Shopping Jack Eichel: Montreal

[dudacek]

Will they be interested?

Are you kidding? The Habs are a deep, balanced, hard-working team with blueline rock for a captain and one of the NHL’s best goalies. But they don’t have a game breaking star and their weakest position is centre. Their top matchup centre is a UFA. Marc Bergevin will be dreaming up Eichel pitches in his sleep.

Do they have the pieces?

No. I mean, not the pieces that it should take. They have cap room and they have some good players, and they have a lot of prospects. But they lack the blue chip element that should be the prerequisite for any serious Eichel offer. Now, if nobody is offering a blue chipper, then they might be in a position to make a good quantity offer.

Would this work?

Caufield Kotkaniemi Romanov and Gallagher for Eichel.

Gallagher’s fierce work ethic, leadership and fearlessness about going to the net as a right wing are all things the Sabres desperately need. Romanov is the Habs top blueline prospect, Caufield their top goal scoring prospect and Kotkaniemi is a 20-year-old former 3rd overall pick. It’s a huge bushel of lottery tickets and a legit top 6 winger, probably more than the Habs would be willing to give up. On the other hand, Gallagher is 29 and none of the others are sure things. It’s not unthinkable that the Sabres could be sitting here in 3 years with none of these guys as core players. I see a big need from Montreal, but I don’t see an asset match.

Is there a deal to be made with the Canadiens?

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by dudacek

[Gatorman0519]

No thanks. No way should he go to our division or the East for that matter. 

[Eleven]

This isn't something the Habs would do.  I'll take any three of the four, though, with a goalie prospect or a pick.

[thewookie1]

I void this, no offer will be accepted due to it being in the division.

[Thorner]

If Gallagher was under contract for a couple years beyond this one, this deal weirdly enough strikes a bit closer to the mark for me.

Kotkaniemi is still only 20, almost 2 years younger than Casey Mittelstadt, and Casey didn't show his real signs of life at the NHL level until this year. Kotkaniemi performed better than Casey in their 3rd pro seasons, think next season we may see JK take a similar relative jump to the one Casey did this season, at least - the potential of the former 3rd overall pick centre is intriguing. 

Caufield certainly looks like he's going to be able to score goals at this level in a real way - and that pure sniper is an element the Sabres seem to always lack. 

These two are prospective talents, still, in a sense (obviously Caufield) as we haven't seen close to their best - but what I like is that both have that top-6 ceiling but both are able to play in the NHL next season and provide value for our offense. I don't know too much about Romanov but Habs sources seem to consider him quite promising: https://awinninghabit.com/2021/05/19/montreal-canadiens-alexander-romanov/. Maybe we get a 1st instead.

I don't want to trade Jack, and wouldn't make this deal unless it was clear we *needed* to move JE, but adding Gallagher, Kotkaniemi, and Caufield to the lineup immediately after moving him, probably allows us to strive for competitiveness with a haul still inclusive up upside (JK and CC's ceilings and Romanov/the pick). I don't care at all about trading Jack in division: it's about gaining/not losing the most ground possible relative to the league as a whole, not just a singular division team. And, unless you are making a deal you don't want to make, because reasons, you need to nail the deal anyways and presumably are making a trade you think you are benefitting from - trust your judgement that'll you'll gain relative to the team you are making the deal with and there's no need to hedge your bet. 

A deal like this looks way better if Reinhart stays:

Olofsson - Reinhart - Gallagher 

Skinner - Kotkaniemi - Cozens

Ruotsalainen - Mittelstadt - Caufield

Bjork - Asplund - Thompson

 

If Kotkaniemi and Caufield come to play, could be a reasonably exciting lineup, no? I don't much like the idea of shuffling Cozens to wing, so maybe he splits centre duties with Kotkaniemi, or whoever the other C is on his line.

[dudacek]

10 hours ago, Eleven said:

This isn't something the Habs would do.  I'll take any three of the four, though, with a goalie prospect or a pick.

Do the Habs do it if we send a young player back to avoid blowing out their pipeline: Bryson say, or Thompson? Or like @Thorny says, a pick instead of Romanov?

Edited May 23, 2021 by dudacek

[Eleven]

58 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Do the Habs do it if we send a young player back to avoid blowing out their pipeline: Bryson say, or Thompson? Or like @Thorny says, a pick instead of Romanov?

I don't think so.  I think Gallagher is the deal-breaker from Montreal's perspective.

[dudacek]

12 minutes ago, Eleven said:

I don't think so.  I think Gallagher is the deal-breaker from Montreal's perspective.

Would Drouin, Petry or Anderson move the needle instead?

[Eleven]

4 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Would Drouin, Petry or Anderson move the needle instead?

Petry does, for me, and I think it's more likely.

I'm still wary of Drouin.

Edited May 23, 2021 by Eleven

[Sabres Fan in NS]

DROUIN!!

😎

sighting(s)

I would take Drouin and Romanov and Price and Kotk ... for Eich and a 2nd.

 

[thewookie1]

Drouin would be a huge no; he has been god awful with Montreal and is a serious head case

[Sabres Fan in NS]

NS just can't catch a break with any former Moosehead.

@dudacek, let me know when you do the Avs ...

MacKinnon!!

