At the end of the season, I made a team that was far more optimistic than where I'm at right now. Basically it was everyone stays and Buffalo signs Brandon Saad, Buffalo likely wins the Cup, yada yada yada.
Well, over the past couple days, sentiments towards Eichel and Rhino took quite the turn. It seems like trades are all but imminent at this point. Let's rip the Band-Aid off and see where this whole thing goes.
If you're going to trade a franchise center, get him as far away from home as possible where you only have to see him a few times a year. Anaheim makes sense as they're transitioning away from Ryan Getzlaf as the face of the franchise in favor of a much younger future. First and foremost, the Anaheim Ducks aren't going to trade Trevor Zegras to the Buffalo Sabres for an injured Jack Eichel, let alone put a first round pick on top of the deal. Anaheim gets a 1-2 punch up the center with Eichel and Zegras but it costs them Comtois and Drysdale. Comtois fills a top-6 role for Buffalo and Drysdale can take on bottom pairing duties to get his feet wet as he transitions to being a full-time defender with hopes of being a top 4 guy with the Sabres in a few years. Kesler comes over as a favor to the Ducks. LTIR is financially confusing, but even if Buffalo has to pay him in any capacity this season, they have the cap space to do so.
Buffalo does a sign-and-trade with Sam Reinhart and send him Washington for Evgeny Kuznetsov. I feel like this is a bit of a longshot, but Buffalo will be in desperate need of a 1C if Reinhart wants out. Under the premise that both players are in need of a change of scenery, Kuznetsov agrees to move his NTC for a fresh start. He becomes the top-line centerpiece for the Sabres. If Rhino stays, he'll obviously take on 1C duties.
The Sabres and Devils swap players as the last of the old era in Buffalo is shipped out. Rasmus Ristolainen backstops the Devil defense with Pavel Zacha coming to Buffalo in order to serve 2C duties.
A late season resurgence earns Casey Mittelstadt a modest raise in a 3-year deal to return. He'll toggle in and out of the 2C and 3C position with Zacha. Jake McCabe returns to captain the Sabres and provide a familiar face on the back end. Joker is brought back into the fold to complement him. Buffalo signs Adam Larsson to a multi-year deal to allow Dahlin the opportunity to learn and flourish into the puck-moving defenseman the Sabres expect him to be. Buffalo continues in free agency and brings back Mark Pysyk to where he started his career on a small but important deal. Lastly, with a lack of options for both parties, the Sabres sign Linus Ullmark to a multi-year deal.
The expansion draft takes place and Colin Miller is selected by the Seattle Kraken.
The 2021 NHL Entry Draft is upon us and Buffalo has two picks in the top-3 thanks to their deal with Anaheim. Buffalo selects Owen Power at one and William Eklund at three. Neither player will play for the Sabres next season.
Lastly, the Sabres buyout the last year of Cody Eakin's contract.
Buffalo's top-6 is young and promising. Their third line could prove to be a lot of fun to watch and with the return of the Latvian Locomotive along with the promotion of R2 to full-time duties makes for a fun fourth line.
With a slight shake-up at defense, the Sabres will have some gelling to do in front of Ullmark, but with the possibility of a young coach in Donato, he'll be able to associate with the players better and build a reliable corps of defenders.
It's hard to say if they're going to be a playoff team, but they'll hopefully be fun to watch.
Drysdale, Comtois and the 3rd overall pick is a pretty big ask from a rebuilding team like the Ducks no?
Yeah, I get it, man. I can't see Anaheim giving up Zegras and the first like a lot of fans are demanding for Eichel. It's too much. But I'm not going to sell short what Eichel is capable of being for Anaheim, either. You can build a dynasty around Eichel-Zegras-Henrique up the middle, much like Pittsburgh did with Crosby-Malkin-Staal up the middle in '08. Good players attract good players.
Maybe back off the pick a bit, or swap Drysdale for Mahura.
McDavid, Connor
$250,000)
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