Jack Eichel Rumors: Sweepstakes For Sabres Star Down To Two Teams

A resolution still has yet to be found in the bidding for Jack Eichel, but it appears one might be coming soon.

The Buffalo Sabres and their now-former captain still are in a standoff. Eichel wants out, in part because the Sabres won’t let him get surgery on his neck that he’s seeking, but the Sabres aren’t budging on their massive asking price. They’ve stripped Eichel of the captaincy, he still has yet to get the procedure he’s looking for, but has not yet been moved.

It’s a black eye on the NHL having one of their star players sitting idle because he’s at odds with the team. However, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported Tuesday that the Vegas Golden Knights and Calgary Flames are the finalists for Eichel and that talks are on the “1-yard line.”

The Golden Knights make sense. They seem to be in on every star player in trades, top center William Karlsson broke his foot and Vegas isn’t that deep up the middle otherwise (Brett Howden, a former New York Rangers fourth-liner, centered their top line Tuesday). It’s not clear how they would make the money work, however, especially since the Sabres are said to not want to retain money.

Calgary is off to a good start this season, which is important after it seemed to be teetering on blowing it up and rebuilding the last few seasons. Getting Eichel would give the Flames impressive depth at center, with Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund currently pivoting the top two lines.

Kaplan reported that both teams are open to Eichel getting his preferred surgery, which comes with a roughly three-month recovery time — so he’d go to a new team and promptly end up on long-term injured reserve.