Buffalo Sabres make trade with Vegas Golden Knights
The wait is finally over. Buffalo Sabres Center Jack Eichel is now a member of your Vegas Golden Knights.
The three-time All Star has been acquired in a trade between the Sabres and the Golden Knights, terminating a disastrous relationship between Eichel and the Sabres. For Vegas, it’s a big risk, but if Eichel rewards the valley with its first Stanley Cup, then it will have all been worth it.
The Trade Deal
Here’s what we know about the deal. Eichel will be going to Vegas from Buffalo in exchange for forwards Alex Tuch, and Peyton Krebs, plus a first round pick in 2022. An additional second round pick in 2023 was added to the Sabres. While Vegas will be receiving Eichel plus Buffalo’s 2023 third round pick.
It was inevitable that Eichel was going to be traded and Vegas fans’ dreams of landing the No. 2 overall pick from the 2015 NHL draft are now a sudden reality.
Extra Protections
For the Sabres, the first round pick for 2022 is protected as a top-10 selection, and if it still is a top-10 selection after the Draft Lottery, than Vegas with send an unprotected first round pick in 2023, and its 2024 second round pick to the Buffalo Sabres. In a gesture back, the Buffalo Sabres will ship its 2024 third round pick to the Golden Knights.
What Both Teams will Receive
The Sabres will be earning two solid players that aren’t quite the caliber of Michael. But sometimes, a fresh start for certain players is what helps them bring the extra juice to re-up their careers. Tuch has not played in a game with the Knights this year, after undergoing shoulder surgery in July. He was granted a recovery timeline of six months, and has not yet reached full recovery.
As for Krebs, the 20-year-old rookie has not recorded a point in the nine games he has played this year with the Golden Knights. He was drafted 17th overall by Vegas in the 2019 NHL draft and while he’s only been with the team for a short time frame, he has not developed as quickly as the Knights organization thought he would.
He only recorded one assist in only four games played with the Golden Knights last season and tallied one goal in five AHL games with the Henderson Silver Knights. Krebs did shine in Juniors, recording 13 goals and 43 points in 24 games with the Winnipeg Ice of the WHL.
Eichel’s surgery Decision (At last)
Eichel, who is 25 years old, has been out for four months with a nagging neck injury. He’s been coping with it since March. In only 21 games last season, Eichel mustered just two goals, but had 18 points.
Eichel has expressed his frustration with the team, though it was originally over the Sabres long playoff drought in the spring of 2020. What we know now is that frustration grew into something more than just them losing. Now, he has been irate with the Sabres since May, and it has come from how to treat the herniated disc in his neck.
After a long waiting game, Eichel can finally breathe as he is expected to have disc replacement surgery, “very soon,” and recover in four months or so.
Is Eichel the missing piece the Golden Knights need to earn their first ever Stanley Cup in the franchise’s short existence? Can he fully recover from a surgery that has never been performed by doctors in the NHL? Hang on to your seats as the ride is going to be a bumpy one.
