OTR: Teams Asking About Hertl, Exec Calls Eichel Trade Price “Still Insane” | SJHN+

What’s going on with impending UFA Tomas Hertl? Are the San Jose Sharks looking to trade him?

And just when you thought the Buffalo Sabres situation with Jack Eichel and the NHL trade market could not get uglier–the struggling franchise has dug the hole even deeper.

Buffalo stripped Eichel of his captaincy after he reported for training camp and–as expected–failed his physical. The acrimony shows no signs of abatement, nor has Buffalo moved an inch towards facilitating a trade.

OTR spoke to multiple NHL executives about the situation, Buffalo’s asking price for the injured and disgruntled center, and where it goes from here. One exec who spoke with Off the Record called Buffalo’s ask “still insane.”

“It’s insane what they’re still asking,” said the NHL executive who has spoken directly with Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams and his staff. “They’re going to be stuck with him, and his value is just going to decline even more.”

So did the NHL trade wire lines open up at all between the Sabres and Eichel trade suitors in the immediate aftermath of the new rock bottom?