Jack Eichel trade 'at one-yard line' with two main contenders

The end of the Jack Eichel saga appears to be near. A report by Emily Kaplan of ESPN states the former second overall pick should be dealt soon, with two main contenders in the mix.

"The saga now has two finalists, the Calgary Flames and the Vegas Golden Knights," said Kaplan. "There was a lot of work done over the weekend, and today I was told the trade is at the one-yard line. There are still some final details they've got to figure out. I am told Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams is working extremely hard on this to get a trade done. However, he's also been very firm in his stance and neither Calgary nor Vegas has met him on his full demands yet."

Kaplan added for those wondering if Eichel's surgery is part of the hold up, the answer is no.

"Both Calgary and Vegas, like most of the teams that Jack Eichel's camp have spoken to through this process, are ok with him getting his preferred artificial disc replacement surgery, instead of that fusion surgery."

Kaplan said it will be about six weeks before Eichel can get back on the ice once he has his surgery, but it's a minimum of three months before he's cleared to play. That means Eichel likely won't be representing the United States at the Winter Olympics in February. It does, however, put him back in the NHL before the playoffs begin. Kaplan notes the recovery time for the disc replacement surgery is about two months shorter than with the fusion procedure.

Adams has been adamant about getting a major haul for Eichel from the beginning, which makes sense with the Sabres in the midst of a rebuild and trading away their once franchise player.

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