Report: Surprise front-runner emerges and on verge of pulling Eichel trade

This is an exciting update in the ongoing Jack Eichel saga with the Buffalo Sabres, per insider Frank Seravalli of Daily Face-Off. First the encouraging news came a few weeks ago that there was a willingness to make a move with the type of surgery Eichel is seeking. Eichel favors having artificial disk replacement surgery. The Sabres are against him having the procedure because it has never been performed on an NHL player. However, the Sabres’ way means that a patient could have three surgeries in 20 years.

Since then, Eichel’s camp has met with the Sabres to discuss the surgery issue and teams have continued to inquire about trade scenarios. Now Seravalli reports that the Sabres and their former captain are working towards a resolution in the coming days and that the Vegas Golden Knights may have emerged as the favorites to land his services.

This is how Seravalli explains it:

"The Golden Knights are an interesting team to watch here. We just talked about their tough start to the season, the irony being that if you were to trade for a guy like Jack Eichel, he’s not exactly going to help right away because he needs the surgery and he could be out for three to four months.

I think the big thing to focus on here, if you’re the Golden Knights and you’re trying to make this work, is what’s the status of Mark Stone. That’s the real important factor here, Stone carrying a $9.5 million cap hit. There are lots of question marks around his injury, you can tell by the way the Golden Knights announced it, somewhere between day-to-day and week-to-week, I’ve never heard that before.

In this case, it tells you they’re waiting for some clarity on their end. I’m told they don’t know exactly what’s going on with Stone or how long he’ll be out. I think there’s the potential with this back injury that he could be out long-term and perhaps maybe they’re holding their cards close to the vest here trying to make an Eichel transaction work.”

Vegas had been a strong contender in the past for acquiring Eichel’s services. It was previously reported that first-round draft picks and a top prospects such as Peyton Krebs or Nicolas Hague needed to be part of the deal. Once healthy and ready to go, Eichel could become the bonafide No. 1 center the Golden Knights have lacked since Day 1.

Vegas needs to be careful however on what the asking return would be. Eichel is under contract through 2025-26 with a $10-million cap hit. And we still have no clue where he will play this season… On top of that, Vegas currently has $6.4 million in cap space, according to CapFriendly , although forwards Max Pacioretty and Alex Tuch are on long-term injured reserve. The Sabres reportedly aren’t interested in retaining any of Eichel’s salary in a trade.

That’s what prompted Elliotte Friedman to say this on 32 Thoughts podcast on Sportsnet about Vegas being in the mix.

“The thing about Vegas is that if you’re looking for the help right now, he doesn’t help you right now. I think that’s kind of what some teams have looked at”.

But depending on what happens with Mark Stone, this could be a strong option and why Seravalli believes is back being number one contender in the Eichel sweepstakes. It's been said in the past that the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Anaheim Ducks and Columbus Blue Jackets are also in the mix, while it sounds like Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota Wild are out.