Sabres happy that Eichel gets a chance to move on, ready to greet new teammates

"That part of the business is never going to be easy," Okposo said in Climate Pledge Arena prior to the Sabres' game against the Seattle Kraken. "But I think that it was time and there wasn't going to be an amicable ending to this thing. It was always going to end towards a trade. I'm happy for him from a personal level and happy that the organization is moving forward.

"Number 1 is, he's a person. He needs a surgery to get healthy and to play hockey. He's mid-20s, in the prime of his career. He wants to be playing, and I think that that is the most important thing. On a human level, extremely happy for him from that standpoint."

Center Dylan Cozens wasn't around Eichel nearly as long, but was thankful for the way he served as a mentor to him. The Sabres had Cozens' locker next to Eichel last season in KeyBank Center.

"He was great to me," Cozens said. "My first year I sat beside him in the room and helping me transition to the NHL. He's always reaching out, asking if I need anything and always willing to help. So, he's great to me. I got nothing but good things to say about him. So, I'm happy that he's happy."

The return was forwards Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs. There's connections in the room to both.

Defenseman Colin Miller played with Tuch in Vegas for two seasons, starting with the Golden Knights' expansion season, which included a trip to the 2018 Stanley Cup final.

"I'm excited. He was a big part of our team there when I was with him for two years," Miller said. "Big strong power forward. Can skate. Good hockey player. So I'm looking forward to getting to see him. The tools were always there. He had a breakout year the first year there, like a lot of guys did. And he's just continued moving forward."

"He's a New York guy and when I spoke to him early this morning, he's excited," Granato said. "He said he can't wait to put the jersey on over his shoulders. He grew up a Sabre fan. That's really nice to have that, those intangibles that mean so much. They make you fight harder. You go to bed at night thinking about resolutions and potential success."

Of course, the Sabres didn't have any success with Eichel. Nary a playoff game in six years. Even two more last-place finishes that matched the pair they had in the two years before his arrival. And this was the resolution.

"We always want it to work. He's my friend. And he's a heck of a hockey player," Okposo said. "So you always wanted it to work out and want things to end well and end up with him winning here. So you always want that in the back of your mind. But I think it was pretty clear that things were deteriorating from a relationship standpoint and it was probably not gonna mend itself."

Second Sabres deal helps cap

The Eichel trade wasn't the only move the Sabres made Thursday. A couple of hours after that deal went down, the Sabres announced they had traded for the rights to retired New York Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk in exchange for future considerations.

Boychuk, who retired in 2020 after suffering an eye injury, is in the final year of a contract with a $6 million cap hit and is owed $1.2 million in salary. But much of that is insured and the Sabres are likely only going to have pay him around a quarter of that amount. 

The move was done because the Sabres were near the salary cap floor in the wake of the Eichel trade and could have had their roster flexibility limited in terms of movement to Rochester if they could not stay above the floor. With Boychuk's $6 million hit added, the Sabres have about $16 million in cap space, according to Capfriendly.com.