You don’t need to wait until the deadline to trade him . You sit him and tell other teams we’re trading him , what’s your offer
We're not sitting on Eichel. You think teams are going to bid on him for a playoff run while a healthy scratch for two months? At this distance from tradeline, teams have multiple trade partners. They're not going to commit to Chiarot yet. Everyone wants the best deal, so they will wait to see what the market value is before overpaying. Injuries also happen both ways, which is also an advantage for the Habs. We all saw what happened when KK signed with Canes. Suddenly, Dvorak became a first round pick. AZ was laughing waiting for the phone to ring.
In any case, this depressing board is the usual. If he's traded two months early for a lesser package than equivalent player at the trade deadline, then everyone will call that a mistake. After decades of complaining, everyone here got the front office they were clamoring for, which I was hoping would result in some people finally stfu. But no, a normal part of the game is called a mistake. And that's why the Habs will always fail, disconnected fan base creating unrealistic expectations and feeding frenzies.