NHL Notebook: A Jack Eichel trade was never a realistic path for Bruins to take — for multiple reasons

If you felt a gust of wind sweep over the Northeast on Thursday morning, it was likely the collective sigh of relief dispersed from the resigned lot that call themselves Sabres fans. 

For those hockey masochists who put themselves through the gauntlet of watching that franchise year in and year out, Thursday stood as a small victory when it came to closing the book on the Jack Eichel era — even if gaining such closure will now give way to another painful rebuild.

Or perhaps that collective exhale came from BSJ subscribers — relieved that they will no longer see any Eichel-related prose pop up on the homepage.

Whatever the source may be, all parties can agree on one thing. Eichel’s departure from Buffalo was long overdue — with the Sabres pulling the trigger on a deal early Thursday morning that sent their disgruntled franchise center out to Vegas in what was ultimately a six-piece swap.

For Vegas, they fill the one missing void on their roster in terms of a star center, even though Eichel — given the green light by Vegas to undergo artificial disk replacement (ADR) surgery on his neck — will not be ready to join his new team on the ice for months. 

Still, given the multiple other win-now moves that the Golden Knights have executed over the last couple of years (trading for Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone in 2018 and 2019, signing Alex Pietrangelo in 2020) — the decision to cough up a top prospect (Peyton Krebs), a middle-six regular (Alex Tuch) and a future first-round and second-round pick seemed inconsequential given the potential returns if returns with a clean bill of health.

For Buffalo, the move finally allows the entire franchise to move forward — with Kevyn Adams prioritizing fiscal flexibility (Buffalo retains zero salary on Eichel’s contract) over a haul of prospects or draft capital. 

The Sabres' desire to rid their books of what’s left of that eight-year, $80 million contract would seem to be a prudent move moving forward. But the relatively tepid return from the Golden Knights is stirring up a fair share of discourse —especially by fans of teams that were on the outside looking in as Vegas cashed out at the high-stakes tables. 

And given all that we’ve already dissected about both Eichel and the Bruins — be it the hometown ties, untapped potential and glaring positional need at the center spot — it’s only natural for some B’s fans to feel a bit let down at Boston failing to take the necessary measures to pry Eichel from the frozen gulag that is Buffalo.

Would the Bruins have loved to bring aboard a talent like Eichel? Absolutely.

Even with the risk involved with his upcoming procedure, an Eichel operating at even 80% of his previous capabilities is still an effective top-six fixture in your lineup. And if he has no ill effects post-procedure — you have your franchise center for the present and future, along with a Cup contention window that has been pried back open for a couple more seasons.

But given everything we know about both the Bruins and Sabres’ circumstances over the past year — the truth is that Boston didn’t come up short against Vegas because it didn’t have the right cards to play.  

Rather, the B's couldn't even get onto the same gambling floor as the other bidders out west.

A premium return for Boston

When it comes to your favorite team coming up juuuuuust short on a blockbuster move, fans tend to go through the same stages of grief.

• First there’s the initial shock, of course. (Wow, Adams really did it.)
• Then comes the first wave of anger. (To Vegas, really?)
• Then the actual parameters of the deal get announced — which brings about more anger, along with a touch of denial. (That’s ALL Buffalo got??!?)

But before they eventually reach the stage of acceptance, fans will usually go through the exercise of bargaining — which is usually combing over the details of the trade and identifying which pieces on their team would have had to go to match that same offer. 

So if you’re the Bruins — what are we looking at?

With Krebs, would a player like Jack Studnicka suffice? Perhaps Buffalo would instead want a younger prospect with a potentially higher ceiling like Fabian Lysell. Regardless, a top prospect would be headlining the return in any swap for Eichel.

With Tuch, maybe another middle-six winger like Jake DeBrusk would work. And then, of course, the draft capital would be a necessary cost to complete the deal — a tough pill to swallow, given that Boston has already drained its prospect pool by dealing first-round picks in two of the last four years. 

But let’s cut right through the fog of the “shoulda, coulda, woulda’ narrative as far as Boston not equaling Vegas’ offer here.

Because there was absolutely no way that Boston was going to be on the same playing field as teams like the Golden Knights and Flames when it came to negotiations with Adams. 

As far as optics go, Buffalo letting its franchise star — who grew up 30 miles north of TD Garden — join a hated Atlantic Division foe and torment the Sabres for the next decade … is pretty rough. 

The events at last season’s trade deadline — in which Taylor Hall finessed his way into a black-and-gold sweater for pennies on the dollar thanks his handy, dandy no-movement clause — further eroded any sort of amicable negotiations between Buffalo and Boston. 

Frankly, given both that recent history and the dreaded risks that come with dealing a star within one’s own division, Adams very well could have just told Don Sweeney to pound sand, even if the B’s put together an appealing trade package.

And even if he wasn’t quite that stubborn, there was still NO WAY that Adams would actively pursue a deal with Boston unless Sweeney gave up a king’s ransom.

And what would that be? 

Are we talking about multiple first-round picks? Jeremy Swayman and more pieces? Would they be so brash to actually ask for a Charlie McAvoy or David Pastrnak in a one-for-one swap?

All rather ridiculous requests — especially for a guy with Eichel's price tag (more on that below) and risks. And if that was indeed the case, the Bruins were in the right to steer clear of any trade talks. 

Cap is king

Breaking down asking prices, assessing injury risks and detailing icy negotiations between teams are almost always the most entertaining exercises when it comes to analyzing a trade. 

But sometimes it’s the most milquetoast details that are the main impediment toward a deal being struck.

