It's August 10 and Buffalo Sabres superstar Jack Eichel will be signing his brand new eight year contract extension in the days to come.
Eichel's deal is expected to come in at $10 million average annual value.
While Eichel's agent and Sabres GM Jason Botterill are hammering out the final details on the spankin' new deal, Eichel is having a productive off season training in his native Massachusetts.
McDavid's high tide will float all NHL ships moving forward. His $12.5M AAV is the new gold standard by which all NHL stars, like Eichel, Auston Matthews, Leon Draisaitl, Patrick Laine, John Tavares, and others will be paid. Nashville recently re-signed forward Ryan Johansen to an 8-year, $64 million contract extension. Eichel's new deal will exceed Johnasen's deal.
“To be able get a contract done from a star player, face of of the organization, is great for our league,… Botterill said. “I’m sure the people of Edmonton are very excited about having him (McDavid) under contract. I’ve been through some of those discussions before. Whenever I did Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin or Kris Letang, you’re excited to get an elite player under contract.…
McDavid was the first overall pick by the Oilers at the 2015 NHL Draft. Eichel was selected second overall by the Sabres.
In 2016-17, Eichel potted 24 goals and 57 assists in 61 games played.
A freak injury in a practice drill with Zemgus Girgensons caused Eichel to miss the first 21 games of the season due to a dastardly high ankle sprain injury.
Eichel averaged .93 points per game despite his serious injury. Eichel finished eleventh overall in the NHL final standings in terms of points per game. Had he averaged a point per game he would have cased a $2 million contract bonus. Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl edged out eichel for tenth place in the points per game chase.
A healthy Eichel is expected to finish in the NHL Top 10 scoring race this season.
Eichel will be a point per game player for the Sabres this season. mark my words.
In his first two pro seasons, Eichel has scored 48 goals and 65 assists in 142 games played.
Recently, Eichel hung out with his USA Hockey chums Dylan Larkin and Alex Galchenyuk. The talened trio competed in a "BOOM Meter Challenge" contest.
Eichel's clapper was impressive. Eichel's Michael Jackson "Moon Walk" was out of this stratosphere l!
Where's Jack's confetti, Botterill?
Eichel and his friend Samson Reinhart recently attended the wedding of former Sabres teammate Mark Pysyk out west. Eichel's jacked guns are were not photo shopped. He's added lean muscle mass and will report to training camp on the best physical shape of his professional career
Eichel is entering the final year of his entry level contract.
On July 1, the 20 year old generational center became eligible to negotiate his next multi-year, multi-million contract.
Botterill has been asked several times this summer about the Eichel contract extension. Each time, he has said that he has spoken about Eichel, the GM has said that conversations with the agent are ongoing and that he would like to get a deal done sooner than later. Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula have echoed the same sentiment on the Eichel deal in the past two weeks.
Tom Petty was right. The waiting is the hardest part.
In June, the Edmonton Oilers set the market for the new breed of NHL stars by signing their generational center and captain Connor McDavid to a new 8-year, $100 million mega contract.
The McDavid windfall is now the contract that all future contracts will be compared to. Eichel won't be getting $12.5M AAV like his buddy McDavid will be, however, the Sabres center will come pretty damn close to McDavid's AAV.
I've been saying with confidence for the past seven months that Eichel will be signing a new 8-year, $80 million contract this summer. I'm still standing by my prognostication.