I also think the level of protection on the first round pick could be a sticking point for Buffalo. If they look at the duchene deal and the karlsson deal, it was the first round pick that ended up being the real steal in the trades. Those picks ended up being in the top 10 of the draft.
I could see teams like Calgary pushing for top five or even top ten protection. Buffalo would be pushing for no protection at all but likely settling with top 3 protection.
The reality is that the pick should have more protection than previous trades for top players (duchene, Karlsson, etc.) due to the fact that eichel will miss significant time this coming season because of his serious injury. Giving up assets to acquire him and not having him for the first 2 or more months of the season could have a huge impact on the momentum the team is able to build. This could make that pick a very dicey asset to give up.
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