WGR 550: Darren Dreger on WGR 550 radio on Buffalo Sabres and Jack Eichel future with the team, if he thinks Eichel will be playing for the Sabres next season.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“I don’t, but that’s just my own pure speculation. The reason I get to that point is, I know there’s been enough interest in Jack Eichel. I mean the New York Rangers have had that interest, that’s been well documented, right. How much of it is real? Some of it is real.
Jack didn’t have the season that he was hoping. Is that going to influence the interest from any team for that matter?
I believe there is a Western team that has expressed interest in Jack Eichel. The offseason guys as you know changes everything. Now, you can’t erase that contract. It’s a big one. It’s going to be a load for any team to take on, but man, he’s an elite center. He just is. And you can pick at him because that and that this year. Everything in Buffalo has gone sideways and whatnot. You still have to believe in the talent set of the player, and that’s where I’m at.
I know there are at least a few general managers who think the same way. That probably includes Kevyn Adams in Buffalo. So he’s got this guy locked under contract. He’s an important part of the club, a leader, all those things.
Somebody’s going to have to pay the right price, whatever that right price is for Adams and the Buffalo Sabres if they move him. If they don’t get the return needed, then Jack Eichel will be back in Buffalo next year. But, I just feel like it’s time. Don’t you guys?
Based on everything that’s gone on, on top of that, you’ve got an organization that foundationally has to do a lot of repair work. Has to do a lot of repair work. How do you do that? You can help the process along when you’ve got elite-level talent like Jack Eichel definitely has.
So they are going to get a hell of a return for Jack Eichel and that might be more than keeping him in Buffalo.
Host brings up two teams in the west, Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks (if Jonathan Toews career could be over). Dreger responds.
“Well I haven’t heard Chicago Riv’s. I have heard Los Angeles. I think we need to qualify this so that none of us get in trouble. Don’t know how recent the communications would have been between LA and the Buffalo Sabres. Might go back to last summer right, when the New York Rangers rumors had percolated?
Because of what you just said, I mean Jack in LA makes a ton of sense to me. I don’t think it’s too hard to make sense of that from a hockey perspective, and for the same reasons, the Chicago Blackhawks. But I say that, I think LA most definitely has interest, but I don’t know if Chicago has only because I haven’t talked to anybody in Chicago to confirm that, but it would make a lot of sense.
Those are two teams that we can connect, you got to believe, again assuming that Eichel is going to be in play, and he probably will be, they’ll be a lot more teams that step up.”
