Interesting article:
The Athletic’s Craig Custance sent out a survey to 21 player agents back in November to ask a variety of questions. He did so on the condition of anonymity in order to elicit unfiltered responses.
“Jack Eichel,” one anonymous agent said is very likely to be traded. “He’s an interesting one. At some point, he’s just going to say, enough. Buffalo and losing is not fun.”
So could the 24 year-old pivot get dealt this upcoming season? New Sabres GM, Kevyn Adams said he’s listening but has
no intention of trading Eichel. Here’s the rub, it’s not solely because they don’t want to, it’s also because they paid him to play next year already.
Eichel makes $10 million per season. However, the way they
structured the deal he was due $7.5 million in a signing bonus this season which they already paid. His base salary is just $2.5 million, so the Sabres aren’t trading him now. They may not even trade him next season, but keep your eye on the summer of 2022.
That’s because he will be due another $7.5 million bonus and his no trade kicks in. If Eichel is going to be deal. it would make more sense at the 2021-22 trade deadline or offseason.
Still, if a trade is inevitable Jeff Gorton would have the assets in players and prospects to get the deal done during this offseason. The Rangers game-plan is to use their deep prospect pipeline to acquire a big name star, and that means a trade not UFA signings. Something is brewing and many believe it’s the Rangers landing Eichel.
Bottom line, Jack Eichel on the Rangers is not the far-fetched fantasy some believed not too long ago. It could become a reality next season.