Per Friedman, Ducks heavily pursuing Eichel; some MAJOR young pieces could be involved

The Anaheim Ducks appear to be one of the teams who are having discussions with the Buffalo Sabres, with interest in Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel, at least according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

During a guest appearance on WGR 550 with The Instigators in Buffalo, Friedman said that the Ducks would likely not land them both, but are interested in each player individually - and interestingly enough, Buffalo prefers to trade Eichel out West if and when a deal can be reached.

Something interesting to note here is that while Friedge doesn't believe that a deal involving both Eichel AND Reinhart is likely, he did confirm that some teams have inquired about deals involving Eichel and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen or Reinhart and Ristolainen.

While he didn't mention anything about what the Sabres could be looking for from the Ducks in exchange for Reinhart, Friedman said that if the Ducks were to enter into serious trade negotiations for Eichel, he believes Anaheim's 3rd overall pick in 2021 would be in play.


Another interesting thing to note here is that, per Friedman, the Ducks refused to move either one of Jamie Drysdale or Trevor Zegras in a deal to acquire Pierre-Luc Dubois from Columbus earlier this season.

While Friedge did not shut the door on one of Drysdale/Zegras being available in a trade for Eichel, you'd have to assume that the Sabres will demand at least one of them, along with that 3rd overall pick this year.

The Sabres appear to be coveting draft picks for the upcoming draft, currently carrying twelve picks, six of which come in the first three rounds. We know that Buffalo holds the first overall pick after winning the draft lottery earlier this month, so the potential of adding another top 3 pick to the mix has to be enticing for Sabres GM Kevyn Adams.

While many other teams are much more wary and uncertain about the upcoming draft, valuing their picks much less than they might have in a normal season where they would have the opportunity to scout players live, the Sabres value this draft more than other teams, Friedman says. The team believes they have the upper-hand in that they have been paying close attention to this draft class, which certainly explains their desire to acquire the picks for this year.

Friedman also names Columbus as a possible destination and claims that, although LA claims to have cooled on Eichel, they're playing an angle and are still very much in on the Sabres' captain.