Jack Eichel: Trade rumors and speculation

[Pimlach]

14 hours ago, inkman said:

 

 

Pretty much all of it.  It’s not self loathing, I dislike myself for 100 other reasons outside of the realm of sports.  I don’t know if I can explain it thoroughly; the discourse, hyperbole, braggadocio, black or white categorization, some of the opinions in here make me want to barf.  Settle the ***** down already.  

I don’t know.  It seems like we have reached a period in time where people take themselves,  and most everything else, very seriously.  Lots of analysis, lots of categorization, lots of debate.  It’s best to shrug off the stuff you don’t agree with, be your own man.  
 

I like @PerreaultForever’s bar analogy.  If we weren’t at home typing on a device, but instead in the neighborhood tavern watching hockey and drinking beer,  there might be less discourse, less hyperbole, etc., but there would still be some.  Along with that we would see each other as people, and there would be humor, and a sense of belonging, a role in the pack, and more acceptance of human frailty within the group.    
 

Tonight I finished the paperwork to collect my pension in July.  I’m wrapping up a 40 year career.  Time goes fast.  Enjoy it!  
 

  

[Radar]

8 hours ago, Pimlach said:

I don’t know.  It seems like we have reached a period in time where people take themselves,  and most everything else, very seriously.  Lots of analysis, lots of categorization, lots of debate.  It’s best to shrug off the stuff you don’t agree with, be your own man.  
 

I like @PerreaultForever’s bar analogy.  If we weren’t at home typing on a device, but instead in the neighborhood tavern watching hockey and drinking beer,  there might be less discourse, less hyperbole, etc., but there would still be some.  Along with that we would see each other as people, and there would be humor, and a sense of belonging, a role in the pack, and more acceptance of human frailty within the group.    
 

Tonight I finished the paperwork to collect my pension in July.  I’m wrapping up a 40 year career.  Time goes fast.  Enjoy it!  
 

  

Enjoy retirement. That goes fast as well, I'm on year sixteen and seems unbelievable.

[Kong]

FOUND: Jack Eichel Civil War picture. Same petulant expression, hair, and the body. 

If Eichel could actually grow a beard, I could see him with this muttonchops style....

Edited May 20, 2021 by Kong

[LGR4GM]

What if, and stay with me... we don't trade Eichel and instead improve the team around him?

[Thorner]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

What if, and stay with me... we don't trade Eichel and instead improve the team around him?

Nope. He's gotta go. What have we won with him? We need guys who want to be here. There's nothing we can do anyways for 2-3 years. KA totally loves Jack but Jack despises Buffalo and everyone in it. I almost can't see for the "blinding light" of the (youth-ier?) youth though, so I'm eager to set reasonable expectations for next season and look forward to a year of improvement and growth. I mean we can't stay a .300 team ALL next season, that would be absurd. 

You'll see what happens with our goalie committee next season though, now that they'll be injury free for 82 straight games, like it should have been this year, by all accounts, if not for truly unforeseeable circumstances. 

Edited May 20, 2021 by Thorny
note, by popular demand: this is sarcasm

[JohnC]

17 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

What if, and stay with me... we don't trade Eichel and instead improve the team around him?

It's in his and the team's best interest for him to get healthy and return to his elite form. If he returns to form and decides that he needs a change of venue then his value increases. 

The most influential thing that the Sabres can do to improve the team is upgrade the goaltending. Assuming that Ullmark is retained that is a very attainable task. Risto certainly is an asset that can be exchanged for a second-line player. And the younger players should continue to get better. 

After the coaching change the team played better. And they did it without much practice time and with a slew of injuries that included an extensive list of non-NHL replacement goaltenders. 

I strongly believe that with some judicious moves this team can be contending for a lower tier playoff spot. That isn't a lofty goal but it would be a leap forward. 

 

 

[LGR4GM]

3 minutes ago, JohnC said:

It's in his and the team's best interest for him to get healthy and return to his elite form. If he returns to form and decides that he needs a change of venue then his value increases. 

The most influential thing that the Sabres can do to improve the team is upgrade the goaltending. Assuming that Ullmark is retained that is a very attainable task. Risto certainly is an asset that can be exchanged for a second-line player. And the younger players should continue to get better. 

