Eichel Trade Talks Heat Up Leading To The Draft

Now that the draft order is set for the NHL Draft, the trade talk about Jack Eichel and his time left in Buffalo is really heating up.

There are a lot of people who believe that he's already halfway out the door.  Then there are the people who hope that he can work something out.  But it doesn't look like the latter is going to be the path taken by either party.

For those who haven't been following the Eichel situation, in a nutshell, he has been dealing with an injury to his neck.  Eichel wants to get a surgery to repair it.  The Sabres do not want him to get the surgery because they're afraid he might not come back the same player after it is over.  They want to explore other opportunities to help him get healthy and back on the ice.  However, because of the disagreement between Eichel and the team with regard to treating the injury, he's angry and has voiced that he might not necessarily fit in here in Buffalo anymore.

So now that the Sabres have the first pick in the draft, and arguably one of the best talents in hockey that wants to play for another team, it's pretty natural that people would start talking about the possibility of a huge trade from the Sabres for a major name to turn things around.  They could put together a real blockbuster trade and bring in a huge name.  But is that going to be the answer to their prayers?

The name "Eichel" was trending on twitter today.

The question at this point is how much Eichel is really worth on the market.  I mean, let's not even talk about what the Sabres went through to get him in the first place to "turn the team around" and now we're in the same spot all over again.  But how much will they really get for a player who is injured and needs surgery?

Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams has made it clear though that he wants players who "want to be here."  He says that's the only way this is going to work.  Buffalo fans need to have a connection with those players.  And if the players don't want to be here, the fans aren't going to care.

They have to work on the product on the ice before they can worry about anything else.  The culture on this team has to change before anything else will.