There may finally be a break in the right direction between Jack Eichel and the Sabres. According to TSN Insider, Darren Dreger there may finally be some progress in Buffalo.
Will the disgruntled 24 year-old superstar finally see a resolution to a process that started last season?
Sabres release Eichel’s medicals to interested teams
“The NHL and NHLPA have been involved with all parties for quite some time,” Dreger said on the latest Insider Trading. “An interesting twist is that teams with trade interest Jack Eichel are being given the medical information as it’s being collected. So the process is moving along.”
Recently, on the 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman suggested that the Sabres should do this with Jack’s permission.
“There are some teams that feel the same way Buffalo does about the surgery (getting a fusion),” Friedman said. “There are teams legitimately interested in trading for Eichel, who feel they don’t have all the information. How can you make the best possible offer for Jack Eichel without knowing exactly what all the doctors are saying? My goal to end the log jam is that teams can see his records.”
You wonder if after seeing the medicals, which teams will be inclined to go with Eichel’s preferred disc replacement procedure? Either way, maybe this gets things moving to a conclusion. To be clear, Dreger did say that the “stalemate” continues.
A trade with conditions
Another NHL Insider, Nick Kypreos recently put out a compelling tweet.
“Eichel has made it clear he’s willing to go anywhere to facilitate a trade,” he wrote. “One of 1/2 doz teams involved tell me a trade is doable as long as the Sabres are willing to add “conditional” clauses around how he performs after surgery. ie .. games played, scoring etc.”
This makes a whole lot of sense, but means the Sabres will have to do what they’ve been unwilling to do since this started. That is take a lesser package than they feel Eichel is worth.
What kind of conditions are we talking about here? Instead of a first round pick in 2022, maybe it’s a third round pick if Eichel is unable to play 50 games?
Could this be done with future considerations? Possibly player A if he returns and scores a point per game in X number played, or player B if it’s .75 per game, all the way down to player C if it’s less than .50? All seem like possibilities.
It feels like that if a trade is made before his surgery, then based on what’s in the medical records some conditions could be easier to determine.
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