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Colorado is out of the playoffs. In all honestly, it’s disappointing. Of all the “young core” teams, Colorado is the most exciting. The star players have grit and skill, and ownership has built a team that can help them succeed. The final four of Vegas, Montreal, Tampa Bay and New York Islanders is going to be the mouth piece for many (myself included) about defensive structure mixed with star power. Tampa’s greater success is adding 20 million to their cap as soon as the cap stopped mattering. At this point, Montreal and the Isles are the more intriguing story lines. TB was expected to get far, to be certain. We’re about to find out if the divisional champs are all fairly equal, or if Tampa and Vegas came out of a much tougher spot and will just roll through their opponents.
Beyond the final four, I’m most intrigued by the trickle of information that keeps coming out of Buffalo.
Jack Eichel seems to be almost certainly gone. Most everyone has acknowledged that. The hiccup in the King’s ransom that the Sabres want is the injury. Unfortunately for the team, Eichel’s frustrations with the team aren’t the only things that went public. His desire for surgery hit the presses. I think many of us realized how contentious player vs team perspective could be when Dustin Byfuglien opted for a “Non approved” surgery and ended up having to leave millions of his contract on the table. Players are assets, and the bigger the player, the more the team wants full input on decisions.
Jack wants surgery, and he told the world. GMs are calling and saying, “how bad is this injury? We want full disclosure before we make offers”. Add that to, “you have a player that wants to leave” and Buffalo is quickly finding itself over the proverbial barrel a bit. The newest twist to this, for me, is that Sam Reinhart is being included on the export list. GMs have been calling on the center turned wing turned center (and possibly turned wing again). The interest and comparative ease of an Einhart deal could push that to the front of the line.
Reinhart is an RFA with arbitration. The former second overall pick has a qualifier of 5.2 million. The acquiring team could try to secure that on a one year deal, risking losing the former 2nd overall pick as a UFA. A sign and trade is being mentioned, but it seems that those don’t happen very often.
For my part, I wouldn’t mind getting Reinhart. Eichel is going to carry a high acquisition tag (and has a high salary). The hope is that the departure from Buffalo will wash away the frustration. With all the unknowns (including the injury) whoever wins the Eichel sweeps is going to have a lot to sift through. As for Buffalo’s ask, I have to wonder if they’re going to try and use this year’s first overall along with Dahlin as their core going forward. That would mean that high draft picks and young prospects would probably be preferable. That’s where it gets tricky. Berggren has some reasonable “heat”, and Veleno is still considered to have a high ceiling. I wouldn’t want to ship out Zadina (though that could well be the ask).
If Reinhart should don the Winged Wheel, deployment will be an interesting task. Like Fabbri, he had played center. When Reinhart was moved back to the position, he seemed to pick up his play. It’s also nice to have a right shooting winger in the top 6. I think there’s a reasonably good fit, but there are several teams who think the same. Buffalo can’t afford to lose two 2nd overall players that were supposed to turn the franchise around without a reasonable haul. Yzerman knows, as Kenny Roger’s did, when to walk away from the table (and when to run). Although KR didn’t have the same skill set in managing cosmetic surgery. (Run Kenny, Run! Just keep the beard!)
If there’s a deal to be made for Reinhart, where do you stop at? Berggren and a 2nd? Veleno? If he’s looking for an extension, do you try to get it at or below 6 million? There’s a lot of moving parts on this player right now. I wouldn’t mind at all adding him to the young core. But, I also wouldn’t mind a Shelby modified Mustang Cobra in the garage. The desire doesn’t always fit the budget.
Let me know if you like the thought of Reinhart in the “D”. If you think Eichel would work, I’d love to hear it. I wouldn’t mind Ristolainen either, but many in the comments have been unswayed by the opportunity to grab the big D man. As always, see you in the comments.
Check out some of my previous posts
Colorado is out of the playoffs.
Isle be darned, Boston is out
Carolina has cap space and a young core
I asked how your brackets are doing after Montreal swept Winnipeg
(M)Over Achiever - Seider getting accolades
setting the limits on trades
Moritz Seider reminds me of Jiri Fischer
Mo Seider is getting good ice time at the IIHF Worlds Championship.
There may be some blockbuster deals coming.
Yzerman signs Wyatt Newpower
Carly has coffee with Joe Veleno 
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