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

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.


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:


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.