SURPRISE - Jack Eichel isnt happy

[2014olympicgold]

CBJ has a ton of space next yr (25.8mill) with Hartnell buyout (1.25m), retained salary (4.875m) being not on the books and IR with potential LTIR (Nyquist 5.5m), and only 1 guy getting a raise in Bjorkstrand.

If Merzlikins is involved (4mill), they def have more than enough room to acquire Eichel+Okposo and fill the holes in the roster. The big thing is I can't think of the issues it might cause in re-signing Jones or Werenski/Jenner in 2022.

[Dennis]

If the team doesn't improve next season Jones probably walks anyway, at least Werenski is RFA when his contract ends.

[2014olympicgold]

Ya I'm not saying that's what I'm thinking will happen, but CBJ def can do it. I dunno if they want to or not, and depends on their stance with Laine, but could be a match. Plus CBJ has 3 1st round picks with one def in the top 10 and could jump to the top 5 pretty easily, and 2 25-31 picks. Depends on if they wanna move those picks and how much value Buffalo puts in 1st round picks this yr.

Also I don't know what Eichel's trade value is, this stuff seems to be much lower than we initially think. We tend to not be close to trade values in the NHL.

[kovalchuk17]

columbus would be motivated to do it. not just because they need a top line centre but they need to make their glut of wingers productive (laine, bjorkstrand, atkinson, etc) AND give seth jones a reason to extend his contract. I cant stress the latter enough, 26 year old #1 dmen who can put up pts in torts' system is just as important as a guy like jack. theyll have a new coach as well, if they get someone like bruce boudreau then these guys just may run and gun!

i agree with the above that i dont think jack wants the big stage, he wants to make the playoffs with a competent team. as an american, he likely prefers to stay in the us and likely the eastern us at that. i dont think the rangers end up ponying up as they are still in the early stages of their rebuild/retool and need defense more but i can see minnesota, chicago and philadelphia making a splash to assist their young-enough cores


as mentioned im trying to acquire him in one of my leagues as the guy has too many keeper worthy players. i actually won the championship but that was due to expert management rather than having the best team haha.

[finnys_fanatsy]

Last time I checked, he was a player and not a GM making the decision on where he's going.

i agree with the above that i dont think jack wants the big stage, he wants to make the playoffs with a competent team. as an american, he likely prefers to stay in the us and likely the eastern us at that. i dont think the rangers end up ponying up as they are still in the early stages of their rebuild/retool and need defense more but i can see minnesota, chicago and philadelphia making a splash to assist their young-enough cores

true, i guess i assumed he would be able to refuse a trade but with is age he likely cannot.

he doesnt strike me as someone that needs the big stage but perhaps somewhere that has competent management / coaching

lol, also true!

i guess i may have made unfair assumptions that he is a "difficult" player to please. BUUUT he has gutted it out in BUF, even though he may of had a hand in some coaching decisions?

Anyway a new start is what he needs for sure, and now that Torts is gone form CLB, that makes alot of sense, although him in NYR would be really nice with all that talent they have. depending on the return price though too....

[kovalchuk17]

i lost the jack sweepstakes in that league i mentioned earlier. a guy with more picks than i simply blew my offer out of the water in which I thought my offer was already strong.

so now i hope he doesnt go to minnesota because i have kaprizov and it would pain me greatly if they were linemates hahaha

[Dennis]

Good grief


NHL Watcher@NHL_Watcher

Friedman on 31 Thoughts talking Eichel:

-Adams confirmed they are still not comfortable with Eichel's process.

-EF: "Whatever Eichel decides to do it's going to be in conjunction with the next team that acquires him."

"It wouldn't surprise me at all if the Sabres answer to this is to potentially punt the situation to another team."

"It's clear there is a clear lack of trust between Eichel and the Sabres right now."

"Again, this is me talking, nobody is telling me this, I wonder if this is a deal that happens sooner rather than later for that reason."

[finnys_fanatsy]

another in a long list of players that "need a new start" because they cannot get along with current management.

[blayze]

Tavares for Eichel.

[Shift Disturber]

Wow what a mess. I feel bad for Sabres fans. It’s almost at the point where the NHL needs to step in to fix this situation, although I suppose if they cared enough they would have already done so in Ottawa and Long Island before that.

[rataylor22]

Hopefully a trade is soon so he can get proper treatment and be healthy for the rest of his life

[silkysmooth]

Hopefully a trade is soon so he can get proper treatment and be healthy for the rest of his life

Maybe it's just me, but I tend to take a very nuanced view of this stuff and just assume there is more going on than we read about. These are all professionals--both players and staff--and I'm sure there are valid reasons for how everything has happened.

I find it very unlikely the situation is as simple as what Eichel says about how he needs surgery but the team won't let him. Let's remember the team also wants him healthy and productive, and they have their own trusted medical staff, doctors, etc.

[rataylor22]

Maybe it's just me, but I tend to take a very nuanced view of this stuff and just assume there is more going on than we read about. These are all professionals--both players and staff--and I'm sure there are valid reasons for how everything has happened.

I find it very unlikely the situation is as simple as what Eichel says about how he needs surgery but the team won't let him. Let's remember the team also wants him healthy and productive, and they have their own trusted medical staff, doctors, etc.

It's well reported. Eichel wants to have a surgery that at this time has not been done on an NHL player, and the Buffalo Sabres don't want to be the first team to have it done. However it's a very successful surgery that has been done on professional athletes in other sports.

We have both sides of the story, it's reasonable for people to support Buffalo's side, I however do not. Of note, as a fantasy owner who gave up a lot to get Eichel, I support Eichel getting the surgery, even if it ends his playing career, so long as it has the greatest chance of ensuring him a much healthier long term life outlook.

[Dr.Brad]

One of the “truths” in medicine is that if you get 5 doctors in a room together, you get 10 different opinions. But normally there’s a middle, and a consensus. Why not here, who really knows. Sounds to me like an unhappy patient who just doesn’t want to be in Buffalo, no matter what.

[tweetdrivr]

Wow what a mess. I feel bad for Sabres fans. It’s almost at the point where the NHL needs to step in to fix this situation, although I suppose if they cared enough they would have already done so in Ottawa and Long Island before that.

They did in Arizona - and things got even worse after they backed off...