I hope more people here read that description. If Buffalo is unwilling to retain salary to make a deal happen with Colorado, why would they be willing to retain salary to make a deal happen with anyone else?

It might be some public negotiation by Sakic to leak interest but putting some pressure on Buffalo (i.e. their owners) for seemingly being too cheap to allow a deal to be made.

Jokes on him then. The Pegulas have publicly stated that they will not let the Sabres finances interfere with their quality of life, and that they are building a mega yacht so they are cutting corners with the team to pay for it.

Im sure buffalo would take salary back, if its short term. Retention is another animal, the pegulas have wasted a boatload on bad decisions, but until very recently they havent been remotely close to cheap. I think they are getting tired of paying people to not work for them, im not surprised they dont wanna retain on eichel, which is different in principle than just taking back a short term bad contract to grease the skids.

The Sabres should not have to eat a retention spot for five seasons unless they get everything they ask for in return for Eichel. Teams already have this obscene impression that they can strong arm the Sabres into taking less than Eichel is worth. Personally I’m glad Kevyn Adams is putting his foot down and making it known that the Sabres will not be pushed around in any negotiations.

Meh, they instituted an internal cap last year and it lasted until taylor hall agreed to come to buffalo. They are billionaires that look like clowns for how inept they have been as hockey owners, i dont expect that any lines in the sand are more than suggestions if the chance to win comes up. Would they retain?- if the other team compensated them for it (the key here is that it would be incredibly costly), maybe. I cant see them agreeing to retain unless the package coming back is too good to be true though.

Retaining $1m x 4 of Eichel's salary ($4m total) wouldn't be any different than taking on Compher who earns $4.5m this season and $3.5m next season, essentially being $1-2m overpaid.

Very good points. The media has done a wonderful job advancing the idea that buffalo should give eichel away (although they always indicate that the cost is very high, even though they suggest pieces like left d which we have too many of, plus goalie prospects that are worthless, and maybe a middle 6 forward prospect, and a first that turns into a second if the draft takes place in june or july). Pretty sure that the media will report anything that a front office leaks to them.

He has 5 years left. Plus taking back 4.5 this year and 3.5 next year is totally better. Theres no reason to plan to be bad for the remainder of eichels contract, so i want the cap dumps/retention off the books after 2 years. Thats how i want our front office to look at it, plus, i really dont think after how the eichel thing has gone down that pegula is gonna retain, just on principle.

I wonder if Arizona would be willing to facilitate as a 3rd wheel by retaining $1m on Eichel in exchange for a decent pick/prospect.

None of know anything, we can only speculate.
Initially Terry looked to be a big spender, lately not so much.
But IMO Jack's value has hit rock bottom.
In the last 21 games he played the Sabres were 6-12-3 with 4 shut outs and scoring 5 or more goals once.
In the last 24 games that he has not played the Sabres are 11-11-2 with 2 shut outs and scoring 5 or more goals 6 times.
Even considering his value has dropped, this offer is not sufficient.
EDIT
In the last 28 games he played the Sabres were 7-18-3 with 4 shut outs and scoring 5 or more goals once.
In the last 24 games that he has not played the Sabres are 11-11-2 with 2 shut outs and scoring 5 or more goals 6 times.

Girard is a young top pairing Dman with league-leading metrics in zone exits and transitions, and also happens to have one of the best contracts in the league.

Newhook is an NHL-ready bluechip center prospect, who was ranked 12th in The Athletic's prospect ranking in August.

Do you envisage other teams offering more than that package as a base for an Eichel trade?

This one? No, of course its light. Plus, again, left shot d is included, signed long term- to a team that drafted two defensemen first overall, with three of their top prospects being left d, and including hagg and butcher who are already nhl defensemen at the position. I know girard is there for salary, but its also clear that he isnt a cap dump but holds some value, and of course we likely have to flip him to get something we actually need, assuming he is able to return in (a top 6 forward would be the only thing on my list).