Buffalo Sabres
Heading into the final weeks of summer, the Buffalo Sabres are under the cap floor. Currently, the Sabres have the lowest cap at just under $53 million. The team needs to add three players to their current roster and over $7.3 million to payroll in order to meet the cap floor.
Jack Eichel and his $10 million cap hit want out of Buffalo. If Detroit obtains Eichel, the pieces that Detroit will have to trade will need to add up to almost $17 million. The deal starts with Larkin and his $6.1 million cap hit. Detroit may also have to include Danny DeKeyser, and a draft pick in order for this trade to take place.
In my opinion, this trade does not move Detroit out of the re-build. For me, Eichel and Larkin are similar players. Eichel is better offensively than Larkin, but does Detroit really want damaged goods from Buffalo at a cap hit of $10 million for the next five years?
Taking on Eichel significantly slows down the re-build. The draft pick will probably have to be a 1st or 2nd round selection next year. Next year’s draft is loaded in the top 10 picks. In my opinion, Yzerman would not trade a first round selection in the next two drafts because of the number of impact players that are available.
Reality: Larkin is not traded to Buffalo