I don’t hate that trade

Vegas can move Fleury for far more by himself, rather than suggesting that he has to be a part of an Eichel trade for what I assume you think is cap reasons - Vegas doesn't have to be cap compliant right after making an Eichel trade. They have all summer to figure out the cap. Fleury alone should net them a late first or earlier 2nd and good prospect, with no retention. He was a Vezina finalist this season for a reason.

As for the Eichel trade, from everyone I've talked to within hockey (I'm a scout for Hockey Canada), Vegas is very high on Peyton Krebs. I highly doubt they move him, and doubt even more they move him plus more. They'll likely be looking to add a big impact centre this off-season, but I just don't see them moving Krebs in that kind of deal. Because of that, they're probably out on Eichel although Glass + multiple 1sts could be a good starting point, but other teams will be willing to offer a more ready prospect than those picks.

The Columbus deal is absolutely hot garbage for the Blue Jackets. Foudy is again on a similar level, if not higher level, of "likely not being traded unless we're blown away" than Krebs is with Vegas. You could argue Reinhart's value would be the Toronto 1st + Foudy (frankly I think it's too much for Reinhart), but there's no way in any universe that Ristolainen is worth the rest of that trade. At this point, Buffalo would be lucky to get a 3rd round pick, maybe a conditional 2nd (albeit a late 2nd) if the retain. But Ristolainen has never been an impact defenceman, and the underlying numbers as well as the eye test show all of that. He's at best a bottom pair defenceman and highly overpaid at that.

As a scout you should know Buffalo wouldnt be interested in a handful of lottery tickets for Eichel, its going to take actual prospects, and Eichel is a blow me away type player that can loosen Krebs from Vegas. Vegas cant retain on Fleury as well, or at least it would be significantly inconvenient to retain on him, so their return value is impacted in the flat covid cap. Plus they arent getting a 2nd for Fleury in this deal, they're getting Eichel and a 2nd, its a 3 way trade - the value is all relative. That CBJ deal is Domi for Risto the rest for Reinhart, if CBJ is that high on Foudy, they have problems but whatever, Sabres deal him else where

The Sabres need goaltending. Why pass at the opportunity on Fleury?

As for Fleury, the leading team he could accept a trade to would be Pittsburgh.

I dont think Fleury waives his NTC to stay in Buffalo, otherwise I would

We are trading our 2 best forwards and probably getting back prospects, we will be lucky to outscore seattle. We have 3 forwards that i actually wanna watch- olofsson, routsalainen, and cozens. We might not hit 150 goals for. Im not a big fan of paying big for goalies, you can get by with average goalies that are much cheaper if you have a team in front of them. If we get fleury, retain whatever to get the best return, and move him.

The Sabres have already been reported as looking for at least another top 10 pick, so their path seems to be in the route of picks to try to develop a better culture - it's also the reason why I said Vegas likely can't make a deal for Eichel, but I guess you missed reading that part?

Vegas doesn't need to retain on Fleury to move him. The "flat cap world" argument really wouldn't apply when the guy is a Vezina finalist, and the fact that he has only 1 season remaining on his deal. He's not a cap dump, he has value and can get significantly more than just a 2nd.

Your logic on the Columbus deal is still incredibly flawed. Domi for Ristolainen isn't close. Domi has had 1 bad season that he's coming off of which is due in large part to a poor coaching fit - hey that seems to be what happened with Laine to. Coincidence? I think not. Where as Ristolainen has never been good. Never. There's was so much hype around him coming out of the draft because of his combination of size and skill and he's never done anything with it at the NHL level. He is what he is now and that's an extremely overpaid 3rd pair defenceman. As much as Domi struggled, Columbus can use the valid argument that last season was the outlier due to a poor coaching fit and the fact that Domi was injured (hence him being out till Decemberish while recovering from surgery). He may not have a ton of value right now, but it's still more than Ristolainen's who's proved every year that he's consistent... at being bad.

& if you think Reinhart is worth a 1st, plus a top prospect, plus a goalie that's capable of being a starter.. it seems like you may be the one that has the problems, not Columbus.

Yes the Sabre may get another top 10 pick for Eichel, that doesnt mean they would take 3 picks and a meh prospect. They have 7 scouts all who have been working for the team less that 1 year. The teams looking to get Fleury cant eat 7 mill in cap, the teams that can eat 7 mill in cap dont need 1 year of Fleury, thats extremely basic. Domi = Risto, you may hate Risto but thats a you problem, the only outlier with Domi is his 70 point season. Hes a 40 point forward. Under selling Risto and over selling Korpisalo and Domi doesnt make your point. Korpisalo had 1 good round in the playoffs 2 seasons ago and is nearly 30, hes a backup that can peak at 1b at best, hes not a starter. Both Domi and Korpisalo are UFA as well.

Trading away the two best forwards and not having a plan B would be an instant fail. No goals, no wins.

Goaltending remains an issue for the Sabres.

They dont really have a choice with Eichel and Reinhart, they arent doing it because they think it makes the team better