Did the Golden Knights win the trade with Jack Eichel?

By Olivia Lawrence

RP Show Intern

The Jack Eichel story between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Buffalo Sabres has ENDED! After eight months of disputing, the Golden Knights acquired Eichel from the Sabres on Thursday morning, along with a third round pick. In exchange, the Sabres acquired Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch and two draft picks—this includes a first rounder in 2022. 

The big question surrounding this trade is who won it?! Rod Pedersen invited Tim Hunter on Thursday’s episode of The Rod Pedersen Show to share his opinion, but Rod shared his first. It would only be right,  the Vegas Golden Knights are his team…for now. Rod originally thought the Golden Knights had won this trade, but with Eichel still out with his neck injury, and the haul of players earned by the Sabres, he quickly changed his mind!

Not to mention, the Golden Knights have had a rough start to their season so far this year. Rod does not want to hear optimism from the Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon about a player who cannot even play yet and a team that is struggling to keep the puck out of their own end. 

NHL alumni and assistant coach Tim Hunter is more convinced the Golden Knights could have won this trade. 

“I would say if Eichel plays soon, probably the Vegas Golden Knights,” said Hunter. “Long term it will be on what kind of player Peyton Krebs and the first round pick turn out to be. A good trade is even for both teams, and I’m sure that’s what they came to. Buffalo believing in Krebs, Tuch in the line-up right away, and the first round pick and second round pick are going to be the players of the future… it’s going to all depend on the health of Eichel, he is a very special player. They don’t come around very often, and when you want one, you have to step up the plate. Obviously, Vegas did that today.”

Jack Eichel has been compared to hockey stars Connor McDavid and Mitch Marner. Eichel is sitting at $10 million a year, but some NHL fans are saying he is not as good as some people think, and he is overpaid. Nevertheless, Hunter believes Eichel could be the face of the Golden Knights franchise once he gets back on the ice.

“Special player, he does special things on the ice, you don’t see that very often,” said Hunter. “Connor McDavid is probably the top of the class right now in that regard, because he can do everything at 100 miles an hour… McDavid and Eichel were one-two in the draft in 2015, special players go in those positions.”

Rod Pedersen acknowledges it is WAY too early to declare a winner of this trade, and it is possible both teams could benefit in the end. Regardless, you cannot deny it is fun to talk about. 

Who do you think won this trade?