"Don't be surprised if the Habs make an offer for Jack Eichel"
"Don't be surprised if the Habs make an offer for Jack Eichel" As we reported earlier, all indications are that veteran defenseman Shea Weber is going to be out for the Habs for a very long time. Perhaps he even played his last career game.
This news changes the game drastically for Marc Bergevin and the Habs. Suddenly, not only will he not have to choose between exposing Ben Chiarot or Joel Edmundson to the expansion draft since he will be able to protect both of them, but also, an amount of 7.857 million dollars will magically be freed from the team's payroll.
Now, the Habs GM has a lot of room to maneuver and, above all, a lot of options. Something very rare among the teams in the league when the salary cap will remain stable for a few more years.
That's exactly why, according to Daily Faceoff insider Frank Seravalli, he wouldn't be surprised to see the Habs make a move for young star center Jack Eichel of the Buffalo Sabres.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet agrees, saying that Jack Eichel and Gabriel Landeskog are on the Habs' radar.
We don't know at this time what the exact asking price for Eichel could be, but we do know that the Sabres want to receive a young center in any potential deal involving their captain. We can imagine that they will also demand a young defenseman and a 1st round pick at least.
If the Habs were able to acquire a player of Eichel's caliber, they would have an incredible center pairing to pivot the team's top two threes along with young Nick Suzuki.
Jack Eichel is 24 years old and has 2 goals and 16 assists for 18 points in 21 games this season. He has five years left on his contract, which pays an average of $10 million per year.
On the other hand, the acquisition of Eichel would not make up for the loss of Weber on the blue line, which could potentially become problematic unless Bergevin has a cheap plan for a cheap defenseman capable of taking the place of his captain.
Suddenly, the next two weeks could be particularly exciting for the Habs.
| POLL | ||
Would you like Jack Eichel on your first line? | ||
| Yes | 119 | 68.8 % |
| No | 54 | 31.2 % |
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