Friedman: Sabres ask on Eichel is still huge

[LuckyDucky]

Football? That’s why they didn’t have a team
for years?

LA is a Laker/Dodger town. The rest don’t add up to much.

One of the major reasons why LA didn't have an NFL team was because of how big of a draw USC had.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

I agree that maker growth potential exists if Kings will not do flashy and not needed trades.

Well, they just need to be good and have a few stars, regardless of who the players are. Turcotte, Byfield, and/or Vilardi may end up being those stars, you never know.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

LA is not a hockey market. Baseball, Basketball, Football all come first.

Same with NYC and most other american cities. It doesn't mean they dont have growth potential, and doesn't mean they don't feel pressure to be good or have stars.

I have no opinion on whether they should trade for Eichel, but let's not pretend there are any real "hockey markets," relative to other sports in the US outside of the northern cities like Buffalo, Minn, and Detroit. And even in those cities hockey probably comes third or fourth.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

This account is someone inside a front office. If true, looks like it is unlikely we'll see anything before expansion and Sabres will be looking for at least one solid piece not on an ELC.

Could see Reinhart being moved for elc/futures beforehand though.

Jesus Christ, that means we have a two or three weeks before "Eichel watch" even starts. Ugh.

 

[LuckyDucky]

Sure. We don't need to trade a franchise center to get them though. Those guys are not hard to find.

I get that you're emotional that the Sabres may be losing that franchise center after tanking to get him, but glibly saying finding players like Comtois are easy to find is just lazy.

 

[Jim Bob]

Jesus Christ, that means we have a two or three weeks before "Eichel watch" even starts. Ugh.

I'm not surprised.

I figured that things wouldn't get serious until we get a day or two out from the draft.

 

[kingpest19]

That was another point made on this same podcast. That when they opened back up post-covid, no one came to the games. In addition, their TV ratings share was troublesome.

People went to the games, seating was just severely restricted. And the tv share, was that national or local? Bad teams never draw much of a share nationally and locally, viewing is cut down because of Bally not being available on all providers and to get it on a streaming service is expensive.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

I get that you're emotional that the Sabres may be losing that franchise center after tanking to get him, but glibly saying finding players like Comtois are easy to find is just lazy.

I didn't love the idea either at first but have been watching the kid more and more, and watching interviews -- he's not just a throw-in, he's a great piece, with a perfect attitude about what he has to work on, and how to play on a rebuilding team. Perfect age for Buffalo too.

Suddenly I'm all about that 3OA+ Comtois + Perrault + Dostal deal people were talking about .

 

[Static]

Sure. We don't need to trade a franchise center to get them though. Those guys are not hard to find.

This is a dumb statement.

 

[tomd]

I didn't love the idea either at first but have been watching the kid more and more, and watching interviews -- he's not just a throw-in, he's a great piece, with a perfect attitude about what he has to work on, and how to play on a rebuilding team. Perfect age for Buffalo too.

Suddenly I'm all about that 3OA+ Comtois + Perrault + Dostal deal people were talking about .

Which is funny because the more I think about it the more I want to keep those pieces in Anaheim. Hope GMBM feels the same!

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Which is funny because the more I think about it the more I want to keep those pieces in Anaheim. Hope GMBM feels the same!

For real. I continue to not think an Eichel trade makes sense for them.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Which is funny because the more I think about it the more I want to keep those pieces in Anaheim. Hope GMBM feels the same!

Murray would be a moron to not make that trade.

Comtois and #3 overall are great pieces for sure. Eichel is another tier above a "great piece". If you can pull off Eichel without trading your 2 top assets, and you say no to doing it, you deserve to be fired.

I don't see any reason for either side to be unreasonable here. The package Anaheim can offer (#3+Comtois+Terry+Dostal) does not cripple their long term future, while getting a franchise centerpiece. Buffalo gets a terrific haul for Eichel overall, with getting a #3 pick they can build their new core around and also getting 3 good to great prospects/young players.

 

[tsujimoto74]

I get that you're emotional that the Sabres may be losing that franchise center after tanking to get him, but glibly saying finding players like Comtois are easy to find is just lazy.

There are dozens of guys like Comtois for every 1 player like Eichel. That's not a lazy take, it's a straight fact.

 

[tomd]

Murray would be a moron to not make that trade.

Comtois and #3 overall are great pieces for sure. Eichel is another tier above a "great piece". If you can pull off Eichel without trading your 2 top assets, and you say no to doing it, you deserve to be fired.

Look at the Ducks roster after that trade and tell me what Eichel is going to do on that team. Adam Henrique would be the freaking leading goal scorer. Eichel needs to go to a situation where a team is in a position to use him now. If Eichel couldn't turn around Buffalo he sure won't turn around Anaheim.

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

Buffalo should LTIR Eichel and then bring him back fresh for the Cup Finals when cap doesn’t matter

 

[Empoleon8771]

Look at the Ducks roster after that trade and tell me what Eichel is going to do on that team. Adam Henrique would be the freaking leading goal scorer. Eichel needs to go to a situation where a team is in a position to use him now. If Eichel couldn't turn around Buffalo he sure won't turn around Anaheim.

It's almost like Eichel is signed for 5 years, not for 1 year.

There are dozens of guys like Comtois for every 1 player like Eichel. That's not a lazy take, it's a straight fact.

Come on now, you don't need to bring out some ridiculous hyperbole.

