It's arguably fair value...if it was coming from a team out West. They take a lesser offer to move him west.

Matt Martin away from Cizikas is not a good hockey player.

Buffalo declines, no purpose in taking lesser pieces from a EC team.

It’d be funny if all those teams just say no to the Sabres and he decides to sit out the year than play on that disgrace of a franchise.

I guess then we’ll just let him sit the remaining 4 years then

Have fun with that.

It’s better than giving him away to EC team

I personally don’t think letting a prime asset waste for 5 years is better for the long term betterment of the organization than sending him to an eastern conference team you play max seven times (should you meet in the playoffs).

All depends on the return, if the non divisional team also hurts from the trade. Not one asset in your trade even would make a Rangers fan pause for 3 seconds before accepting.

There is the value that no one would ever call Buffalo's bluff again. But zero chance this happens in any permutation. If Eichel stays in Buffalo, is cleared to play (which he would be barring a truly disastrous surgery), and decides to sit out the year, he doesn't get paid. It's as ridiculous as saying he will go to the KHL.

Bottom line, you keep him if you don't get a good return. Yeah, NMC but that doesn't give him that much leverage when the alternative to not waiving is staying in Buffalo for 4 more years...

I wonder what are the grounds for a contract termination. I wonder if we get to the point where if nothing happens Eichel finds a reason to get a contract termination. He’d be signed right away, obviously not as much, but he’d be able to get to a better team. Probably impossible unless he had proof of some sort of negligence on the Sabres part, which doesn’t sound like what happened. I’m just curious to see how this plays out at this point regardless of him staying or going. P.S. I want him, Dahlin and Reinhart to figure it out and turn this team around, but I don’t know at this point what to think.

Contract terms are usually heavily slanted in the favor of the team. In all likelihood, he'd have to prove some level of negligence (probably gross negligence) on the team's part. They're likely nowhere near that. You never see a player term a contract unless it's mutual so there's about a 99.9% chance it never happens.

Might as well assume Reinhart is gone. Eichel is probably gone though he might not be traded before the start of the season. He probably will be but the Sabres do have the option of holding onto him until he gets one of the two surgeries and comes back healthy. They have all year before the NMC kicks in (though an in season deal would be trickier it could be done). The NMC also doesn't give Eichel as mich leverage as people pretend until he gets closer to UFA. He'd likely waive for any contender if things don't get better in Buffalo.

Team is good with one exception, if I'm taking one guy from the isles' fourth line, I'm signing Cizikas instead of getting that Martin contract.