nfreeman

At this point, we've heard plenty of speculation, although not many facts, about his injury, about KA's allegedly high asking price, about the teams who are interested, about what Jack wants and about what the Sabres want. The NHL season is over. We've been waiting for the shoe to drop for some time now. Is it going to happen in the next 2 weeks or not? Specifically, will Eichel be traded on or before the end of the first round of the draft, which is 2 weeks from today? I voted no -- I think the injury is creating uncertainty in the minds of the other GMs and driving down the prices they are willing to pay, to the point that their offers aren't good enough for KA to accept. Let's see what our collective wisdom thinks is going to happen.

FWIW, the Athletic's mock draft had Eklund falling to #9.

Now that is a beautiful spot, and is, in fact, where the salad dressing originated. If you can make it to the Canadian side, there is a great duty free store there to load up on booze and cigars.

Of course, but I am skeptical that any medical team is going to give an "I'm highly confident that Jack is going to be at 100% in October" determination to a trading partner -- I think it's much more likely that the medical advice will be qualified with enough uncertainty as to put the GM into the land of playing the percentages.

I think you're right that some won't entertain it, but I think others will simply play the percentages and discount their offers.

Good work inky.

Well, it seems like a million years ago, but I and I think most here thought the sky was the limit on Middlestadt when he was drafted. Reputable NHL writers were pretty high on him -- I think it was Corey Pronman who had him as the top prospect outside the NHL after the Sabres drafted him. Would the fan base have been excited to trade him for, say, Tyler Toffoli, who had just turned 25 and was a solid #2C? I kinda think we wouldn't have been that psyched about a trade like that.

Even in the GWN, sir, "lowsy" is not an accepted spelling. To my eye he looked unhappy on the ice too. Would you not be pretty surprised if he signed a long-term deal here this summer? I agree that he played well and conducted himself like a professional, and I'd like him back too.

It's an interesting question. The prudent move for him is to take $40MM or so if someone offers it, and someone probably will. He just seemed so unhappy this season (to me, anyway, although I know many here disagreed) that it seems likely that he won't sign a long-term deal here, at least not this summer, and, if he's traded, that he'll want to take his time and evaluate the new situation before signing a long-term deal with the new team.

OK, but do you think they'll get a top-10 pick for him? As for Hall and ROR, I don't think those examples support either side of the "Sabres stink" issue. They don't support your side because the Sabres received lousy value in both cases. They don't support my side because the lousy value wasn't due to Sabres stink IMHO -- it was because the Sabres had very few or no options (in Hall's case because of the NMC and in ROR's case because of the bonus deadline and JB's mishandling of the situation), so their trade partners had all the leverage.

You're right. What I meant was that he'll turn 27 at the start of the contract he signs at the beginning of his UFA period -- i.e. if he signs a 1-year deal now and then an extension with either the Sabres or his new team -- but of course that won't happen if he signs a long-term deal now. Yes on the charity wager, assuming we'll be reasonable if there are multiple pieces involved in the trade. $20 to the charity of the winner's choice? And, for good karma, we both donate if he starts the season with the Sabres? As for whether Staal is a fair comparable -- it's not a bad comparable, but I do think there is some daylight between them -- enough that I'm confident making the wager anyway.

Reino has Sabres stink on him, is a UFA in 1 year, will turn 27 at the beginning of his next contract, is a slow skater in a league that gets faster every year and, I'd guess, would be rated lower by at least 28 NHL GMs than Jordan Staal was rated at the time of that trade (when Staal was 23 and still far away from UFA). Reino is a good player that I'd like to keep, but top-10 picks are traded very rarely for a reason, and I don't see the Sabres getting one for him. I suppose it's more likely if Reino signs an extension as part of the trade, but that is also pretty unusual, and I think Reino might be disinclined to do so in light of the horrorshow he will have just escaped.

I think it's more accurate to say that they couldn't afford to match the FA offer he got from STL once they let his contract expire in July 2006 and he was able to solicit offers as a UFA -- in much the same clever way they handled Drury and Briere. Could they have afforded to sign him to an extension in the summer of 2005? We'll never know, but I'd bet the answer is yes.

I'll be very surprised if he signs a long-term deal with the Sabres this summer. I think he wants to see real improvement on the ice and organizationally before he commits the rest of his prime to this franchise. I do think it's possible that he signs a 1- or 2-year deal with the Sabres this summer and then a longer extension if they are able to turn it around, but it's more likely IMHO that he'll be traded this summer.

Well, I think there's a chicken-egg situation here. If Adams has decided that Eichel needs to go, this decision almost certainly arose from Eichel's behavior and/or injury. If the injury drove Adams' decision, we'll probably know in due time based on how much of his peak form Eichel regains. If Eichel's behavior drove KA's decision, it's likely that the behavior consisted largely of giving off a loud and unmistakeable "holy crap what a Micky Mouse organization this is, we're never going to win, and all I want is to GTFO of here" vibe -- and if that's the case, isn't that pretty close to him forcing his way out? Now, it's also possible -- not likely, but possible -- that Eichel's behavior was not the result of him enduring year after year of suckitude, revolving doors at coach and GM, etc., but rather him being one of those rare, highly toxic individuals whom no one can stand to be around. If you're inclined toward that theory, here's something from the Athletic today:

Excellent. He is one of my all-time favorite Sabres. Letting him go as a FA in 2006 was an under-the-radar major blunder.

I don't think they're getting a top-10 pick for Reino unless the Sabres add significant sweeteners.

Interesting. Newhook was drafted #16 overall in 2019. He's 5'10", 190 lbs. He turns 21 in January. He's Canadian (from Newfoundland), but attended Boston College for 2 years after being drafted. In his D+1 year, 2019-2020, the end of which was terminated by Covid, he put up 42 pts in 34 games at BC. Last season, in his D+2 year, he had 16 pts in 12 games at BC, had 3 pts in 6 games for Colorado and 9 pts in 8 games for their AHL team. He looks like a real blue-chip C prospect.

If you like QT, here is a pretty good podcast with him as the guest that I just listened to and enjoyed yesterday: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-big-picture/id1439252196?i=1000527228167

Interesting. He has a PhD in stats from Carnegie Mellon, which is an excellent university, and he co-founded War on Ice, which is a well-regarded hockey analytics site. He was also involved in salary-cap planning and the planning/interaction between the Pens and their AHL team. This seems like a pretty senior-level hire. Good for KA, and good for the Sabres for being able to bring in a guy like this.

I don't disagree that Skinner needs a real NHL center, but at the same time I thought his goal-scoring decline was not due to lack of chances generated by his center as much as it was a failure by him to make the elite in-tight moves to bury his chances that he was able to convert a couple of seasons ago. I think that is mostly about confidence and feeling it and maybe DG can help him get it back.

They might also decide they’d rather let Landeskog go and use the cap space on Eichel, which IMHO would be a case of them outsmarting themselves.

And goaltending!!

This is obnoxious.

If DG can unlock Skinner, it will be quite an accomplishment and will make a difference on the ice. I think he might be able to do it. Skinner to me looked last season like he had lost his mojo. DG seems like an underachieving-forward-whisperer. It would sure be nice to add a 40-goal scorer back into the mix. We’ll see.