Fluto came out with an article on The Athletic regarding any ideas about Jack Eichel to Boston....here are my thoughts and why Boston will fall short of acquiring Jack Eichel.
I'll start about by saying Fluto is 100% correct that Boston WILL make a push to acquire Eichel. A hometown boy and an elite #1 centerman is available, you go after him. That being said, Boston will fail to acquire him
1) Buffalo is not trading Eichel to a division opponent-
Why would Buffalo, trade their franchise player, who's locked up long term, to a division opponent? Don't you think the idea of that is quite silly? That's the equivalent of the Boston Bruins trading David Pastrnak to the Leafs. It's not going to happen. What a way to sell to Sabres fans, we just traded our franchise player to the Bruins who we're going to have to deal with at least 4 times a year for the next 7 years!
2) Lack of intriguing assets:
So what do the Bruins exactly have to offer that other teams don't? Right off the bat, Jack Studnicka is going the other way. He's the #1 prospect and he's gonna have to start the conversation. That's totally okay with me because if we get a center, you can afford to trade one. Next, I'll toss in Jake Debrusk. He's an inconsistent consistent 20-30 goal scorer that may need a change. Next, toss in one of the dmen. Either Vaak/Zboril/Lauzon/Carlo, Buffalo gets to pick one. Choose another prospect, but we don't have really many to offer! (Beecher, Steen, Lauko, Lohrei, Ahcan,etc). And lastly, add in a first rounder and probably another pick!
Studnicka, Debrusk, dman, C-B prospect, a first round pick, another pick for Jack Eichel
Does that get you Jack Eichel? You HAVE to think another team can offer something better. That could be enough to get him, but does Buffalo favor Quality over Quantity? Can they get a better return than that? I'd have to think so.
3) Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak are UNTOUCHABLES
Get used to it, these 2 players are going nowhere. I keep seeing Buffalo fans say "Any traded with Eichel starts with McAvoy or Pastrnak"......are you kidding me? It is NOT ridiculous to say that McAvoy and Pastrnak carry more value than Jack Eichel right now. Pastrnak is 24 and is coming off a Rocket Richard. McAvoy is 23 and playing for a Norris this year. Who in the world says that Jack Eichel carries more value than Pasta and McAvoy?
Based off those 3 listed reasons, Boston will come up short. It doesn't mean they won't hit up Buffalo's phone line when he's made available, but you have to expand your thought process when thinking about Eichel to Boston. There's going to be teams out there with much better prospects and picks to offer. Studnicka and Debrusk may be intriguing, but it's what comes after that is what makes a difference. Buffalo needs a return to sell to their fans. They don't want a pile of nothing in return for a franchise player. Jack Eichel will more than likely go out West.
And to be clear guys, I'm not just trying to be a negative nancy here. Jack Eichel to Boston is a dream scenario for a lot of us. I mean getting Eichel to take over the center spot after Bergeron? That's an unbelievable scenario. I'm just trying to be realistic about this. We can offer a fine a package, but there's gonna be some teams out there that offer a prospect that completely intrigues Buffalo more.
I think where it gets interesting is if he sticks in buffalo until his no trade protection kicks in. At that point, he would have some say in his destination, and he could really put buffalo in a bad spot.
I also believe the Bruins don't have the assets to trade for him but I'm wondering how stupid the Buffalo management is and if you could underpay for him.
I think where it gets interesting is if he sticks in buffalo until his no trade protection kicks in. At that point, he would have some say in his destination, and he could really put buffalo in a bad spot.
I personally think Buffalo is gonna be looking to trade him before Eichel has any input. Eichel's NMC kicks in for the 22-23 season
McDavid, Connor
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