A trade involving Eichel just seems risky all around.
Eichel has in no way justified his salary this season. Buffalo or not, a $10M player needs to have good results. Eichel's .1 GPG is putrid.
Buffalo's alleged asking price is huge - a complete mismatch from his recent production. Perhaps it ought to be this high but this is a barrier to a trade.
This season as bad as it's been doesn't all of a sudden make his value nosedive IMO.
I think if both parties decide to move on teams will pony up for him and there will be a bunch of teams to drive up the price.
I get how it works here on HF, people prefer the drama and negativity reigns and nothing beats the lure of draft picks and unproven shiny trinkets.
But the fact is there are only a handful of teams with a legit 1c, there are even fewer that have one of Jacks calibre.
How many drafts are a elite 1c available? How many of those actually live up to the hype?
Thankfully my team got lucky and nabbed one that looks to be a keeper but I look around at the Habs, the Flames, the Wild, Jackets, Preds, etc etc etc and no matter the pieces they have they're all missing a 1c and teams that win cups no matter the make up of the team almost always have a 1c.
So if a guy like Jack becomes available and the ask is 4 firsts someones gonna pay it because unless those firsts are top 2 every year, there's a good chance you ain't getting one and if that's the one piece your team needs it doesn't get much better than Jack signed longterm just hitting his prime.
Plus you gotta remember a GM who has a team in their window most likely isn't worried about draft picks 3-4 years down the road when chances are he's already gone by then if the team hasn't won yet.