Confirmed with Link: [BUF/VGK] Jack Eichel & 3rd-2023(BUF) FOR Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, 1st-2022(VGK) & 2nd-2023(VGK)

[Jim Bob]

Are they saying that the Sabres somehow owed it to the hockey world to put Jack Eichel on the ice in another jersey sooner?

Because those who say that, honestly, can just f••• off.

If people take EF seriously, Adams wanted Krebs and Vegas was unwilling to put him in the deal until the last couple of weeks.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

If people take EF seriously, Adams wanted Krebs and Vegas was unwilling to put him in the deal until the last couple of weeks.

I can picture KA's refusal on retention might have delayed a deal too. Anyway, it's in he-said-she-said territory now.

Moving on ... Goodbye Generation Fail.

 

[KeyserSoze81]

If people take EF seriously.

No one should, he is a hack of the highest order. Hockey coverage quality has been dying a slow death ever since they moved from TSN. And now Barry Melrose is back, I want to cry.

 

[joshjull]

If people take EF seriously, Adams wanted Krebs and Vegas was unwilling to put him in the deal until the last couple of weeks.

I have my issues with Friedman but Pagnotta is not very good. Most bloggers and reporters out west said Krebs wasn’t in play all offseason.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

No one should, he is a hack of the highest order. Hockey coverage quality has been dying a slow death ever since they moved from TSN. And now Barry Melrose is back, I want to cry.

Can't believe that dunce has managed to eke out a career as an analyst for so long.

 

[WeDislikeEich]

If people take EF seriously, Adams wanted Krebs and Vegas was unwilling to put him in the deal until the last couple of weeks.

I thought VGK GM Kelly Mccrimmon said that he didn’t even start talking to Buffalo about Eichel until September?

 

[Diaspora]

Moving on ... Goodbye Generation Fail.

And don't let the door hit ya . . .

 

[Chainshot]

I thought VGK GM Kelly Mccrimmon said that he didn’t even start talking to Buffalo about Eichel until September?

That was his quote, yes.

 

[KrakenSabresMike]

Gotta love persistently out of touch annoying NYR fans …trying to “ burn us” on the return by saying chytil and buchnevich are better than krebs and tuch. Said it must “ hurt” - wish I could actually lol to that guys face. Since buchnevich got traded that’s essentially chytil, a 2nd and Blais. Sooo glad jack didn’t end up with the NYR - He’s been traded somewhere else and they’re still annoying about the trade!

 

[Samsonite23]

That was his quote, yes.

I must have missed that. Anybody have a link?

 

[Sabre the Win]

Gotta love persistently out of touch annoying NYR fans …trying to “ burn us” on the return by saying chytil and buchnevich are better than krebs and tuch. Said it must “ hurt” - wish I could actually lol to that guys face. Since buchnevich got traded that’s essentially chytil, a 2nd and Blais. Sooo glad jack didn’t end up with the NYR - He’s been traded somewhere else and they’re still annoying about the trade!

Spurned lovers.

 

[Jim Bob]

Jack Eichel and the Flames: How close did they come? Was Matthew Tkachuk involved? What's next?

How close were the Flames, and why didn’t it work out?

I believe the gap was larger than many may have thought on Tuesday night after ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported that the Flames and Golden Knights were “finalists.”

The Flames may have been finalists, and they were consistently in on Eichel talks, but they ultimately wound up more of a distant second — and that place was likely secured once Vegas recently agreed to include Krebs in the return. Tuch, with roots from the area (Syracuse, N.Y.), also was an attractive piece for the Sabres.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman went so far as to say that the Flames were “always in, but were never close.” Similarly, I’ve heard from industry sources that, at the time of Tuesday’s ESPN report, the question wasn’t which team would get Eichel; it was when he’d officially be going to Vegas. That didn’t stop the Flames from working on a potential deal as late as Wednesday, but by then, the belief is that details were the hang-up between Vegas and Buffalo — not fundamental pieces.

The Flames were willing to include top prospects and future first-rounders (as well as a roster piece to make the money work) in a trade package, but I don’t believe they had anyone the Sabres wanted more than Krebs and Tuch — except perhaps pieces that were deemed off-limits by the Flames.

