Suggesting trade options for Buffalo Sabres superstar Jack Eichel has become a bit of a trend during the NHL pause. With the Sabres out of the playoffs and Eichel having voiced his frustrations with the team’s continual losing ways, media, fans and insiders have wondered if the Sabres were forced to move Eichel, what would it take?
The talk about a deal has been squashed somewhat since Eichel voiced his frustrations and the Sabres came under new management. Still, Joe DiBiase of WGR550 decided to take a crack at trade ideas and suggested a few things.
First, he believes there’s no way in hell Eichel gets moved. In part, it’s because Eichel is far too valuable to the Sabres to consider trading him. Perhaps more than that, other teams don’t necessarily have the assets or the willingness to part with what it will take to land Eichel in a trade.
Related: CBA Eliminates Free Agent Interview Period
DiBiase believes the asking price is a young No. 1 center and something of significance. That’s for starters. In some cases, teams have others ways of piquing the Sabres interest but not many. DiBiase believes the asking price alone takes 19 of the 31 NHL clubs out of the mix.
Here are a few examples:
- Calgary could move Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk, and a first-round pick.
- The Colorado Avalanche could move Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Jost.
- The Carolina Hurricanes could move Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov.
- The Dallas Stars: Tyler Seguin and Miro Heiskanen
- The Florida Panthers could move Aleksander Barkov, Spencer Knight, and a first-round pick.
- The New Jersey Devils could move Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and two first-round picks
- The Toronto Maple Leafs could move Auston Matthews, and Rasmus Sandin
Yep, those are real trade suggestions. They’re either meant to showcase how crazy the idea of an Eichel trade is, or DiBiase really believes the Sabres aren’t willing to move their superstar unless something equal to or better is coming back.
It’s actually easy to argue that’s fair. Considering how good Eichel is on a pretty bad team if you were to put him on a team with other offensive weapons, who knows who good his contract would look?
Here’s the best part… if the Edmonton Oilers would be willing to send Connor McDavid over, the Sabres would make that deal.
Yeah, no sh-t Sherlock.
Related: NHL Changes Rules Around Player Performance Bonuses
