Quote:
Originally Posted by fleury
I’m surprised so many people are now in favour of bringing in Eichel.
Pros:
- he’s a star centre
- under contract
- gives the team another look and retool to go for it
Cons:
- he’ll be costly in a trade, potentially even high licks going back
- injury concerns
- direction unclear on what the flames do with the rest of the team
To me, I don’t mind bringing him in at the cost of Monahan plus. Another team would easily trump that. If the team did bad this upcoming season with a guy like Eichel, I’d trade him for a rebuild immediately. My concern about giving away assets and picks is you essentially say you’re going at it again and looking to strengthen what you have more or less. The problem with the flames is they have no star and the depth isn’t good enough. The guys who they have which are paid first line bucks are putting up second line stats. The only way of getting through this in my mind is to deal any combination of the top three, for picks and prospects, tank this upcoming year and make a run for it in three years. Prolonging it by getting Eichel is a bad idea if the likely cost is high.
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Another con is Eichel hasn’t proven he can be ‘the guy’. The losing ways of the Sabres can’t all be pinned on management. Eichel hasn’t demonstrated he can elevate his game when it matters, or that he can rally his teammates. In an article in the Athletic, some NHL coaches and execs opined that Eichel hasn’t learned to play the right way yet, or demonstrated he’s an effective leader.
He’s still young, and he obviously has talent. But I think he would fit best on a team that already had big stars and strong leadership.