There was a rare November National Hockey League blockbuster trade on Thursday. According to Greg Wyshynski of ESPN, the Vegas Golden Knights acquired center Jack Eichel of North Chelmsford, MA, and a third round draft pick in the 2022 National Hockey League Entry Draft from the Buffalo Sabres for right winger Alex Tuch of Syracuse, NY, center Peyton Krebs of Okotoks, Alberta, a first round draft pick in the NHL Entry Draft in 2022 and a third round draft pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.
The fact that the Golden Knights became the team the Sabres traded with for the disgruntled Eichel could have been a little bit of a surprise. That is because the Calgary Flames and Anaheim Ducks were the two teams rumoured to acquire Eichel. The Flames were initially thought to have offered Matt Tkachuk in a package to Buffalo. However, the Flames offer just seemed to be a rumour. On Thursday, Flames head coach Darryl Sutter quashed the rumour, claiming that Eichel just has not played much the last two seasons.
Another player who would have made a lot of sense going to Buffalo was Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau. That is because the veteran winger is from Salem County, NJ, and has a strong family base in the eastern United States.
Eichel, a three-time all-star, had two goals and 16 assists for 18 points in 21 games with the Sabres in 2020-21. In his career, he had 139 goals and 216 assists for 355 points. The reason why he has not played this season is because of a neck ailment.
Tuch is joining his third NHL team. He has previously played with the Minnesota Wild in addition to the Golden Knights. Last season Tuch had 18 goals and 15 assists for 33 points. He has not played so far this season because of off-season shoulder surgery.
Krebs is still looking for this first NHL goal. He has one assist in 13 regular season games over the last two seasons.
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