Compared to the Flames’ current crop of top prospects — Connor Zary, Jakob Pelletier and Matthew Coronato — Krebs was the most desirable asset. He’s closer to the NHL and has played nine games with Vegas already, while Zary is still on injured reserve with nine pro games under his belt with the Stockton Heat. Pelletier and Coronato are both wingers.

Krebs, on the other hand, could become a point-producing top-six centre; he had 43 points in 24 games last season with WHL Winnipeg. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman complimented his skill, skating and overall game, and rated Krebs over Zary. That, as the Sabres know, is the sort of player you’d like to have around.

Ultimately, whichever package the Sabres chose was going to be led by a prospect, not a roster player. Their choice was Krebs and Tuch.
Was Matthew Tkachuk involved?

Exact details on the Flames’ offers are difficult to come by. The one thing I’ve heard from multiple sources is that the massive package reported on Wednesday night by Kevin Weekes — Matthew Tkachuk leading a five-asset return — was not accurate.
Multiple sources believe the report did not come from the Flames’ camp and speculated around the intent of such a leak.

My understanding is that Buffalo asked about Tkachuk, but that the Flames had not agreed to include him in any deal. Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams confirmed that much on Thursday when he told reporters, “That was not correct, in terms of players that were being tossed around.”

As anyone who pays attention to this sort of thing knows, there’s a meaningful distinction between a war-room discussion and an offer. One does not necessarily lead to the other. If Tkachuk was involved in the latter, we will likely never know.

Beyond that, it’s fair to wonder how much the Flames’ strong start to the season (6-1-2) impacted their appetite to trade one of their top forwards — whether it was Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau, Andrew Mangiapane or someone else — for Eichel, who likely won’t play until at least March because of his neck issue.

For Vegas, it makes more sense. Potentially punting this season for four more years of Eichel is easier for a sub-.500, injury-decimated team, whether they started the season as a Cup favourite or not. An argument can be made that a fully healthy Flames team should’ve done the same — and it likely will be made in the comments here. On the other hand, it’s fair to question whether Calgary should gut the roster and sell the farm for an injured star.

It’s also easy, if you ignore certain relevant facts and bits of context, to understand why a Tkachuk-to-Buffalo package made theoretical sense. Eichel makes $10 million a season, and the Flames have approximately $1 million in cap space. If they added Eichel, meaningful money would have needed to have come off the books. Including a high-salary player (like Tkachuk) in the original deal would’ve been a simple first step.

Ultimately, a roster featuring Eichel, Tkachuk, a re-signed Gaudreau and an extended Mangiapane would not have been tenable. Either one of those four would have wound up elsewhere, or major cuts across the rest of the roster would’ve been necessary.

 

[Jim Bob]

Gotta love persistently out of touch annoying NYR fans …trying to “ burn us” on the return by saying chytil and buchnevich are better than krebs and tuch. Said it must “ hurt” - wish I could actually lol to that guys face. Since buchnevich got traded that’s essentially chytil, a 2nd and Blais. Sooo glad jack didn’t end up with the NYR - He’s been traded somewhere else and they’re still annoying about the trade!

Just send them this:

 

[Fjordy]

Just send them this:

Their next excuse would be that Laf is too deep in the lineup, and Kakko plays great, but he just has no luck. By the way, Yzerman drafts well.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

Tuch has demonstrated talent and character in the NHL. His affinity for Western NY is an intangible plus. He'll be a top six winger here for the rest of his contract. He's worth more than a mid-round 1st.

Krebs was a former mid-round 1st, but has had additional development time to mature and is close to being ready. His upside comes from his work ethic and leadership qualities. He may top out at 2C, but that's a really important role. He's worth more than a mid-round 1st.

They didn't come close -- they actually got the equivalent of four 1sts. Maybe even a little more.

I'm on board Tuch being worth more than a 1st with his contract, but Krebs I dunno. It's not like he's suddenly a top 10 pick in a re-draft.

 

[KrakenSabresMike]

I'm on board Tuch being worth more than a 1st with his contract, but Krebs I dunno. It's not like he's suddenly a top 10 pick in a re-draft.

