There were rumors abound surrounding the link between the Minnesota Wild and the Buffalo Sabres potentially discussing a Jack Eichel trade. One team that was perennially a playoff lock but just couldn’t even win a damn round and needed someone to be a franchise center next to their star winger, and the other wanted to trade away said franchise center.
The fit kind of made sense, so it wouldn’t surprise most when it was reported that the Wild were within some of the final teams in conversation with the Sabres. And even Eichel himself thought at some point this summer, that he was going to be the Wild’s top center to start the season, as he speaks with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman just hours after he was actually traded to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday morning.