Quote:
Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus
If I'm Buffalo I'm looking at players like Kyle Conner, Brock Boeser, Timo Meier, Alex Tuch, Sabastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov, Brayden Point, Mathew Barzal or our own Matthew Tkachuk as a starting point.
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Buffalo can ask all they want, but those bolded players are already better than Eichel, so those teams would laugh hanging up. When you add in variance in contracts, it just makes things worse. Why give up better players for a guy with a bigger salary? Buffalo can hope all they want, but the reality is they have a problem because of Eichel's $10M contract.
Calgary is probably in a pretty good situation if they want to take a run at him, because they do have a young player that could fit in the structure being talked about, and could even out the salary issue. Tkachuk's QO puts him in the same range as Eichel, so Buffalo may not blink at that. With the extra million+, depending on the extension negotiated, they could then be adding pieces to the mix beyond just the primary. The thing is Buffalo has to be getting value back for the money they take on. The thing Buffalo doesn't want to take on is aging players with term, which is why Calgary might be attractive to them. I see two possible deals that could work.
To Buffalo: Tkachuk ($7M) + Monahan ($6.375) + Hanifin ($4.95) + 2021 1st - Total salary = $18.3M
To Calgary: Eichel $(10M) + Ristolainen ($5.4M) + Eakin ($2.25M) - Total salary = $17.6M
Or
To Buffalo: Tkachuk ($7M) + Lindholm ($4.85) + Hanifin ($4.95) + 2021 1st - Total salary = $16.8M
To Calgary: Eichel $(10M) + Reinhart ($5.2M) + Borgen (RFA, Est $1.5M) - Total salary = $16.7M
I think those deals could work and make some sense for both teams. The idea that Eichel, with his salary and his health issues, garnering a massive haul is unlikely. Deals have to make sense fiscally these days, and Eichel's $10M price tag is tough to swallow. If he was dominant like McDavid, then maybe. But he isn't. There's a lot of risk involved with taking Eichel on, and the NHL is turning into a league where risk aversion is a big things most teams consider.