How much is Jack Eichel worth?
The Buffalo Sabres thought he was worth $10 million a year through 2026-27, his UFA year.
The bloom is off that Buffalo pasture rose.
On Friday, the Sabres selected defenseman Owen Power as the top pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, and also shipped Rasmus Ristolainen to the Philadelphia Flyers for the 14th pick in the draft on Friday.
Clearly, Buffalo is shopping they’re wares, and there is no reason to think Eichel is not on the list.
“There has been a lot of conversations on a lot of different things on our team, and certainly a player of that level there’s going to be phone calls,” Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said on NHL.com. “I said from Day One that we have to look at every possible scenario and be willing to see, ‘Does this make sense for us and why?’ and ask those hard questions. We’ll continue to do that. We’re having a lot of conversations.”
In a flat cap stretch of years, “making sense” ought to be the number one priority.
The Sabres need ask how far in the playoffs have they gotten with their lineup.
Well, that initial answer led them to shipping Taylor Hall to the Boston Bruins this past campaign, and now Ristolainen to the Flyers. Eric Stall was shipped the Montreal Canadiens this season as well.
Maybe the better question is, are we ever going to win with this lineup? 
“Right now, I think we are going to continue to look at every possible way to get our organization going in the right direction,” Adams said. “Whether I get asked questions specifically about Jack or on someone else, I’ll give you the same answer, we’re going to be open to everything, but we need to step forward, and if we’re going to do something with a player it has to have value to our organization moving forward. If in our minds we perceive the value isn’t there with any player, we wouldn’t do that, so that’s how we’re approaching it.”
Reportedly, Sam Reinhart is soon to be skating with the Florida Panthers. At some point you need to just say ‘we’re in rebuilding mode’ and make every effort to build a team around players who committed and willing to work for the cause.
“I think I can step in and play [in the NHL],” Power said. “I don’t think the decision will be whether or not I’m ready to play, it’s what is better for my development at the end of the day. I don’t think there’s a bad option, and it’s something we have to figure out.”
The NHL is littered with franchises that mortgaged their futures for ‘winning now’, only to end up as also-rans for generations.
“If we’re in a position where we feel that there’s value and we feel it’s going to help our franchise, than we’ll make certain decisions,” Adams said. “It’s the same for the way we look at all players, it’s just different conversations, but that’s how we’re viewing it.”
That means Eichel is gone, we just don’t know where, just yet. So, who is willing to saddle their roster and cap hit with Jack Eichel money? Who is the next NHL franchise to mortgage the future for a slim chance if success now? And how much of that $10 million will the Sabres retain just to rid themselves of the player?
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