Dismantling of a once-great Stanley Cup contender v. building a potential contender
Yeah, you heard that right. The Golden Knights, thanks to the Eichel trade, can potentially end up playing like the expansion team they were supposed to play like back in 2017-18. And after missing the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, they already took the first step.
Just last week, you now know the Knights traded away forward Max Pacioretty and defenseman Dylan Cophlan to the Carolina Hurricanes for future considerations. Pacioretty developed into a star player in Vegas while Coghlan is fast-emerging. So Carolina’s gain is definitely Vegas’ loss.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo Sabres have been busy building a young core. And thanks to the Eichel trade, they added Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, and Noah Ostlund to that core. They also have Dylan Cozens, Tage Thompson, Matthew Savoie, Jiri Kulich, Owen Power, Rasmus Dahlin, Jack Quinn, and J.J. Peterka, to name a few. All of whom are either on the main roster or are high-end prospects.
While it is not logical that the Sabres will keep everyone, this is besides the point. What I’m saying is, one team is adding and is continuing to add. The other is subtracting, in large part, thanks to Eichel’s giant contract.