And in the case of the Bruins’ perceived interest in Eichel, it’s tough to ignore the impact of the everpresent — and woefully bland — cap ceiling. 

Given Buffalo’s preference to move all of Eichel’s contract without any retention, the Bruins were going to be stuck between a rock and a hard place in terms of absorbing the star’s $10 million annual cap hit.

With Boston currently listed with $1.6 million in available cap space (per CapFriendly), there would already be plenty of headaches with moving out assets to accommodate Eichel’s cap influx — especially with Boston already handing out sizable chunks of capital to guys like Derek Forbort ($3 million AAV), Mike Reilly ($3 million AAV), Nick Foligno ($3.8 million AAV) and Erik Haula ($2.375 million) this offseason.

But beyond those short-term cap gymnastics lies the bigger issue in terms of building a sustainable, Cup-contending roster for years to come with that $10 million AAV stamped at the top of your annual payouts.  

Not only will the Bruins be paying Charlie McAvoy $9.5 million per year starting in 2022 (which carries through to 2030), but Boston is also cognizant of the fact that Pastrnak is due for a significant pay raise of his own once his deal runs out in 2023.

Perhaps you could scrounge together the proper cap space if Patrice Bergeron hung up his skates this offseason and more assets are moved — but Eichel’s contract (sans any retained salary) was going to rob Boston of any financial flexibility in the coming years.  

There’s no question that the Bruins have to start thinking about the future — especially at the center position.

Bergeron isn’t getting any younger, David Krejci is thriving back home in the Czech Republic and younger pivots further down the pipeline like Studnicka have yet to pop. 

But be it the cap implications, the injury risks involved or the elevated asking price from a divisional foe, a hometown reunion just wasn't in the cards for EIchel this time around. 

OTHER NOTES

Cassidy discusses Boston’s team-wide approach to watching Kyle Beach interview

With Bruce Cassidy and the Bruins in the midst of a two-game road trip down in Florida and North Carolina, Boston’s bench boss was unable to watch Kyle Beach’s interview on TSN until a few days after it aired on Oct. 27.

But when Cassidy finally did watch it, he, like many others, was deeply affected by Beach’s words and his pained memories from more than a decade ago. 

“I thought it was very powerful,” Cassidy said. “And I thought the players could benefit from it. And for me, it's a little bit, there's a lot that goes into it, but the most important thing was — here's a young guy: People that have kids, their kids go to college, they go away, play junior hockey, they go to play pro, whatever, and you expect them to be in a kind of a safe environment, that's what you'd want as a parent. 

“So that's where it probably got to me the most. .... At the end of the day,  there's a lot of different people that let this kid down. So that's how I took it. And I thought, if I talked to (Patrice Bergeron) I think it would be good for the group to watch it.”

As both a coach and a father, the lens through which Cassidy viewed Beach’s interview might differ from that of his players — but Bergeron concurred that watching the entire video as a team was a necessary measure. 

“I don't want to force it on them either,” Cassidy said. “Because some stuff as a coach, you have to let players decide. …. So this one, I highly recommended we get the guys together and watch it. (Bergeron) agreed. So hopefully something good comes of it when they kind of see that and how they're gonna treat their own as well. That's their perspective, right? In the room, how do the players take care of each other?

“Because like I said, there's a lot of different people that failed Kyle and some of the players in Chicago have to be included in that at the time that could have looked after him. So that's where the angle for them would come from. For me, it's a little bit more of — senior leadership, coaches, parents, you know, how does that affect you? So, that's how the decision was made. And Bergy went along with it. And I'm glad they did.”

TB12 and PB37

Bergeron may not etch out the same impressive resume as Tom Brady — but Cassidy can draw at least one comparison between the legendary signal caller and the B’s captain.

Drawing parallels between an NFL QB and an NHL pivot is like comparing apples to a medicine ball. 

Still, even though it’s a bit unfair to judge a future Hall of Famer in Bergeron against a sporting leviathan like Brady, both athletes are still able to function at a high level (Brady at age 44 and Bergeron at 36) thanks to their emphasis on conditioning and ability to process the game without having to rely on some of their physical talents — some of which inevitably has eroded thanks to the influence of Father Time.  

“I think Bergy has prepared himself his whole career and been a good pro, so that as he gets older, he'll be able to handle that,” Cassidy said of Bergeron fighting off a decline. “I mean, it’s not suddenly you wake up at 35 and say, 'OK, I gotta start conditioning myself better, eating better,' whatever the case may be. I mean, he's been looking after himself for a long time. He's functioned well with his linemates, learn to — I don't want to say adapt,  because Bergy is going to be Bergy, no matter what … I don't want to go with the Brady comparisons necessarily, because I've never been in a room with Tom Brady.

“But I've watched him a lot. And I do see high intelligence. And (Patrice is) another guy that seems to have been able to take care of himself. So when these years come, he's prepared for it. So yes, I put them in the same category in that regard. I think guys that last a long time typically do have to be high IQ guys, because I think everything slows down as you get older. That's just nature. That's how those guys I think play a little longer than most. 

“They think the game well, understand it, play within themselves. Don't try to be something they're not. I saw a part of (Bergeron's) interview last night about his experience, knowing that you can't press, can't change things. That's the other part of it. So I'm sure if Brady has a game that doesn't go well, he doesn't decide to reinvent himself the next day. And I think that's a key for those veteran guys as well."

McDavid does it again

Well, the good news is that the Bruins’ schedule does pick up next week — with the B’s set to play four games over the span of six days. 

The bad news? One of those games will be against this guy.

Good lord.