That’s fair But krebs has been a point per game player or more in every league he’s played ( Of course except his brief time in NHL… ) He was ranked in the top 10 before his injury and is probably equivalent level prospect to Cozens at this point with different strengths. He has more playmaking than we have in the system, and watching his draft profile again was compared to Ryan O’Reilly ironically… Which we could use even 90% of that player in our system, and if he becomes that be well ahead in this trade from our end.

 

[TehDoak]

If people take EF seriously, Adams wanted Krebs and Vegas was unwilling to put him in the deal until the last couple of weeks.

I have my issues with Friedman but Pagnotta is not very good. Most bloggers and reporters out west said Krebs wasn’t in play all offseason.

Honestly, it feels like we almost had two 'sets' of negotiations.

-Period 1: The summer up until the NHL free agency period began
-Period 2: After Eichel switched agents.

In Period 1, the Sabres:
-Refused to release medical records
-Had a reported sky high asking price

While we heard a lot of teams (Anaheim, Minnesota being the top two), it really never felt like a deal got close.

In period 2, The Sabres:

-Released the medical info
-Reduced the asking price
-Refused to retain salary.

I wonder if Pagnotta heard Vegas was willing to include Krebs/Tuch earlier this summer, but negotiations never got seriously going until Brisson worked to get his medicals released.

The biggest fumble of the ball here by Adams was him not getting all the info out earlier and working while he had the biggest field of potential buyers. I have to think that he could have had 3-4 teams seriously bidding and maybe a prospect better than Krebs gets added. We have the power of hindsight now, but a lot of the top 10 picks potentially on the table (3rd from Anaheim, 7 OA from LA), could have netted Eklund, someone they were reportedly hot after. Just felt like Adams thought a team would just knock on his door one day and offer him the world and that never happened.

 

[Jacob582]

Jack Eichel and the Flames: How close did they come? Was Matthew Tkachuk involved? What's next?

So are the Flames pissed about he Tkachuk faulty rumor, or would they be happy to have a division rival pay more in trade?

 

[jputt99]

Honestly, it feels like we almost had two 'sets' of negotiations.

-Period 1: The summer up until the NHL free agency period began
-Period 2: After Eichel switched agents.

In Period 1, the Sabres:
-Refused to release medical records
-Had a reported sky high asking price

While we heard a lot of teams (Anaheim, Minnesota being the top two), it really never felt like a deal got close.

In period 2, The Sabres:

-Released the medical info
-Reduced the asking price
-Refused to retain salary.

I wonder if Pagnotta heard Vegas was willing to include Krebs/Tuch earlier this summer, but negotiations never got seriously going until Brisson worked to get his medicals released.

The biggest fumble of the ball here by Adams was him not getting all the info out earlier and working while he had the biggest field of potential buyers. I have to think that he could have had 3-4 teams seriously bidding and maybe a prospect better than Krebs gets added. We have the power of hindsight now, but a lot of the top 10 picks potentially on the table (3rd from Anaheim, 7 OA from LA), could have netted Eklund, someone they were reportedly hot after. Just felt like Adams thought a team would just knock on his door one day and offer him the world and that never happened.

Adams never felt any pressure to move Eichel in a specific time frame . We now know it was Jack who was the malcontent in this situation . Adams did about as good as he could considering the flat cap and Eichel's contract . You think there could have been 3-4 serious bidders ? It's far more likely that there was 2 serious teams and the rest were trying to fleece Adams or run the price up to handcuff their divisional rivals .

 

[ValJamesDuex]

If people take EF seriously, Adams wanted Krebs and Vegas was unwilling to put him in the deal until the last couple of weeks.

If Insiders would report more truth and not be shill's for Gm's it would make them more trustworthy and EF is as guilty as any of them. I'm sure it's why the Buffalo front office does not put much out there anymore. Was EF (and or NRD, The LAK/Ana Beat guys) the insider that reported "something had changed in Vegas" about two weeks before ? Maybe that was it. With Vegas injuries and cap it, some bending by KA, A pending Jack interview, and little external trade rumor pressure, it took two weeks to finish. There certainly was enough chatter coming out of Vegas that seemed about right.

