[News] Sabres strip Eichel of captaincy

[Stud_McCool]

Hahahaha!! Kevyn Adams would make the worst car salesman ever!

"I have this beautiful Cadillac, I personally would not buy it, but I can sell it to you for MSRP!"

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by BloodFetish

Can we not just trade them 82-point Sean Monahan, 2011 Milan Lucic and our 2012 first round pick and be done with it?

Monahan is fully healed from his surgery so surely he’s worth a broken Eichel.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

And if they trade him for garbage, he fully recovers and turns into a superstar for the new team, then Buffalo look like the idiots again. They have nothing to lose by standing pat (other than Pegula's money, I guess)/

IMO the longer this goes, the likelihood of getting a better return goes down.

The longer they wait the more uncertainty there is about Eichel's neck, and it just keeps extending how long it's been since Eichel's played an NHL game.

And then if you don't move him by next years draft, he will have a NTC as of July 1.

The other thing I don't get is if you are going to trade him anyways, then why not just let him get the surgery that he wants. You'd have to think it'd be easier to trade Eichel post-surgery once he's been cleared as healthy, than trying to trade him with the surgery still pending.

And it's not like any team trading for him now wouldn't let him get the surgery he wants to get, because you'll just end up in the same situation.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Flamesfan05

Eichel value is sinking

Maybe they’d trade him for Johnny’s UFA right��

Well, that's the whole problem right there, no? Eichel's value has in fact plummeted, but the Sabres refuse to acknowledge the fact. The reason he has not been traded is because the team that owns his rights is not operating in reality.

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[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by stemit14

I’ve suggested this before but have never been told if it could work or not… could a team not pull a Kucherov with eichel? If eichel is placed on LTIR by the sabres to start the season, and is then traded to a team, will that team even need cap space for him? Wouldn’t him being on LTIR already mean he would not count against the cap for any team that acquires him, provided they are a cap team? I’m always unclear about this.

If so, teams could circle back on eichel after a month into the season if they are playing really well and look like they will make the playoffs without eichel during the regular season. They could acquire eichel using only futures and just wait till playoffs to activate him from IR. Gives him 6 months to fully recover from surgery and the acquiring team takes less risk that their 1st round pick in the trade will be a high pick if the team gets off to a strong start to the season. Similar to Tampa, they would have to shed salary in the offseason but they would still have a loaded team for this year.


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From my understanding you are right. The team won't need to free up $10M in case of a trade(as long as he doesn't return during the season). I think Sureloss is a much better authority on the CBA than I am though.

An interesting thing happens when the team is not right against the cap. If the team sends some salary to Buffalo(lets say $3M), now they are $3M below the cap before Eichel goes on LTIR. This means they would only be able to exceed the cap by $7M, even if they try to add players later. That's why managers try to get as close to the cap as possible before placing a player on LTIR.

Also, once you are on LTIR you can't bank that cap space. It stays at a certain number you can exceed the cap, for relief purposes. If my memory doesn't betray me the Flames in 2019-20 were doing some cap gymnastics instead of placing Hamonic on LTIR after the fight with Gudbranson. They also didn't place Valimaki on LTIR right away, he was on IR for a third of the season.

The Accruable Cap Space Limit, otherwise known as the ACSL, is a team’s new upper limit once they begin using the LTIR. It excludes the LTIR relief pools. This number is used to determine the amount a team can exceed the salary cap using the LTIR. The closer to the cap a team is before using the LTIR, the more relief they’ll get.

Source

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Well, that's the whole problem right there, no? Eichel's value has in fact plummeted, but the Sabres refuse to acknowledge the fact. The reason he has not been traded is because the team that owns his rights is not operating in reality.

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And to some extent Adams has the opposite situation as Treliving, who seemingly is expected to compete and not rebuild. Adams is in constant rebuild from scratch mode, and his owners don't seem to care.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Spineless.

[Gaskal]

If I had a dollar for every time I've said "#### Kevyn Adams" this summer it would probably be enough to cover my bill for All-You-Can-Eat sushi.

[OutOfTheCube]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

IMO the longer this goes, the likelihood of getting a better return goes down.

The longer they wait the more uncertainty there is about Eichel's neck, and it just keeps extending how long it's been since Eichel's played an NHL game.

And then if you don't move him by next years draft, he will have a NTC as of July 1.

The other thing I don't get is if you are going to trade him anyways, then why not just let him get the surgery that he wants. You'd have to think it'd be easier to trade Eichel post-surgery once he's been cleared as healthy, than trying to trade him with the surgery still pending.

And it's not like any team trading for him now wouldn't let him get the surgery he wants to get, because you'll just end up in the same situation.

Honestly even if it's stupid I can't deny it's kind of refreshing? We've become so accustomed to teams bending over backwards to appease their entitled young star players (especially small market teams) just to end up screwed in the end, that to see a team kind of saying "Nah, screw him" is a little bit fun.

This whole situation is likely the most entertainment we'll get from Buffalo this season anyways.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

If I had a dollar for every time I've said "#### Kevyn Adams" this summer it would probably be enough to cover my bill for All-You-Can-Eat sushi.

