nice idea - but Vancouver would need to make a significant offer to Sam and with Pettersson and Hughes needing contracts, I don't see it happening

Just to add some context—I could see JT Miller being a good fit for the Sabres. He's proven that he can anchor a top-line on either the wing or center, and he's demonstrated himself as a leader. He seems like the type of player who could be captain in Buffalo and bring a fresh voice to that group—which would be needed if Eichel is traded.

For Vancouver, Reinhart is a couple of years younger and his peak performance window matches up a bit more closely with the rest of their core group.

An RFA Player for an guy that has 2yrs remaining means more is needed to make this even a conversation starter, as they would be looking for compensation for lost contract years. Maybe add a few picks like a second, a third or other pieces.

I also like to think does this actually help both teams? In this situation the trade doesn't make sense for Vancouver as they would be looking for Cap relief if they were to move the contract more then the player as he slots in as the third line center but Sam most likely is looking for a pay increase so why would Vancouver make this move?

I also don't agree with the guy above that Petterson and Huges are going to get paid as I have heard Vancouver is looking for a bridge deal on Petterson in the range of $6-7M per season with term being a question mark. While Hughes has shown he is a bit of a defensive liability this season (-25 in 54 gp) and requires more time to develop his defensive game by having shelter minutes so Vancouver is also looking at a bridge contract down around $3M and I expect Hughes contracts talks to be ugly with a good chance that they might even look at trading him if the talks don't progress.

Vancouver has an busy off season a head of them since they need Seattle to take Holtby contract $4.3M, they can finally buy out Eriksson for cap releif around $2M but also add another $1M the following season, Resign Hughes, Pettersson, Bailey, Juolevi, Rathborne and Lind while only having around $20-21M with at least two of those players looking at eating half of that Salary Cap space.

Watch for Boeser to be traded this off season as his $5.875M contract is up after next season and he will be RFA but Vancouver simply won't have the Cap space to sign him if the reports are correct that he is looking for anywhere north of $8M per season. He is also being paid $7.5M next season while is cap hit remains the same.