Quoting: AJC13
Rangers are not going to bid against themselves. Buffalo will get in trade much less than Eichel is worth. Buffalo should hold on to Eichel. But if they can't hold on to him because he requests a trade or stops playing hard, expect Buffalo to get much much much less than he is worth.
The Rangers are not trading any players with a no trade clause. As well as Lafreniere, Kakko, Fox, Chytil, Shesterkin, Georgiev, Miller, and Lindgren. There's no reason to because the Rangers are not going to bid against themselves. Even without the players listed above, the Rangers could put together a better trade package for Buffalo than any of the few teams bidding for Eichel.
They likely will not move him if that’s the case, and it’s understandable that the Rangers do not want to blow up their team because that’s essentially what it would take. Personally I think the Rangers are much better off staying out and growing from within.
The offer above is actually not that bad for a base.But it would need to occur at the deadline and that pick would have to be top 5. Buffalo would look really foolish if they moved Eichel at the deadline and the Rangers somehow got hot and made the playoffs.
For the deal above, make it 2021 and 2022 first rounders at the draft not the deadline , Chytil, Kakko, and a third prospect and throw in mid round pick and discussions start.
The LA Kings and the Anaheim Ducks also could put together very strong packages for Eichel and as for the Kings I’d say they have the potential to put together a much better package than the Rangers mainly because they have the young centers in the organization Buffalo would be interested in from Turcotte, Vilardi, Kupari, Thomas, Madden, and a potential high first rounder as do the Ducks with Zegras, Lundestrom, Steel, Oliver-Groulx, and the potential of Ryan Getzlaf departing after this year or at the deadline and potentially looking for a new franchise face
The Rangers will not likely be bidding against themselves, there will be other teams with assets interested and the Kings and Ducks are more than capable of putting together a strong package to bid on.