😎

[Zamboni]

I wouldn’t want Price, unless there’s salary retained. He’s just way too expensive for too long. I don’t like paying goaltenders at the level of “ludicrous”.

 

[Curt]

No mention of Suzuki?  IF trading Eichel to MTL, my ideal return would be Suzuki +.  Pluses would need to be 2 or 3 of Kokniemi, Caufield, Romanov, Brook, Stubbe, Guhle, 1st round picks.

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, Curt said:

No mention of Suzuki?  IF trading Eichel to MTL, my ideal return would be Suzuki +.  Pluses would need to be 2 or 3 of Kokniemi, Caufield, Romanov, Brook, Stubbe, Guhle, 1st round picks.

I think it could be Suzuki or Kotkaniemi, Romanov or Guhle or a 1st-rounder for any of the prospects and the value doesn’t change much.

 

[Pimlach]

Not liking the deals offered here. Not nearly enough to trade a “potential” top 5 player into our division.  
 

pass 

[Rasmus_]

I'd do it, with a 2022 1st included instead of Gallagher.  We can take on an expiring contract to cover $$.  They won't want to give up their recently extended captain.

[Hoss]

They could include their five best pieces and it wouldn’t be enough for me. I’m not in love with any of their young guns. Caufield and Suzuki are guys I do like but beyond that I don’t see a lot of value to add and that’s not nearly enough.

[Norcal]

Not sure I can get behind this one. Not enough compensation available IMO.

Jake Anderson is the kind of player i'd love to have on my team though. 

[LGR4GM]

Not that we would trade with Montreal but Suzuki would have to be a part of the package. 

[Ripper]

On 5/24/2021 at 2:16 PM, LGR4GM said:

Not that we would trade with Montreal but Suzuki would have to be a part of the package. 

Regarding the Carolina offer sheet to Jaspari Kotkoniemi at $6.1M.  How about this:

Montreal does not match offer sheet and receives Carolina's 2022 1st and 3rd round picks.

Montreal trades their 2022 1st round pick, Carolina's 1st round and 3rd round pick plus a high level prospect to Buffalo for John Bob.

Buffalo trades one of their four 2022 first round picks to Anaheim or Vegas plus the Carolina 3rd round pick or Mitts for Zegras or Krebs.

Essentially:

Montreal loses Kotkomiemi and a high prospect and gets John Bob.

Anaheim/Vegas gets a 2022 1st round pick, a 3rd round pick or Mitts for Zebras/Krebs.

Buffalo gets a 1st round pick, Zegras/Krebs, a high level prospect from Montreal and a 3rd round pick or keeps Mitts.

Any takers?

 

 

[Pimlach]

7 hours ago, Ripper said:

Regarding the Carolina offer sheet to Jaspari Kotkoniemi at $6.1M.  How about this:

Montreal does not match offer sheet and receives Carolina's 2022 1st and 3rd round picks.

Montreal trades their 2022 1st round pick, Carolina's 1st round and 3rd round pick plus a high level prospect to Buffalo for John Bob.

Buffalo trades one of their four 2022 first round picks to Anaheim or Vegas plus the Carolina 3rd round pick or Mitts for Zegras or Krebs.

Essentially:

Montreal loses Kotkomiemi and a high prospect and gets John Bob.

Anaheim/Vegas gets a 2022 1st round pick, a 3rd round pick or Mitts for Zebras/Krebs.

Buffalo gets a 1st round pick, Zegras/Krebs, a high level prospect from Montreal and a 3rd round pick or keeps Mitts.

Any takers?

 

 

No.  We lose Eichel and Mitts ?  We get Zegras or Krebs plus a pick and prospect?  Terrible trade and overly complicated.  
 

We just signed Mitts and we have few centers. Why throw him in this?   

[Curt]

7 hours ago, Ripper said:

Regarding the Carolina offer sheet to Jaspari Kotkoniemi at $6.1M.  How about this:

Montreal does not match offer sheet and receives Carolina's 2022 1st and 3rd round picks.

Montreal trades their 2022 1st round pick, Carolina's 1st round and 3rd round pick plus a high level prospect to Buffalo for John Bob.

Buffalo trades one of their four 2022 first round picks to Anaheim or Vegas plus the Carolina 3rd round pick or Mitts for Zegras or Krebs.

Essentially:

Montreal loses Kotkomiemi and a high prospect and gets John Bob.

Anaheim/Vegas gets a 2022 1st round pick, a 3rd round pick or Mitts for Zebras/Krebs.

Buffalo gets a 1st round pick, Zegras/Krebs, a high level prospect from Montreal and a 3rd round pick or keeps Mitts.

Any takers?

 

 

Do you really think Mittelstadt has roughly equivalent value to a 3rd round pick?

Do you really think that Zegras or Krebs could be acquired for a mid-late 1st and a 3rd?

[JohnC]

This is off-topic because the topic I previously responded to regarding the Instigator Show has been removed. I also received a notice that I don't have permission to respond to that topic. I received a notice from @Curt and @Brawndoregarding the topic but it did not go through.  I'm curious as to what the problem is? I would appreciate any information about this subject. Maybe I'm being charged with another violation?  

[Weave]

Huh.  I always seem to miss the best fireworks.