 

[GuerinUp]

Minnesota should LTIR Eichel and then bring him back fresh for the Cup Finals when cap doesn’t matter

fixed

 

[tomd]

It's almost like Eichel is signed for 5 years, not for 1 year.



Come on now, you don't need to bring out some ridiculous hyperbole.

I know you are desperate to get rid of Eichel but at least look at things from the other fans POV. Eichel would be coming to a team that has only 2 good players under 25 (Zegras and Drysdale), no prospect pool (once Comtois, 3OA, Perreault, and Dostal are gone), no ability to draw name free agents, and very few tradeable assets. How do they build around Eichel?

 

[Empoleon8771]

I know you are desperate to get rid of Eichel but at least look at things from the other fans POV. Eichel would be coming to a team that has only 2 good players under 25 (Zegras and Drysdale), no prospect pool (once Comtois, 3OA, Perreault, and Dostal are gone), no ability to draw name free agents, and very few tradeable assets. How do they build around Eichel?

Yes, me, a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, is desperate to get rid of Eichel

I'm looking at it from a neutral perspective. If Murray isn't willing to trade Comtois and #3 overall for Eichel, he should be fired on the spot.

How do you build around Eichel, Zegras, Drysdale and Gibson? Idk, maybe you could:

1. Draft well with the plethora of draft picks the Ducks have
2. Trade players currently on the roster for futures
3. Realize that you have your 4 biggest pieces (1C, 2C, 1D and 1G) established, so you don't need some top of the line prospects to fill out the rest of the roster
4. Realize the Ducks also have a lot of decent young talent even after that trade, so the "no prospect pool" is a hilarious exaggeration.

 

[BigKing]

With all due respect I disagree with you.
Gretzky effect was very short lived in LA.
LA hockey market existed even before Gretzky.
It was some impact, but it never was gigantic impact on the growth of the sport.
I believe LA winning titles in 2012 and 2014 made big impact on number of California kids making the NHL.

So the kids making the NHL from California were 13 years old while watching the Kings win the Cup in 2012 and just decided to pick up the sport at a late age and are now in the NHL?

The market existed but Gretzky blew it up. So many local fans were made because Gretzky became a King.

Are you new? The Gretzky effect has been talked about for years and years now.

You are completely wrong about Gretzky; however, you aren't wrong about the idea of Eichel being some big thing for the LA market. Eichel is not a Gretzky level player so the only way Eichel drums up a bunch of buzz in LA is if his addition leads to winning. Even then, the buzz would be due to winning and not "You've got to see this Eichel guy" unless he all of a sudden is dropping over 100 points a season.

 

[Static]

There are dozens of guys like Comtois for every 1 player like Eichel. That's not a lazy take, it's a straight fact.

Who is equating comtois to eichel? Nobody is. Saying it's easy to find players like comtois is equally stupid.

Players in 20/21 who scored more goals at comtois' age = 1, Joel farabee. Yeah, very common.

 

[tomd]

Yes, me, a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, is desperate to get rid of Eichel

I'm looking at it from a neutral perspective. If Murray isn't willing to trade Comtois and #3 overall for Eichel, he should be fired on the spot.

You didn't answer my question. Look at the facts and tell me how Anaheim builds around Eichel with the organizational assets they have left after trading for him.

 

[Empoleon8771]

You didn't answer my question. Look at the facts and tell me how Anaheim builds around Eichel with the organizational assets they have left after trading for him.

The facts are that you're hilariously exaggerating what kind of demise Anaheim would have by making that trade.

If you can't build around a core of Eichel, Zegras, Drysdale and Gibson, while having basically no anchors of contracts on your books, you're an absolute dunce and you have no business running a NHL team. You literally have the 4 hardest positions to acquire already figured out with 4 elite (or projected elite) players. If you can't build around that, you have no business being a GM.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I didn't love the idea either at first but have been watching the kid more and more, and watching interviews -- he's not just a throw-in, he's a great piece, with a perfect attitude about what he has to work on, and how to play on a rebuilding team. Perfect age for Buffalo too.

Suddenly I'm all about that 3OA+ Comtois + Perrault + Dostal deal people were talking about .

I still can’t see us trading both comtois + perreault… like I said before 1 would likely be swapped out for steel/Lundy


I’m actually shocked how little love comtois has been getting… big kid that goes to hard areas…. And literally lives hockey…. When he’s not w/ ducks he’s playing beach hockey @ Venice or shows up at stick time at the local rinks.


People saying he’s a common player are actually out to lunch…. And I’m sure teams like toronto/Edmonton etc would love to have him. He fits the ideal age range of players Buffalo should be looking at, and plays a style they don’t exactly have in their line up(prob be pretty good with cozens).

personally I hate the idea of trading comtois, not as much as drysdale/zegras but he’d prob be the next piece I hate moving.

 

[tomd]

The facts are that you're hilariously exaggerating what kind of demise Anaheim would have by making that trade.

If you can't build around a core of Eichel, Zegras, Drysdale and Gibson, while having basically no anchors of contracts on your books, you're an absolute dunce and you have no business running a NHL team. You literally have the 4 hardest positions to acquire already figured out with 4 elite (or projected elite) players. If you can't build around that, you have no business being a GM.

Buffalo couldn't win building around Eichel, Dahlin, Reinhart, Hall, and Risto...which is a lot more talent than what you just described for the Ducks.