Eichel to Vegas

[Significantly Insignificant]

Per Darren Dreger, Eichel is going to Vegas for Alex Tuch and picks.

[Bender]

I have no idea how to feel about this. I think maybe Buffalo won that trade considering the significance of Eichels injury? Tuch is a good piece, Krebs puts up points everywhere plus another first rounder which might not be as low as people think. Who knows.

I thought Vegas didn't have the space, but man the balls on that organization. They really help keep the NHL trade front mildly interesting.

[L K]

They don't have the cap space right now if everyone comes back before the playoffs.  If Eichel is done until the regular season is over they can fit everyone but they are almost 6 million (5.77) over the cap with a 12 forward 6 defenseman 2 goaltender roster

[bustaheims]

I have no idea how to feel about this. I think maybe Buffalo won that trade considering the significance of Eichels injury? Tuch is a good piece, Krebs puts up points everywhere plus another first rounder which might not be as low as people think. Who knows.

I thought Vegas didn't have the space, but man the balls on that organization. They really help keep the NHL trade front mildly interesting.

Tuch is still out for a couple months after shoulder surgery - less significant than Eichel's, but not something that should be overlooked - and, really, the value of the pieces Buffalo added don't have the same impact as Eichel. Vegas got the better end of the deal. Not that Buffalo did poorly, but, hard to come out ahead when you're trading a elite young player.

That being said, Vegas keeps putting themselves into cap hell, so, we'll see how that works out.

[L K]

So 3rd round pick swabs in 2023, a top 10 protected 1st round pick in 2022, Peyton Krebs (2019 17th overall) and Alex Tuch for Eichel.

Buffalo is too cheap to have salary so they are keeping Tuch off LTIR to maintain the cap floor (how is that not cap circumvention?)

Vegas is going to have about 28 million dollars in players on LTIR to fit under the cap.

[bustaheims]

So 3rd round pick swabs in 2023, a top 10 protected 1st round pick in 2022, Peyton Krebs (2019 17th overall) and Alex Tuch for Eichel.

Buffalo is too cheap to have salary so they are keeping Tuch off LTIR to maintain the cap floor (how is that not cap circumvention?)

Vegas is going to have about 28 million dollars in players on LTIR to fit under the cap.

Don't get to put players on LTIR if you don't need the cap space. As Buffalo is nowhere near the cap ceiling, they obviously can't.

EDIT: Even if they could, Tuch would still count against the cap. Can't punish the Sabres for an option that isn't available to them, and wouldn't change things even if it were. They're playing by the rules - pushing them to their limits, but still playing within them.

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/DarrenDreger/status/1456225712923418629

So pretty much exactly what I suggested yesterday minus the salary dumps that Buffalo could have potentially flipped at the deadline for more assets.

[CarltonTheBear]

I thought Vegas didn't have the space, but man the balls on that organization. They really help keep the NHL trade front mildly interesting.

Post-expansion draft they've acquired a 1C (Eichel), 1LW (Pacioretty), 1RW (Stone), 1D (Pietrangelo), 2D (Martinez), and 1G (Lehner) all through trades and signings.

[herman]

Meh for Buffalo

Interesting for Vegas

[Nik]

Like, obviously the most important factor here is Eichel's neck and his ability to recover from the eventual surgery but, like, even then this feels like a super good gamble on Vegas' part. The only reason it maybe doesn't look great is they've done so much to improve via trade previous to this that they don't have much in the way of good prospects and absent Eichel coming back at full strength it's not a roster that comes across as a top tier contender.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the atmosphere in Vegas' building if they find themselves capped out and mediocre for a few years.

[bustaheims]

Vegas is pushing the cap ceiling for next season without being able to ice a full roster. They'll have to sell off at least one significant contract this summer (Pacioretty might be the most likely candidate, as he'll be entering the final season of his contract).

[CarltonTheBear]

Vegas is pushing the cap ceiling for next season without being able to ice a full roster. They'll have to sell off at least one significant contract this summer (Pacioretty might be the most likely candidate, as he'll be entering the final season of his contract).

I'm not really sure about that. Assuming pending UFAs Smith/Janmark/McNabb aren't brought back they could comfortably ice a 21-man roster if a handful of openings in the bottom of the roster are filled with guys making less than $1mil. Not exactly ideal but also not something that will require them to move a useful player. And if they can somehow dump that dumb Dadanov deal they're in a pretty good position.

[Frank E]

Vegas gambles.

[CarltonTheBear]

As Leafs fans I know this is something we always love to talk about but I wonder if Vegas decides to load up their top-6 forwards or split them up on 3 lines. Chandler Stephenson doesn't put up the points that Eichel is expected to but his on-ice stats have been absolutely fantastic while playing the 1C role for the Knights (playing with Pacioretty and Stone obviously helps, but he's a good player in his own right). And Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith has been a staple in Vegas since their first season (although I still suspect Smith could be a cap causality before Eichel is taken off LTIR). So they could spread things out and have a top-9 group of forwards looking something like:

_____-Eichel-Stone
Marchessault-Karlsson-_____ (or Smith)
Pacioretty-Stephenson-_____

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/So_Truculent/status/1456281781234290695