Carolina Hurricanes: Is a Jack Eichel deal still possible?

Jack Eichel is still a Buffalo Sabre. He has not been freed from that team yet. He’s still suffering in shackles in northern New York. If you remember around the time of the draft, the Carolina Hurricanes were reported to have interest in the star centre, but nothing materialized. Is it still possible to move for the Bostonian?

Obviously, stuff has happened since then. What is probably the first red flag when discussing an Eichel deal is that the Carolina Hurricanes do not possess a 2021 1st round pick. A 2022 pick will not hold as much value as the 2021 draft is perceived to be far stronger than the draft the year after. While this is the first warning flag, it is not the only one.

The other is the cap issue. Eichel makes $10 million. Carolina had enough to take on Eichel before the Jesperi Kotkaniemi offer sheet. That is another $6.1 gone so the Canes would need to make that cap space to take on the deal of Eichel, and with only two players making more than that, it would mean subtracting multiple parts from the roster. This is not ideal for a team that wants to push deep in the playoffs.

One more issue is the looming question of… if you get this player where do you put him? Carolina has NHL-caliber centers that are going to go back to the minors this year. They’re absolutely loaded down the middle. Eichel can’t exactly play on the wing so you’re playing Tetris trying to put this lineup together with the number of centers you would have.

Carolina’s prospect pool is deep enough to be able to acquire Eichel without giving up the entire future with the high-end pieces to entice the Sabres to take the prospects over the player who is, at this moment, on injured reserve. We can debate what pieces it would take to get this deal done, but it would have to be with nothing from the roster moving, or it’s not worth it.

Notice how I mentioned Eichel is still on injured reserve? His surgery debacle with the team is still ongoing because Eichel wants a different solution to the Sabres. Eichel doesn’t want to have surgery on his back every 10 years to repair disks and instead wants a replacement disk so he can have his normal motion and not have to worry about it. It’s a stupid debate, but you have to appreciate Eichel is not willing to risk his health after he retires.

Eichel was also today stripped of the Buffalo Sabres captaincy. Another layer to this crapshoot, he’s now viewed as someone who could be removed from the Sabres without affecting how their locker room performs. At least, that is the view of Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams, (yes, the former Carolina Hurricane and Stanley Cup Champion).

Could this mean that Eichel is now on the move somewhere else? Training camp is already underway and he’s not going to play. He’s not going to cave to the demands of the team, and he wants the surgery he desires. This is not going to get resolved for a while, probably until closer to the trade deadline if it will be this season. It’s just a situation to keep an eye on.

Question for Cardiac Cane readers: Should the Canes try to acquire Eichel?