New development in the Jack Eichel saga reveals who he was nearly traded for

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Dean Chaudhry
December 22, 2023 (6:25 PM)

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Photo credit: NHL

Jack Eichel was drafted 2nd overall in the vaunted 2015 NHL Entry Draft behind only Connor McDavid. Even though the Buffalo Sabres technically lost out in the draft lottery, they still ended up with a fantastic consolation prize. After 6 seasons with the organization, Eichel requested a trade and the Sabres eventually obliged by sending him out to the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Eichel sweepstakes shook the foundation of the league and several contending teams lined up for his services. Of course, the caveat was that whatever team acquired him would allow Eichel to move forward with was deemed a very controversial surgery on his ailing neck. The Golden Knights came through but apparently the Calgary Flames were not far off.

The 2021-22 Flames were exceptional from start to finish as they claimed the Pacific Division throne with a 50-21-11 record in large part because of their top line of Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, and Elias Lindholm, who combined for 124 goals, 301 points, and were +182. Unfortunately they were defeated in the 2nd round against their bitter provincial rivals in Edmonton but the looming dark cloud was that Gaudreau and Tkachuk would most likely be leaving at the end of the season. Gaudreau was a pending UFA and Tkachuk an RFA but the Flames knew this was a possibility so when Eichel became available their offer, according to Kevin Weeks, was Tkachuk, a first round pick, a former first round pick, and 2 more prospects.

Eventually, Buffalo went with Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, a future first round pick, and a future second round pick from Vegas instead.

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Eichel sat down for an interview with the Empty Netters podcast recently and essentially dove right into the trade process and how, by the end, it became a two-way race between Calgary and Vegas:

"The whole medical part of it was definitely a big component, the team obviously had to be okay with the surgery that I wanted to do. The injury, a lot of things I had to work. I think as the summer went on, you always hear different teams call, whether it was the Minnesota's, the Carolina's, there was a period in the early fall where it was Colorado. But I think as you're going through it, and as you look back on it, until it becomes like realistic, you don't wanna really believe anything. With trades there's so many possibilities of things that could happen. I switched agents in the middle of it too, so when I brought on my new agent, there were some new teams that became part of the mix but when it came down to it, towards the end it was between Calgary and Vegas."

After the surgery, Eichel returned to the ice and has 56 goals and 130 points in 135 games for the Golden Knights across parts of 3 seasons. His first and only playoff exposure ended with a Stanley Cup, as he helped the Knights with 6 goals and 26 points in 22 games.

Safe to say it worked out like gangbusters for Vegas, not so much for the Flames, who eventually lost Gaudreau and Tkachuk that summer as expected.

Previously on MapleLeafsDaily

Leafs sign 6-foot-4 defenseman to multi-year deal

Ex-Leaf reveals what should happen with Ilya Samsonov and it's a pretty harsh reaction

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22 DECEMBRE \| 763 ANSWERS New development in the Jack Eichel saga reveals who he was nearly traded for Do you think the Golden Knights will return to the Stanley Cup Final again in 2023-24?
Yes	291	38.1 %
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