picks, prospects, and entry-level players, but the Sabres would not be able to make that deal alone, as it would leave the team well below the salary cap floor regardless of Dahlin’s contract. Buffalo would have to acquire a nearly equal amount of salary back in the deal or else be prepared to quickly turn and add that salary in another deal. As a rebuilding team, the Sabres also won’t eager to add high-priced veterans who serve little purpose to a team with no title hopes. It makes an already difficult situation with Eichel all that much more tricky.

Even if Eichel begins the season with Buffalo, which seems increasingly likely, and even plays out the year with the team, the cap floor will still come into play. As the trade deadline approaches, the Sabres want to be in position to take full advantage of their valuable trade assets. The team has four forwards, four defensemen, and two goalies who are impending UFA’s and whose expiring contracts would be worth far more to another team. Colin Miller ($3.875MM), Will Butcher ($2.823MM), Cody Eakin ($2.25MM) and Vinnie Hinostroza ($1.05MM) stand out as potentially popular trade candidates at the deadline. Depending on Dahlin’s contract, could they move Hinostroza or maybe even Eakin or Butcher without going below the floor? Probably. But Miller? Or multiple moves? Likely not. The deadline is also not a place that is likely to offer even salary swaps.

If GM Kevyn Adams and the Sabres want to enter the 2021-22 season with the confidence that they can make any move they want without limitation, they need to find a way to sensibly add salary to the roster. For a rebuilding team, it may be difficult to think about adding salary to a team that won’t contend, but it would be a short-term sacrifice to ensure their long-term plans are not affected. The team could explore the trade market for a veteran or two that can help to develop the young roster or perhaps a young, but overpaid reclamation project. Or maybe they could entertain adding a legitimate starting goalie. They could also explore the free agent market which, even late in the summer, still has some attractive names available. With the Sabres pegged to give roster spots to minimum-salary fourth-liners like Drake Caggiula and John Hayden, it might make more sense to give those slots and more importantly more salary to a high-upside project like Ryan Donato, Alex Galchenyuk, or Nikita Gusev or a veteran leader like Tyler Bozak, James Neal, or Jason Demers. 

The Sabres have plenty of options to solve their salary cap floor conundrum beyond just re-signing Dahlin. However, those options could disappear if they don’t act quickly, and with it their transactional flexibility this season.

Snapshots: Olympics, Outdoor Game, Eichel

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Fresh off the field for next year’s Olympic tournament being set, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports (Twitter link) that an official decision on NHL participation is expected at some point this week.  Octagon Hockey player agent Allan Walsh adds (Twitter link) that the decision will be that the league does allow their players to participate with an announcement being imminent.

While an allowance was made in the CBA for Olympic participation, it wasn’t set in stone that NHL players would be permitted to play but rather that an attempt would be made.  Talks have gone well beyond the original window but it appears that barring a last-minute change of direction, the league will indeed shut down for the bulk of February.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The Maple Leafs and Sabres are expected to play in an outdoor game in Hamilton, Ontario in March, reports Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News. The two teams were supposed to be playing an game in Buffalo in mid–March but that contest was absent from the season ticket packages from last week.  Instead, the Sabres would be the home team in what technically would be a neutral site game but with Hamilton close to Toronto geographically, the ‘visitors’ for the Heritage Classic event would likely receive the majority of the fan support.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in the latest 31 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that representatives from the Sabres, the NHL, the NHLPA, plus Jack Eichel and his now-former agents had a meeting around the middle of this month to try and come to an understanding on Eichel’s pending neck surgery. The team wants a more traditional fusion surgery which carries a longer recovery time and a fairly high chance of another procedure being needed down the road while Eichel prefers artificial disc replacement which hasn’t been done on an NHL player before.  There was clearly no resolution on the matter and the wait for a trade continues.

Poll: Which Team Will Have Jack Eichel When The Season Starts?

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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!

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Jack Eichel Changes Agents

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The Jack Eichel saga has a new twist today, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the disgruntled Buffalo Sabres center will now be represented by Pat Brisson of CAA Sports. Eichel had previously been represented by Peter Fish and Peter Donatelli of Global Hockey Consultants.

The move comes less than a month after his previous representation released a statement to various media outlets, indicating that they expected Eichel to be traded prior to the start of NHL free agency. That didn’t seem to speed the process along at all, and as Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News wrote in a column earlier this month, it may well have made it more difficult for Sabres GM Kevyn Adams to complete a deal in the immediate aftermath.

Eichel is currently injured, and though both sides agree that surgery is required, the specific procedure is still a point of contention. It is not clear if there has been any movement on this front over the last few weeks, but a change in representation is significant nonetheless.

