Welcome to September.
Hockey is definitely in the air with NHL training camps set to open in two weeks.
The Buffalo Sabres will host their prospect challenge beginning next Friday when the Sabres play the New Jersey Devils. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins will also play in The Buffalo prospects tourney.
The pleasant aroma of the business of hockey wafts through the air.
I'm asked often to give my take on what's up with the Jack Eichel contract extension?
As of 3pm EDT on Friday 9/1/17, there was no new tale to tell on the Eichel negotiations front. This isn't a bad thing nor is it to be viewed as a negative.
Eichel, his agent Peter Fish, Jason Botterill and the Pegulas continue to engage in their long term discussions for a long-term discussions which began in earnest on July 1. Botterill and Camp Eichel have been working in the framework for Eichel's eight year deal since the dust settled on the 2017 NHL Draft in Chicago. Eichel's entry level contract has one year remaining in it. Per the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, the soonest Botterill could enter into negotiations with Eichel and his agent were in July 1. Botterill wasted little time expressing the organization's position to the face of the franchise.
What we know is that the term will be the maximum eight year. What is causing anxiety from sea to shining is is what will Eichel's average annual value be when he finally does sign his extension to remain a Sabre for the next eight seasons after 2017-18 campaign.
Eichel will sign when the AAV is correct in his estimation.
When the annual average salary is $10 million to $10.5 million, for eight seasons, that's when the deal will be done. I see a final agreement happening sooner than later. Eichel and his teammates will report to training camp for physical testing in September 14. I fully and completely expect Eichel's deal to be done and filed by September 14. There is an insatiable appetite on behalf of Botterill, the Pegulas, and Eichel to get an eight year contract done.
On August 22, Botterill said:
"Our discussions continue to be very positive. It’s obviously a little bit of a new market this summer with some of the different contracts that have come out, but our discussions have been very positive. At the end of the day, we certainly want to get Jack signed up for the max amount of term possible and he has the belief. All our discussions have been positive about the contract, but also just about the season and his preparation in general", Sabres GM Jason Botterill said.
Prior to this public comment, Botterill had been locked away like a Gregoria's monk for the previous five weeks as he worked on the Eichel contract extension.
Botterill is very familiar with Eichel's agent, who also represents former BU Terriwr and former Pittsburgh Penguin Nick Bonino. Botterill was very instrumental in the recruiting of Bonino to Pittsburgh.
"At the end of the day we wanna get Jack signed up for max amount & term possible, he has the same belief" #Sabres GM on Eichel negotiations pic.twitter.com/yaQvIhBtef
— Dan Fetes (@danfetes) August 22, 2017
Sabres owner Kim Pegula sounded confident about the Eichel negotiation when asked about it in July.
"There's continued conversations. I leave that stuff up to our GM, Jason. But, I do know that it is a priority for us and we are hoping that we can come to some type of agreement. We still have some time though. You know? So, I know it feels like Jack has only been with us for two years believe it or not and time goes by really fast. It's certainly a priority".
During a @wkbw exclusive, Kim Pegula addresses Jack Eichel contract talks. The #Sabres owner calls it a "priority" #eichel #buffalo pic.twitter.com/C9iJ80cytL
— Ashley Rowe (@AshleyroweWKBW) July 28, 2017
"We're in the midst of it. It's between my agent and Mr. (Jason) Botterill," Eichel said Wednesday. "I'm just going to work hard this summer. All of that tends to take care of itself. Obviously the contract is important. But for me it's all about the play."
Eichel will turn 21 in October. He wants to deliver a Stanley Cup to the young and old hockey crazed lunatics who support his him and his Sabres.
"I've made it clear that I want to be a Sabre. I want to be in Buffalo when we start winning. I want to reward the city. It's been two great years. I don't want to go anywhere else," he said.
In June, the Edmonton Oilers set the market for all superstar centers to come when they re-signed their franchise player Connor McDavid to an astronomical 8-year, $100 million contract extension. McDavid was the first overall pick at the 2015 NHL Draft. Eichel was drafted second overall behind McDavid. McDavid would have become an unrestricted free agent in July 1, 2018.
Eichel won't be getting McDavid's $12.5M AAV, however, he won't be signing for Leon Draisaitl's $8.5M AAV. Earlier this week, Draisaitl signed a new 8-year, $68 million contract extension. Last month, Nashville re-signed center Ryan Johansen to a new 8-year, $64 million deal.
I have said for the past six months that Eichel will be re-signing for 8 years and $80 million. I'm sticking to my guns. Eichel is every bit a $10M AAV man. He may jump to $10.5M AAV.
When his contract negotiations are finally put to bed, Eichel will be one of the highest paid players in the NHL. And rightly so. He is a top five talent in today's NHL. Yes. Top 5 talent. As such, he will be paid accordingly. Eichel will easily live up to the high expectations that accompany the high average annual value.
I predict that Eichel will score 40 goals and adding 50 to 60 assists this season. Unlike 1016-17, Eichel will play in 77 to 82 games.
Eichel raised eyebrows with a monster rookie season by scoring 24 goals and 32 assists in 81 games played in 2015-16. The beginning of his sophomore season was delayed due to injury. Eichel missed the first 21 games of the season due to a brutal high ankle sprain injury he suffered in a power play drill with teammate Zemgus Girgensons in practice the day before the season opener versus Montreal.
"It was frustrating. I wanted to be off and running. It was a bad bounce. But injuries happen. It wasn't the easiest injury to deal with. I started to play much better the second half of the season. But for me the most frustrating part was the underachieving of the team. I thought we had a pretty good team," Eichel said.
In 2016-17, Eichel exploded for 24 goals and 33 assists and 57 points in just 61 games played.
Will Eichel be getting McDavid's 8 year, $100 million contract?
No.
However, Eichel will come pretty close to McDavid's $12.5M AAV.
I can here the beeper blaring now as the Brinks truck is slowly backing onto Seymour H. Knox Plaza. From every indication I get, it won't be long until Eichel will be signing his new mega-contract. I've reached out to Eichel's agent several times in the past six week in hopes of getting a status update. By design, all is quiet. Eichel's agent and Botterill continue to negotiate away from the media mob.
I say there is zero cause for concern that perhaps a deal will not get done before training camp physicals occur on September 14. Other observers have their opinions.
"My sense a week or two ago was that they were still very hopeful that they would get a settlement done here and reach an agreement prior to the start of the season," TSN's Darren Dreger said on "The Instigators" radio program on Friday morning.
"There's still that possibility, but I'm now getting the sense that, from a player's perspective, he's okay starting the season without a contract extension in place."
"They're still going back and forth. I wouldn't say that it's a strained negotiation by any sense. Jack and his representatives feel that based on what the market has proven in this offseason, he is a key piece and needs to be shown that market value. There has to be an understanding that they haven't quite reached, but I don't think we should read into that in a negative fashion either."
"I think it would be preferred to get a contract extension done prior to the start of the year, but I don't get that (Jack Eichel) is losing any sleep over it at this point. It's still a healthy dialogue going back and forth between the club and the player".
Do I envision a scenario where Eichel reports to 2017-18 training camp in two weeks without an eight year contract extension tucked into his hockey bag?
No way in hell.
Eichel is going to be the face of the Sabres franchise for the next decade. He, Auston Matthews and Dylan Larkin will be the face of USA Hockey for years to come. Eichel's new contract is not to be viewed as an expense. It's an investment that will pay a massive ROI for years to come.