There was no “We Don’t Want You!” Garden crowd chants directed at Jack Eichel on Tuesday night, the way Rick Nash serenaded when he came to town with the Blue Jackets a week before the 2012 negotiation deadline.
In fact, there was the occasional, though somewhat weak, “We Want Eichel” crowd singing, which was 1,800 strong for the Rangers ‘match against the Sabers, not that the Blueshirts’ hierarchy was conducting a referendum during their 3-2 victory.
Not that something that happened in this one, which opened with a bang and then dragged on to an extended ending where the Blueshirts sent three shots on the net in the final 30:28, would alter the dynamics of a possible Eichel megatrade to New York.
Because, yes, the Rangers want it too.
For a few moments, however, it seemed that the vision of Eichel, the unfortunate 24-year-old who wants to leave Buffalo while working in a sixth year without a playoff performance since his second overall selection in the 2015 draft, served as motivation for Mika Zibanejad, whose term in the Rangers would be at serious risk if Eichel arrived in Manhattan.
Zibanejad, who entered the game with a point of five against five to occupy 166th position and the last among NHL attackers with at least 235 hours of play, launched Pavel Buchnevich for a semi-break in which the winger converted just 28 seconds in the match to a 1-0 lead.
Then, after the Sabers drew 27 seconds later in a play in which Eichel received secondary assistance, Zibanejad’s forecheck created a turnaround that triggered a sequence in which Alexis Lafreniere received credit for the 2-1 goal at 2:36.
Two turns for the Zibanejad line and two goals. I can’t do any better than that. Unfortunately, that was basically it for the unit from an offensive point of view, not that the rest of the team was also able to do much, other than Chris Kreider’s left javelin at 9:32 of the second period for a 3-1 lead .
In fact, Zibanejad finished with just 16:36 of the time, his smallest complement of ice in a full game since January 4, 2019. Gone, at least for now, are the days when coach David Quinn relied on Zibanejad 23 minutes a night.
The following is. Given the limit restrictions, it is essentially an impossibility for the Rangers to accommodate both Eichel, the shiny new apple for which they are at least semi-luxurious, and Zibanejad. It will be either / or … or maybe not in the not too distant future if the first 20 games are an accurate representation of what the Swede has become.
If Kevyn Adams, Buffalo’s first-year general manager, seeks to change his team’s captain before the April 12 deadline, instead of waiting until the off-season, it would be almost impossible for the Blueshirts to take action unless they could somehow negotiating with Zibanejad, which has a total ban clause.
The 24-year-old Eichel, whose season was hardly a resounding success while surrounded by a dysfunction that has been a permanent companion since Sabers last qualified for the postseason in 2011, has five years remaining on a fixed-cost contract. $ 10 million per. It’s expensive, sure, but at least the Rangers – or any acquiring team – won’t have to deal with arbitration or potential free agency for the next half decade.
The cost will be decisive as the Blueshirts ponder how much they are willing to send Buffalo in exchange for a stallion undoubtedly in the middle. Rangers thought they had their stallion in Zibanejad, but the end of this season made it virtually impossible for the club to extend their contract this summer, a year before the free agency. In other words, a long-term, first-rate center is needed.
There aren’t many franchise players traded at such a young age. Tyler Seguin was only 21 when (and Rich Peverley) went from the Bruins to the stars after his third year in exchange for veteran Louie Eriksson and a handful of pieces, but he had not yet established himself at that time. Nash was 28 when he came to Rangers (with a third-round player who became Buchnevich) in exchange for Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and a first-round player.
In fact, the last franchise player traded at such a young age was Joe Thornton, who went from the Bruins to the Sharks at the age of 26 in exchange for one of the most meh packages of all time, with Boston hosting Brad Stuart, Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau.
Where do the Rangers apply for the equivalent of this? Ah, I get it: Fantasyland.
The Blueshirts, so unorganized in the middle, are in desperate need of a first-rate headliner. Eichel, who played his only season at Boston University with Quinn as his coach, checks all the boxes. The Sabers recognize how badly the Rangers want it.
But Rangers GM Jeff Gorton will not be extorted. The fans before did not want Nash and took him. Nine years later, fans want Eichel. We’ll see.