After the coaching change the team played better. And they did it without much practice time and with a slew of injuries that included an extensive list of non-NHL replacement goaltenders. 

I strongly believe that with some judicious moves this team can be contending for a lower tier playoff spot. That isn't a lofty goal but it would be a leap forward. 

 

 

I do not. They don't have enough scoring talent. 

[Doohicksie]

42 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

What if, and stay with me... we don't trade Eichel and instead improve the team around him?

Honestly this is still my preference.  I'd like to keep both Jack and Sam.  I think it really depends on whether there is a true rift between Jack and management, or it's just frustration with his injury situation, and recovery would heal over his angst.

Sadly I think the only hope in keeping Sam is signing him to a multi-year deal in the offseason and I don't think it will happen.

[JohnC]

13 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Nope. He's gotta go. What have we won with him? We need guys who want to be here. There's nothing we can do anyways for 2-3 years. KA totally loves Jack but Jack despises Buffalo and everyone in it. I almost can't see for the "blinding light" of the (youth-ier?) youth though, so I'm eager to set reasonable expectations for next season and look forward to a year of improvement and growth. I mean we can't stay a .300 team ALL next season, that would be absurd. 

Why do you say that Jack despises Buffalo and everyone in it? Clearly he is frustrated and exasperated with the organization and its inability to add enough talent to provide a suffient support system around him. What player isn't tired of the extended futility? 

I'm not against trading Jack if the return is high enough to bolster the roster in the near term (not necessarily immediate.) The best way for that to happen is to get Jack playing at the elite level he previously played at and then make a decision about him when his value is higher. 

[Doohicksie]

Maybe a two- or three-year deal for Reino as a compromise?  We want to keep you but we understand you don't want to be part of a *****-show.  We're making changes and think you'll be happy enough to extend.  If Reino wants out though I don't think that will keep him.

[LGR4GM]

Just now, Doohickie said:

Maybe a two- or three-year deal for Reino as a compromise?  We want to keep you but we understand you don't want to be part of a *****-show.  We're making changes and think you'll be happy enough to extend.  If Reino wants out though I don't think that will keep him.

2 years basically walks him to UFA. I think 3 is a minimum because then at least you have 2 years to grow the team under him before you have to decide if you are trading him. 

[Doohicksie]

He's UFA after the coming season, no?

[Thorner]

12 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Why do you say that Jack despises Buffalo and everyone in it? Clearly he is frustrated and exasperated with the organization and its inability to add enough talent to provide a suffient support system around him. What player isn't tired of the extended futility? 

I'm not against trading Jack if the return is high enough to bolster the roster in the near term (not necessarily immediate.) The best way for that to happen is to get Jack playing at the elite level he previously played at and then make a decision about him when his value is higher. 

Do you live in Buffalo? I've heard through the grapevine he has a problem with you, John, specifically. 

[JohnC]

7 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I do not. They don't have enough scoring talent. 

If Jack returns to form that should add to the scoring. And it will certainly improve the potency of the PP. Is it inconceivable that Skinner become a 25 plus scorer again? Maybe under a less suppressive system he will? Will players such as Thompson, Cozens, Mitts and Arttu be more productive? 

I just think that although there are not many scoring dynamos on the roster there is enough scoring talent spread around to make us more competitive. Can we add through trades and acquisition a couple of productive players that will improve the goal production? I think so.   

 

[Thorner]

20 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I do not. They don't have enough scoring talent. 

Wait, he said "with a few moves". If we keep Jack, we are conceivably a few well-made moves from the playoffs, no?

[JohnC]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Do you live in Buffalo? I've heard through the grapevine he has a problem with you, John, specifically. 

Buffalo's my hometown. I have been gone for a long time but it's still a part of me. 

Jack is an intense competitor. I can understand his frustration. What makes me upset is how this franchise has been erratically run by the owners. It is outrageous that in a cap system that a franchise can be anchored to the bottom of the shiiit pile for so long. It makes me mad and it makes me sad. 

[Thorner]

6 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Buffalo's my hometown. I have been gone for a long time but it's still a part of me. 

Jack is an intense competitor. I can understand his frustration. What makes me upset is how this franchise has been erratically run by the owners. It is outrageous that in a cap system that a franchise can be anchored to the bottom of the shiiit pile for so long. It makes me mad and it makes me sad. 