Brisson is not a small fish by any means, in fact, he is one of the leading power brokers among NHL agents. According to PuckPedia, he has negotiated more than $1 billion in active contracts and represents some of the most well-known stars in the game–Sidney Crosby, John Tavares, Jonathan Toews, Nathan MacKinnon, and Patrick Kane among them. Adding Eichel is obviously a win for the agency, but the player also now has even more power behind him.

Still, no matter how much juice his representation has, Eichel is still at the mercy of the Sabres at this point. Adams has been clear that the team will stay “in control of this process” and only trade their former franchise player when they receive an offer good enough. Fans of the team will be quite familiar with the concept of trading away disgruntled centers, and Adams is trying very hard not to have a repeat of the Ryan O’Reilly debacle of 2018.

That doesn’t mean it will be easy. It’s clear that while Eichel’s time in a Buffalo uniform is likely over, there is no simple resolution to be had.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Jack Eichel Won’t Be Ready For Start Of Regular Season

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No matter what team he’s on, superstar center Jack Eichel won’t be lacing up his skates for another couple of months, at least. The Fourth Period’s Dave Pagnotta reports today that considering Eichel’s recovery timeline for any potential surgery, time’s run out on the possibility of him being ready for the start of the regular season on October 12th.

What remains to be seen is how long it takes before the price Buffalo will be able to ask for begins to drop in earnest. It’s obvious that the Sabres and Eichel won’t come to a resolution on his health anytime soon, as Eichel and his agents remain adamant that he receives artificial disc replacement, a procedure that the Sabres won’t permit him to undergo. With Pagnotta reporting that there are multiple teams around the league that would let him undergo that surgery, though, it seems like there’s at least light at the end of the tunnel for Eichel’s health and neck issues.

But are teams going to be willing to pay full price for a player who needs to proceed with a surgery that some deem as risky? It’s a question that’s been thrown around ever since trade talks began. As days continue to pass by without a deal, it seems like that a slightly decreased return may be the case, barring any unforeseen circumstances. The usual suspects — Anaheim, Vegas, Minnesota, the Rangers, and others — reportedly remain in on Eichel, but it’s hard to get a true read on the situation considering discussions appear to be in a holding pattern for now.

The future remains extremely uncertain for Buffalo and Eichel, but it’s a reality that he won’t be suiting up at the beginning of 2021-22.

Salary Cap Lower Limit Complicates Jack Eichel Trade

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The Buffalo Sabres have been expected to trade Jack Eichel for months. His neck injury this season caused a difference of opinion between his camp and the team, leading to a lack of trust, which only exasperated a tough situation. Eichel has been in Buffalo for six seasons but has still not suited up for a single playoff game. On the other side, the Sabres have been paying him $10MM per season for three years without any postseason revenue to show for it. A split seemed inevitable, but there are many complicating factors.

One of them that has been discussed at length is that $10MM cap hit and how it is difficult for other teams to fit under the cap ceiling. Eichel is a top player when healthy, but his injury situation makes it an extremely risky proposition for anyone interested in acquiring his services.

There’s another complication caused by his contract though, and this one has gotten far less attention. In fact, it’s basically the opposite problem of an acquiring team not being able to afford Eichel. The Sabres can’t really afford to take him off the books at this point.

Right now, there are two teams in the league that are actually well short of the salary cap’s lower limit of $60.2MM–the Ottawa Senators and, you guessed it, the Buffalo Sabres. According to CapFriendly, Buffalo currently sits at a projected cap hit for the 2021-22 season of just $52,897,763, more than $7.3MM under the lower limit. “But they have Casey Mittelstadt, Rasmus Dahlin and Henri Jokiharju to sign!” you might say, and that’s true, those three restricted free agents will likely take them well over the salary cap floor.

The problem is, that projection is including the $10MM owed to Eichel. If the team trades him, suddenly they’re more than $17.3MM under the lower limit, a number that will be a lot harder to make up with three restricted free agent deals.

Buffalo has already moved out some of their high-priced talent this offseason, trading away Rasmus Ristolainen and Sam Reinhart. They watched Linus Ullmark and Jake McCabe walk in free agency, replacing them with 40-year-old Craig Anderson for league minimum and Mark Pysyk at $900K. For whatever reason, they had the New Jersey Devils retain part of Will Butcher’s contract, making him cost even less for them.

Moving Eichel out of this financial puzzle right now for nothing but futures would mean several other moves would have to follow just to get the Sabres cap compliant for the start of the year. This isn’t really a situation that has ever played out in the NHL, but it’s one of their own making. Buffalo has been aggressively shedding salary all summer to restock the prospect and draft cupboards, but the side effect of those moves is that the last big chip is now an even more complicated piece to trade.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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