If we can sign Ziban to a 7-8 million a year I would probably be ok with it. But 10 is pushing it. Definitely not in a long term contract. I think Chytil is going to end up one of our top 6 centers. Who the other one will eventually be is up in the air.
I highly doubt it will be Eichel though. The asking price for him is still way too high and if we add that cap hit it could seriously bite us in the butt when we have to pay our upcoming, hopeful stars like Laf, Fox, Kakko, Shesterkin, Kravtsov etc..
I really don't want Eichel here for numerous reasons. As it is I don't see us re-signing Panarin in 2026. And it's very difficult to say if we would re-sign Ziban either. I honestly don't think we need a player like Eichel. Or even a player like Ziban. We have Chytil. He needs to drastically improve on faceoffs though. And then, we need more of a Jonathan Toews or Toews light type player than an Eichel type player. And that player shouldn't cost as much as Eichel or even Ziban. And I actually think the Othmann pick was made with an eye on the very long term. As a possible eventual replacement for Panarin when the time comes. If Othmann reaches his potential at least.
I would love to see Horvat here, but that's not happening. Jaime Benn might be a bit older but he'd make the perfect 2C for this team. That's the range I am hoping for with our future at center. Eichel just doesn't bring the traits we need out of our centers now. We have tons of high end offensive skill all ready. Now we need to compliment that appropriately. Obviously, still needing a center with some skill, maybe even up to a PPG ceiling. But not an Eichel ceiling, or with Eichel risks and prices. And as good as Ziban is, I don't think he's consistent enough or healthy enough to be a 10 mil a year player. In that scenario, if we were definitely shelling out 10+ a year for a center, Eichel would make more sense. Except for the really important part where we would have to trade a way at least a few of our very young, very high ceiling players. And I do not want that happening under any circumstances, even if it could have meant getting Eichel.
I would honestly also be happy with someone like Larkin, JT Miller, Landeskog, Hischier, Hertl, even Ryan Johansen or Dvorak for the right price, or anyone else in that range that wouldn't break the bank. All though Landeskog does want a lot to re-sign and Johansen's current contract is a bit high. I would even take a gamble on some young, unproven possible late bloomer like Jost, Glass, or JAD. Tyler Johnson though seems like the type of player we will add for this season to play 3C.
This is why I wanted Lucius or Bolduc a ton, who were both still available, instead of Othmann. Lucius could seriously turn into a player similar to Ziban eventually. Or, since we took Othmann, if Drury could have acquired a 2nd round pick, when Raty and Pinelli were still on the board, that would have brought this draft from a B to an A for me. And would be nice trying to groom our future top 6 C rather than paying a high price for one.