I don't actually think he hates Buffalo I was just pushing the narrative Kevyn Adams wants you to believe (that? well that's my narrative)

Yes, missing the playoffs 10 times in a row in a league where at least half made it during that time every year is laughably bogus 

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

I don't actually think he hates Buffalo I was just pushing the narrative Kevyn Adams wants you to believe (that? well that's my narrative)

Yes, missing the playoffs 10 times in a row in a league where at least half made it during that time every year is laughably bogus 

This is just my sense (opinion) and it corresponds to your perception of the direction that Adams wants to take. As you are inclined to believe I think that he wants to trade Eichel, Risto and Reinhart and start anew with his own imprint on the roster. His position is defensible if he can get a good return on his assets. The stumbling block is that unless he maximizes the return on Jack the setback for the team will be greater than it needed to be. That's why the imperative is to get Jack healthy and productive to increase his value if he is marketed. 

[Thorner]

20 minutes ago, JohnC said:

This is just my sense (opinion) and it corresponds to your perception of the direction that Adams wants to take. As you are inclined to believe I think that he wants to trade Eichel, Risto and Reinhart and start anew with his own imprint on the roster. His position is defensible if he can get a good return on his assets. The stumbling block is that unless he maximizes the return on Jack the setback for the team will be greater than it needed to be. That's why the imperative is to get Jack healthy and productive to increase his value if he is marketed. 

The bold: value in return will be important to KA, but as big of a factor to KA, imo, is finding a trade that does not even allow for such determinations to be made in any timely fashion. No return including the Concept of (the appropriately upscaled, see: Eichel > ROR) Berglund/Sobotka will be tolerated. A win in KA's mind here will be for people to be saying: "hmm, maybe down the line one of these guys (or two) will actually get to a first-line level". That perception will need to be there for him, I think, but that process of buying time will also be at the forefront. 

Plenty of people are ready to buy into the "Wright/Bedard" sweepstakes and KA is counting on that, I believe. 

In my estimation an ideal offseason to him has people saying, "Mittelstadt, Cozens, Beniers, Turcotte, AND we might get Wright and/or Bedard? We are doing it right this time, for sure."

Edited May 20, 2021 by Thorny

[Hoss]

Any concern that the rumors about McDavid’s potential discontent in Edmonton could impact the number of suitors for Eichel? Even if he doesn’t try to force a trade this offseason (feels very unlikely he would) maybe teams want to preserve some pieces to make a run at him if another failed season makes him do it next year.

[inkman]

21 minutes ago, Hoss said:

Any concern that the rumors about McDavid’s potential discontent in Edmonton could impact the number of suitors for Eichel? Even if he doesn’t try to force a trade this offseason (feels very unlikely he would) maybe teams want to preserve some pieces to make a run at him if another failed season makes him do it next year.

There were no rumors only supposition 

[Hoss]

11 minutes ago, inkman said:

There were no rumors only supposition 

All the same! 😉

[dudacek]

If there is a team that should be keeping its powder dry for McDavid, it would be the Sabres.

Realistically, how many teams would have a better centrepiece to a package to offer the Oilers than Eichel?

[Hoss]

58 minutes ago, dudacek said:

If there is a team that should be keeping its powder dry for McDavid, it would be the Sabres.

Realistically, how many teams would have a better centrepiece to a package to offer the Oilers than Eichel?

As far as the TRUE centerpiece, not a ton. But I think several other teams that are in the running for Eichel (reportedly) are better suitors for a deal like that. If a McDavid trade were to wait until his NMC clause kicks in, though, then he's not even going to consider the ol' city on Lake Erie.

[Huckleberry]

5 hours ago, Hoss said:

As far as the TRUE centerpiece, not a ton. But I think several other teams that are in the running for Eichel (reportedly) are better suitors for a deal like that. If a McDavid trade were to wait until his NMC clause kicks in, though, then he's not even going to consider the ol' city on Lake Erie.

Don't know, he was pretty sad when Buffalo didn't win the lottery , wanted to play close to Toronto.   The leafs will never have room for him, unless Matthews gets traded or JT is on LTIR.