i wouldn't do that if I'm Minny imo

I think it's a bit more than necessary for Eichel but with a bidding war who knows... I suggested Boldy, Fiala, Dumba and a 1st.

I do find that proposal amusing. The wild aren’t going to trade their best center and best center prospect in the same trade. Drop ek and add rask for cap balancing and you’ve got a deal. Otherwise add cozens.

While I understand that Ek is not going anywhere, nobody wants Rask. Provide a useful player that makes money to make the cap work. Buffalo is not eating garbage while giving Minnesota their best player once the trade goes through.

This trade makes Minny worse. Like it’s actually sad.

Will aren't trading Joel Eriksson Ek. Buffalo fans are about to be in for a wake up call. Like it's almost laughable

Oh yeah this is a troll account. 2 post today, & no other post since 2020 last summer

You are already getting Kevin fiala, x& Marco rossi, & two first round picks. No one is giving more than that

OK, we'll give the rebuilding team that will be in the franchise center hunt for the next couple of years after Eichel is moved....

Victor Rask

Seriously, why is this an issue? His cap hit is certainly high, but if the guy made $2M less no one would give a ****. Sure, he's not great, but he is still a mostly serviceable center.

Buffalo has zero reason to be picky about the players coming back to them. You're not contending, you're tanking. Rask is a body to put out onto the ice, and is necessary for cap reasons.

Hell, the guy will only help you tank better, and will be gone after next season. Sabers fans doth protest too much on this one.

That is where you are wrong. Just because everyone thinks Buffalo doesn’t want to win doesn’t mean they don’t. They have missed the playoffs for 10 straight years. That’s enough tanking for any franchise. They have to attempt to be competitive or no one will buy tickets for the next few years. Trading your best player for an overpaid underachiever isn’t the message you want to send a fan base is getting tired of losing. I realize he is not the only player coming back in the deal, but there isn’t a lot of upside with his game either. He’s gotten worse since coming to Minnesota, not better.

The fact every single Minnesota AGM sees him coming to Buffalo means you think he’s garbage so we think he’s garbage too, or you wouldn’t be trading him away. I have yet to see any argument why Minnesota wouldn’t want to trade him. That’s probably because he’s a $4 million third line center That buffalo wouldn’t need because Casey Mittelstadt is already a better one.

Contrary to popular opinion buffalo would likely be looking for a hockey trade in return for both the top players that supposedly want out. They don’t want to send a message to the Fanbase that they don’t give a crap about winning. Nobody can spin trading away your best player for a bunch of draft picks and prospects that won’t play for you for the next three years into “we’re trying to make the playoffs this year.”

Huge overpay on Eichel + you are vastly underpaying Kaprizov

That contract also takes him exactly to UFA. It's a terrible contract suggestion in both term and money.

We need to move cap. Plain and simple. Like Raz said, if he was paid $2 million, you wouldn't see almost anybody complaining about his play. The reason he's usually thrown in these deals is because we can't just magically add a $10 million cap hit without money going back. Realistically, the trade isn't going to involve 4 low salary guys and futures. The math just doesn't work out. That's why you see Dumba and Rask put in there so often. They both provide some value while also making the cap work. The idea of "well just go trade them somewhere else to clear cap because it's not our problem" is a lazy take. Look at nearly any trade for a high profile player. There's almost always either salary retained or a contract sent back for the purpose of balancing the cap. Both Rask and Dumba would likely hurt us the least to lose when you factor in the value of the cap space that trading them would open up. Plus, Rask only has 1 more year on his contract so it's not like we're trying to saddle you with Skinner's $9 million for 6 more seasons.

Also, I get that you're frustrated that your team is perpetually rebuilding and can't get into wildcard contention which means you want an absurd return for Eichel, but realistically, when a player wants out, you lose a bit of leverage in trade negotiations. There's no way in hell that you are going to be able to pry Eriksson Ek, Ross, and Fiala from us in addition to two 1st round picks. That's a one sided fantasy that actually makes the Wild worse long term. Eriksson Ek is our only center I could honestly see playing on the 2nd line of a team with actual center depth and he will very likely get Selke votes this year. Rightfully so, Guerin loves him and wouldn't want to be moving him. If we traded him for Eichel, we'd still only have 1 high quality center which means we are largely in the same spot we're in right now. At least we have reinforcements in the pipeline, right? Nope, because you just took our top center prospect in Rossi. He's is arguably our top prospect and definitely our only center prospect who is reasonably close to seeing time in the NHL. Khusnutdinov has another year in the KHL then may require additional time in Iowa so he's of no use right now. All our other center prospects either project to be bottom 6 guys or aren't ready to help next year. When it comes to Fiala, part of why he's so valuable is because having him in the lineup pulls some attention away from Kaprizov and spreads out the opponent's defense (can't hard match both) and opens up more scoring opportunities. Losing him likely also hurts Kaprizov. Add in 2 picks in the first round and not only are you taking away players that contribute for us now (Eriksson Ek and Fiala), and a player who will hopefully contribute soon (Rossi), but you're also cutting into our future by taking our 2 first round picks. That's a hell of a lot of mortgaging the future hoping that Eichel can be the savior and the 1 piece keeping us from getting the cup. It really wouldn't be worth it because the trade 100% favors Buffalo.

I don’t expect Eriksson-ek to be part of the deal, that was somebody else’s idea. Rossi is absolutely in the deal, unless the Sabres draft Beniers and decide that Rossi is not necessary. That said, especially if both those guys remain with Minnesota value has to be coming back, not just money. If it comes to money I would rather have Dumba than Rask, at least he fills a position of need. Rask is a superfluous player that would fit on a line where we don’t even need him, and I don’t see him being helpful on the fourth line either. Rask is not in a Wennberg like situation, where being surrounded by the right teammates turned him around. I’m not sure Buffalo has the right teammates for him to start playing well, all the more reason I really want nothing to do with him.