#### Kevyn Adams, now I want Sushi!

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Toonage

There is a time limit on this. Its really in their best interests to let him choose his surgery, prove he can play and then be shopped to 31 other teams. All this posturing is wildly detrimental to both sides.

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

The other thing I don't get is if you are going to trade him anyways, then why not just let him get the surgery that he wants. You'd have to think it'd be easier to trade Eichel post-surgery once he's been cleared as healthy, than trying to trade him with the surgery still pending.

My understanding is that the surgery that Eichel wants is better for him long term but has some risks that he might not be able to play. The fusion surgery is pretty much guaranteed to work but is not good for the player long term. If they let him get the replacement surgery and he can't play then it's still due to a hockey injury and the Sabres are on the hook for 5 years x 10 million. If he gets the fusion surgery he will likely need to get fused again multiple times later in life. Messy situation for sure. No guarantee that the team trading for him would be willing to risk the replacement surgery either.

I do seem to remember the doctor in the interview saying that if the replacement surgery doesn't work that they could still do the fusion as a last resort but that would keep him out longer. At this point it's silly because he could have had it done and they would know by now.

They should just take the reduced value and let the player move on with his life, they are really damaging their reputation here.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Jacks

My understanding is that the surgery that Eichel wants is better for him long term but has some risks that he might not be able to play. The fusion surgery is pretty much guaranteed to work but is not good for the player long term. If they let him get the replacement surgery and he can't play then it's still due to a hockey injury and the Sabres are on the hook for 5 years x 10 million. If he gets the fusion surgery he will likely need to get fused again multiple times later in life. Messy situation for sure. No guarantee that the team trading for him would be willing to risk the replacement surgery either.

At this point they should just take the reduced value and let the player move on with his life, they are really damaging their reputation here.

That's my understanding, but the risk of not being able to play seems to me to be more his risk and not theirs. If he doesn't play, they are in no worse situation than now, plus his salary is off the books. I suppose there's a risk to them is that it works but leaves him at a much lower level than before.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

That's my understanding, but the risk of not being able to play seems to me to be more his risk and not theirs. If he doesn't play, they are in no worse situation than now, plus his salary is off the books. I suppose there's a risk to them is that it works but leaves him at a much lower level than before.

They would still be on the hook for his salary though if it doesn't work or if it affects his play substantially. If he gets the fusion surgery they know he will be back playing for sure. Basically they want to take the safe route for the next 5 years, Eichel wants to take the route that gives him a better chance at quality of life 30 years from now. I suppose both sides are just looking out for their best interest but the Sabres come out looking like the bad guy no matter what. There should be a mechanism in the CBA to allow a player to terminate his contract in cases like this.

[Beatle17]

Originally Posted by Jacks

They would still be on the hook for his salary though if it doesn't work or if it affects his play substantially. If he gets the fusion surgery they know he will be back playing for sure. Basically they want to take the safe route for the next 5 years, Eichel wants to take the route that gives him a better chance at quality of life 30 years from now. I suppose both sides are just looking out for their best interest but the Sabres come out looking like the bad guy no matter what. There should be a mechanism in the CBA to allow a player to terminate his contract in cases like this.

IF there was then it would be a short step to the teams saying they want the ability to terminate a contract of a player who doesn't perform to expectations, let's use Skinner as an example. Team could say we paid you as a 40 goal scorer and you became lazy so we are going to terminate your contract.

I know it isn't the same thing but it isn't a leap to getting the NFL contract situation.

[Jacks]

I'm referring specifically to when the player and team can't agree on a form of treatment that will affect the players health in the long term.

[FlamesAddiction]

Has it ever been talked about whether insurability of the player is an issue if the player goes with his own medical recommendations over the team's?

[Beatle17]

Originally Posted by Jacks

I'm referring specifically to when the player and team can't agree on a form of treatment that will affect the players health in the long term.

I understand and somewhat agree with you, but what does the team get out of that type of situation. They have committed $10M per season for a player to perform. Because he is injured and doesn't like the CBA agreed upon medical situation he opts out, gets the surgery he wants and becomes a free agent, the team gets nothing. So why would the member teams of the NHL agree to that clause?

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

I understand and somewhat agree with you, but what does the team get out of that type of situation. They have committed $10M per season for a player to perform. Because he is injured and doesn't like the CBA agreed upon medical situation he opts out, gets the surgery he wants and becomes a free agent, the team gets nothing. So why would the member teams of the NHL agree to that clause?

The players would need to be the ones to fight for it in the next CBA. This situation will probably be long forgotten by that time though.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Has it ever been talked about whether insurability of the player is an issue if the player goes with his own medical recommendations over the team's?

If the team says no and the player gets it anyway he is in breach of contract. If the team allows it then they are on the hook for the remaining contract. Not sure how much would be covered by insurance or if the insuring company would possibly dispute it.

[Beatle17]

Originally Posted by Jacks

The players would need to be the ones to fight for it in the next CBA. This situation will probably be long forgotten by that time though.

Agreed but I am sure the owners would never give up that right without getting the ability to terminate contracts.

Thanks for the positive discussion.