Rumor: “Conditional clauses” may be key to trading Jack Eichel.

Is this the way to make the Eichel trade a reality?

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Published 2 years ago
Rumor: “Conditional clauses” may be key to trading Jack Eichel.
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The Buffalo Sabres find themselves at an impasse with their now former captain Jack Eichel. There's no doubt that at this time everyone involved in this fiasco would like to see a trade materialize that would pass the problem on to another franchise in the National Hockey League but, for whatever reason Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has been unable to make that trade a reality.

Over the weekend NHL insider Nick Kypreos revealed that a number of teams remain involved in the discussions surrounding a potential Eichel trade, however he indicated that a number of those teams would be unwilling to move without additional assurances. According to Kypreos, his sources have informed him that the teams involved are seeking "conditional clauses" that would be linked to Eichel's future in the NHL. Specifically Kypreos believes that teams would want conditions that would center on the number of games played by Eichel following his surgery.

"One of [a half dozen] teams involved tell me a trade is doable as long as the [Buffalo Sabres]  are willing to add 'conditional' clauses around how he performs after surgery," said the former NHL forward.

I've got to be honest here I simply don't see a world in which this makes sense for the Sabres. Giving teams conditions of this nature would assume all of the risk following Eichel's surgery, something they have already demonstrated an unwillingness to do during this dispute with Eichel. Especially considering that Eichel has been adamant about the surgery of his choice, a procedure he no doubt intends to undergo with whatever team he ends up playing for.

That being said a world in which rival teams would want to attach a condition of this nature to one or more draft picks as a part of a larger trade for Eichel is definitely within the realm of possibility. It could very well be that this has been a sticking point in the discussions between Kevyn Adams and his counterparts across the NHL. I suspect that both Adams and the Sabres franchise want to wash their hands of this whole ordeal once and for all, and attaching conditions to the trade would not accomplish that goal.

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