It's a tense time in Buffalo right now. The captain of the franchise is on his way out and there isn't anything that can be done about it. It has been a never-ending struggle watching these last six years and slowly seeing this outcome come to fruition. Despite all the losing seasons, there was always hope that Eichel was going to be the first one to lift the Stanley Cup as a Buffalo Sabre. That hope is quickly fading.
It's no secret Jack Eichel is not a happy hockey player right now. The Sabres finished in dead last place once again, the fourth time eight years and the second time since Eichel has been drafted. He's played under three head coaches and three general managers, finishing bottom five in the league with every single one of them and being forced to have the reset button hit every two years. All of that coupled with two high ankle sprains, a broken rib, and a now herniated disk, it's easy to envision the frustration Jack must feel.
With the clear disconnect that Eichel and the organization have over his herniated disk injury, it's clear his time with the Sabres is coming to an end. It would be very difficult to try and convince Eichel to want to stay after everything that has happened. While no request has been made, with the Sabres still not wanting Eichel to have his preferred surgery, and with the report by Elliotte Friedman that the Sabres want to move on, a request could be imminent.
HOWEVER... it could be the best thing for the franchise if it's done right.
It's not a hidden fact that one of the biggest reasons that the Sabres have struggled has been their inability to bring in talent, not just through free agency, but more importantly through drafting. Even after all these years of bottom-five finishes, the Sabres still have one of the most barren prospect pools in the league. They've potentially got some nice pieces (Quinn, Peterka, etc.), but for what the team has gone through the farm system should be looking a little richer.
The lack of prospect prowess is a huge problem for any team that wants to contend for a long time. Just look at the Tampa Bay Lightning, the key to their success has been their unreal drafting ability and overall eye for talent. Sure you have your high 1st round picks (Stamkos, Hedman, Vasilevskiy), but their late-round drafting has been even better: Nikita Kucherov (2nd round), Brayden Point (3rd round), Anthony Cirelli (3rd round), Alex Killorn (3rd round), Ondrej Palat (7th round), Tyler Johnson (undrafted), and Yanni Gourde (undrafted). Johnson and Gourde are better than half of the top-6 options the Sabres have had the last decade and they went undrafted! That's insane!
Finding franchise cornerstones is not going to just suddenly happen with better scouting, there is a bit of luck involved, but finding some impact players in at least the 2nd and 3rd rounds would have helped the team a ton over the last six years.
How do you solve this lack of talent? Well, there's the long way and the short way. The long way is to revamp the scouting staff so that over time more and more players can help from the later rounds. The quickest way is to acquire some really good young players via trade, and Jack Eichel is the best bet to do it. (Side note: DO BOTH!)
There's going to be no shortage of teams interested in Eichel, 31 of 31 other teams are going to be calling about him, so you cannot mess this up. For about 5-6 teams (that we'll get to in the future) it should be an absolute bidding war, meaning that the Sabres should be getting tons of offers and tons of good players thrown around.
The value of Eichel is definitely a question mark right now given that preliminary talks are just starting and Eichel's injury leaves some questions for teams. However, there is no excuse to come out of this trade without a top young prospect. We've previously stated that we think the final trade could look something like this:
- Top prospect
- Mid-tier prospect
- Player with a heavy contract to even out Eichel's $10 million
- 2022 1st Round Pick
- 2023 1st Round Pick/Conditional 2nd Round Pick
Had Eichel expressed his frustrations after the 2019-20 season, the trade would've probably included 2 top prospects, 2 definite 1st rounders, a roster player, etc., but his value has admittedly dipped with the injury questions and a mediocre season by his own standards. It's unfortunate that this is all happening when Eichel's value is at his absolute lowest, but hey, you gotta work with the hand you were dealt.
Now you might be thinking "But I don't want to trade Jack, it means going through another rebuild!" Sure, trading Jack means that the franchise is committing to taking a step back and looking to build a brand new core. However, if you're concern is about going through another rebuild, then I'd ask you to take a step back and ask yourself what exactly they've been doing the last six years? Nobody wants to wait 15 years to make the playoffs, but chances are they'd be set up better to win then than now.
Do I think they still could've won with this core? Yes, it's entirely possible that Adams could've had a great summer, brought in some really good talent, and got this team to the playoffs.
With that said, it's really difficult to picture that happening. Like it or not, our situation isn't very appealing to free agents, and acquiring good players through trade is nearly impossible without any good trade chips. It sucks, but this franchise needs to start over again and cleanse the darkness of the past 10 years.
The quicker that you're able to accept that Jack is a goner, the quicker you'll be able to look to the future and get excited. The Sabres need to embrace the youth movement and build back up the franchise's reputation over time. Plus, guess what? Rebuilds are actually fun! Watching the kids develop and become potential cornerstones is what makes tuning into games while rebuilding worthwhile.
Hypothetically, let's say the Sabres select Owen Power 1st overall at the draft and end up trading all of Eichel, Reinhart, and Ristolainen. Ristolainen and Reinhart net them futures, and Eichel gets them Quinton Byfield. The Sabres are a young team next season and finish in the bottom of the standings once again, but find a way to win the lottery in 2022 allowing them to take Shane Wright 1st overall. In just 2 years, this is what their core looks like:
- Dahlin
- Cozens
- Power
- Byfield
- Wright
Obviously, this is the absolute best-case scenario, but wouldn't you take that over what they got right now? I know I would in a heartbeat.
Do I think the Eichel trade will get a Byfield-level talent? No.
Do I think that they'll be lucky enough to even win the Wright sweepstakes next season? No.
Even so, trading Eichel could be the boost that the Sabres need to start to revamp the organization and set it up for success in the future. It would be a win for both sides, the Sabres get the pieces necessary to build towards the future and Eichel gets to bring his talents to a franchise looking to compete for the Cup.
We love Jack Eichel, we will always love Jack Eichel, but it's time to say goodbye. For five years, Eichel was hands down the best athlete in Buffalo, always a bright spot in a sea of darkness. A player of his caliber who gave so much to the team, franchise, and the Buffalo community deserved so much better here. For years on end, so many are going to point the finger at him as to why the team never succeeded, ignoring all the flaws of the team around him.
We'll always be left wondering what could've been. Let Eichel's story be a cautionary tale about how a rebuild needs to be done right; a team needs more than just one great player to win a cup.
It's now up to Kevyn Adams not to repeat the mistakes of the past, and it starts by not repeating what happened the last time a star center was traded from here.
Go Sabres.
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