If you thought that the Jack Eichel talk would die down after he failed his physical and was stripped of the “C”, well you thought wrong.
“I spoke to Jack two days ago, I spoke to the team yesterday and addressed this, Jack Eichel is no longer the captain of the Buffalo Sabres,” GM Kevyn Adams said. “From our perspective, the captain is your heartbeat of your team, and we are in a situation where we felt we needed to make that decision.”
The biggest issue for Eichel is about getting the procedure he wants to fix the herniated disc in his neck. Jack is looking to do an artificial disc replacement and the Sabres do not want him to do it. They prefer the traditional fusion procedure.
NHL Rumors: Teams willing to trade for Eichel, with conditions
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.
I’ve reached out to Nick Kypreos for more information and will update when he replies.
Flames Johnny Gaudreau won’t talk contract
One player that was rumored to be on the move during the offseason, is still a member of the Calgary Flames. Johnny Gaudreau will be a UFA next summer, but will not be discussing his contract this season.
Word is that Johnny Gaudreau will say at his first media availability that he will not answer questions about his contract status now that training camp has started. GM Brad Treliving told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis this week the team won’t be providing updates, either. Gaudreau is an unrestricted free agent in July. No distractions.
Elliotte Friedman, 32 Thoughts
Reports over the summer indicated that the Flames were speaking with Johnny Gaudreau about an extension. The winger currently earns $6.75 million against the cap with one year remaining. His next deal should be for more, but unlikely that much higher.
Gaudreau, 28, scored 49 points in 56 games last season.
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