Insider leaks failed Jack Eichel trade before he was moved to Vegas!

While the trade deadline has come and gone, the biggest transaction of this season has to be Jack Eichel coming to the Vegas Golden Knights. There was just so much drama around it!

Eichel, who had been asking out of Buffalo for months, was finally moved by the Sabres to the Golden Knights in November in a blockbuster trade that involved many pieces. Let’s recap: in his trade, the Sabres received forwards Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, a top 10 protected first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. The Golden Knights also received a third-round pick in the 2023 draft.

And that was before we knew how Eichel would react to artificial disk replacement surgery, that was approved by Vegas. After months of recovery, Eichel joined the Golden Knights in February. He has posted 11 goals and 20 points in 26 games so far this season.

On Wednesday, insider Elliotte Friedman revealed on the Jeff Marek Show on Sportsnet how the Anaheim Ducks came close to closing a deal for Eichel with the Sabres, but didn’t trust the artificial disk replacement surgery and how Eichel would react to it.

The return was huge as Friedman revealed what the Ducks were ask to give up in return for the former Sabres captain’s: was Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale and two first-rounders.

“Anaheim wasn’t going to do that.”

We bet they weren’t just unhappy with the pending surgery: they could not imagine giving up so much for Eichel.

And it’s a good thing they didn’t, wouldn’t you say?