 

[Jacob582]

I'm trying to think of my emotion I'm feeling about Eichel. I think it might be: resentment.

I kinda feel that the biggest winner in this trade is Eichel. I know Sabres needed to move on, but I'm not sure I'll be happy for Jack's success. I fully understand why he didn't want to go through another rebuild, but he still left MY team.

I might have been able to root for him to win the Cup in Calgary (if they overpaid), but don't think I could do that for to many other teams. So is by beef with Eichel, or with the fact that Vegas got him for a steal (assuming he is a future star)?
..........

This may have been a very long 8 (or 20) months for Eichel, but I think he will look back and think, wow that was such a short sacrifice in order to escape sheer misery in my life.

 

[joshjull]

Honestly, it feels like we almost had two 'sets' of negotiations.

-Period 1: The summer up until the NHL free agency period began
-Period 2: After Eichel switched agents.

In Period 1, the Sabres:
-Refused to release medical records
-Had a reported sky high asking price

While we heard a lot of teams (Anaheim, Minnesota being the top two), it really never felt like a deal got close.

In period 2, The Sabres:

-Released the medical info
-Reduced the asking price
-Refused to retain salary.

I wonder if Pagnotta heard Vegas was willing to include Krebs/Tuch earlier this summer, but negotiations never got seriously going until Brisson worked to get his medicals released.

The biggest fumble of the ball here by Adams was him not getting all the info out earlier and working while he had the biggest field of potential buyers. I have to think that he could have had 3-4 teams seriously bidding and maybe a prospect better than Krebs gets added. We have the power of hindsight now, but a lot of the top 10 picks potentially on the table (3rd from Anaheim, 7 OA from LA), could have netted Eklund, someone they were reportedly hot after. Just felt like Adams thought a team would just knock on his door one day and offer him the world and that never happened.

There is nothing to wonder about with Pagnotta’s take. Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon said he didn’t start talking to Buffalo about Eichel until September. He has no reason to lie about that.


You also keep ignoring the impact of Jack’s previous agents vs what Brisson actually did to move this along. These things had an enormous impact.

Brisson got the ball moving by getting his OWN imaging for Jack’s neck. Something he controlled and could send to other teams ( Sabres openness with this came later). He also got more surgeons to sign off on ADR being a good option for Jack. Instead of just the one surgeon (Prusmack) who initially recommended it. It was an effort tpo make potential trade partners more comfortable with ADR.

Jack’s previous agents could have done all those things. None of it required participation from the Sabres. But instead their strategy was to attack the Sabres publicly. All in a misguided attempt to force Adams into doing what they wanted (Surgery or trade Jack). Every time his previous agents were quoted. Most of us were thinking “what are the doing? How is this going to help?” That was especially true with the letter they sent out after free agency started. It aggressively attacked the Sabres and was basically a tantrum over Jack not being traded at that point.

You’re also making false assumptions about what was available around the time of the draft. If we’re using the value of hindsight then you would know LA had the 8th pick and it was San Jose with the 7th pick who took Eklund.** Hindsight would also tell us none of the top prospects from Anaheim were ever in play including the guy they targeted with 3rd overall (Zegras/Drysdale/MacTavish).



**We actually tried to move up to the 7th pick using Sam and 13th overall (from Risto trade)

 

[joshjull]

Poor baby


Not surprisingly the usual suspects are trying to make this about the Pegulas demanding loyalty (I mean , really??). As opposed to the fans reacting to his Patriot fandom.

 

[displacedsabre]

Poor baby


Not surprisingly the usual suspects are trying to make this about the Pegulas demanding loyalty (I mean , really??). As opposed to the fans reacting to his Patriot fandom.

Good riddance, I cannot stand that kid. Most people sensed it from the beginning, but we suppressed those feelings for hope.

 

[Zman5778]

Poor baby


Not surprisingly the usual suspects are trying to make this about the Pegulas demanding loyalty (I mean , really??). As opposed to the fans reacting to his Patriot fandom.

That's the one criticism I'll never get about Jack. Dude grew up in Boston and was quite obviously a hardcore Boston sports fan. Just freaking let him root for who he roots for. It never ever upset me to see him in various Boston getup or whatever......rep your hometown!!!