Quoting: ricochetii
Two prospects and two picks. One of which is conditional and only transfers if/when Eichel reaches 80% of games played in a single season (or similar).
Buffalo insures one of the prospects with a conditional first a couple years removed.
So if Eichel returns to (healthy) full form, Buffalo gets two picks and 2 prospects.
If he doesn't, Buffalo gets 2 prospects plus a pick and returns a 1st for them.
Still a significant risk for the acquiring team, but they only lose 2 pieces instead of 4 if things go sideways.
For sure a cap dump will need to be included. Very few teams have the cap space and even if they do, they'll use this to dump a salary they don't want any more. The quality of prospects will determine the quality of picks and conditions and vice versa so speculating will be really hard without a starting point.
Its all but guaranteed at this point that the prospect(s) they'll get will not be elite. No Zegras. No Byfield. No Lafreniere, etc etc. so their best bet to ensure they get the best deal possible IF Eichel returns to full form is through multiple conditional picks. Not just one. That's why I think the "meat" of the trade has to be picks given.
Buffalo has to formulate the conditions of the deal as such that if Eichel comes back to the superstar he was, that they get the return they would have got prior to his injury had they traded him (Or at least something they would have been comfortable with). The same goes for the team acquiring him. If they get crappy Eichel that doesn't play the same and is often injured, they pay a bare minimum price which Buffalo sees a win regardless considering they were trading Eichel at his lowest possible value.
Im fairly certain the deal will be as follows:
-Cap dump who can still play. Not a complete waste of time player but somebody to replace Eichel on the roster and offset salary. (Henrique)
-Former 1st round prospect whose NHL ready. No stud but decent prospect. (Steel)
-Secondary prospect whose less known and basically a project. (Mahura)
-Conditional 1st 2023 (Games played, points scoring, etc - If not does not meet criteria, pick can be lessened, voided, swapped, etc)
-Conditional 1st 2024 (Games played, points scoring, etc - If not does not meet criteria, pick can be lessened, voided, swapped, etc)
-Conditional 2nd 2023 (Games played, points scoring, etc - If not does not meet criteria, pick can be lessened, voided, swapped, etc)
-Conditional 2nd 2024 (Games played, points scoring, etc - If not does not meet criteria, pick can be lessened, voided, swapped, etc)
-3rd round pick 2022
This way:
Best case - if Eichel comes back to 100%, Buffalo gets Henrique, Steel, Mahura, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd.
Worst case - If Eichel is a shadow of his former self and hardly ever effective anymore buffalo gets Henrique, Steel, Mahura, 3rd at best.
And everything in between will depend on conditional picks.