Mike Harrington: On Jack Eichel front, lots happening and nothing happening

The calendar flipped to another month Monday, and a saga that began in May has now stretched into November with no end in sight. The Sabres' season marches on with another game here Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks in SAP Center (ESPN+ only, sorry to say). 

The ex-captain, meanwhile, can do nothing but sit home in Boston cashing his paychecks and waiting. 

By now, we can assume you know the basics of the situation: Eichel wants out, but he has a herniated disk in his neck that requires surgery. The Sabres won't let him have the artificial disk replacement surgery he prefers because no NHL player has ever had the procedure. Eichel doesn't want the standard fusion surgery because there's a high chance it would need to be repeated later in life.

The CBA extension of 2020 is squarely on the Sabres' side, as the team controls medical decisions (still can't believe the Players' Association let that point go unchallenged). Teams interested in Eichel have to first deal with their own in-house struggles of taking on a $10 million per season cap hit for the next four years and perhaps the risk of the surgery the player wants.

With all that as a backdrop, the rumor mill has been churning overtime the last few days. But for all the breathless tweets being fired out, has anybody noticed Eichel still hasn't been traded?

Here's what we know through multiple NHL sources:

1. The Sabres aren't retaining any salary. Nor should they. If you want Jack Eichel, why should Buffalo pay for some of your freight for the next four-plus years? Go find a third team to help you with the money. Arizona loves stuff like that. 

2. Things started heating up last week with Vegas, which is just 4-4 and dealing with major injuries (Alex Tuch, Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone). Things got worse for the Golden Knights on Tuesday when it was announced that William Karlsson might miss six weeks with a fractured foot.

Vegas could probably be cap-compliant with Eichel by using Long Term Injured Reserve on some of the above names (and there's real fear Stone's injury will extend much of the season). But once the Golden Knights get healthy, how do they fit Eichel in, too? Especially if he's ready to go before the playoffs. What would they have to give up aside from prospects to make the money work?

Wrote veteran columnist Ed Graney in the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "Buffalo is reportedly asking for something along the lines of multiple draft picks and a top prospect and a defenseman or forward under control. And probably Nevada’s portion of the Hoover Dam as a throw-in."

Heh. Good line. Just keep your hands off Niagara Falls.

You wonder if the Karlsson injury is just too much to bear for Vegas to move on Eichel anymore. 

3. Adams may be pondering multiple kinds of deals. ESPN analyst and former NHL goalie Kevin Weekes said over the weekend not to sleep on Calgary as an Eichel partner and it was an odd point to make on first glance because the Flames don't have mega prospects like the kinds discussed with Anaheim, Vegas or Los Angeles. 

But with the Sabres off to a 5-2-1 start and Don Granato quickly getting entrenched as perhaps the franchise's best coach since Lindy Ruff, you wonder if Adams is pondering some NHL help and not just futures.

While it seems Matthew Tkachuk would not be in play, what about Elias Lindholm ($4.85 million through 2023-24) or Sean Monahan ($6.375 million through 2022-23) to pump the forward core, balance some of the money and soften the loss of Eichel?

What really got this corner's antenna up was the presence of Calgary vice president of hockey Don Maloney in the house at both Honda Center and Staples Center in recent days for the Sabres' games against Anaheim and Los Angeles. Yes, the Flames are in the same division as the Ducks and Kings and Maloney could have just been getting a one-time glimpse at the Sabres' veterans for some early trade deadline fodder while watching his division rivals.

Or maybe ... was Maloney looking at current Buffalo players in some sort of Eichel package?

4. Adams has not been on the Sabres' road trip to date, which seems a little odd. But he's not a GM in the Darcy Regier vein who is on every single trip and is reportedly expected to come to San Jose so he can accompany the team on its first trip to Seattle.

"Where's The GM?" might be an important game to play from time to time. Definitely seems more likely he would pull off the biggest trade this franchise has made since Pierre Turgeon and others for Pat LaFontaine 30 years ago via the home office with Terry Pegula by his side than in some NHL outpost.

5. Adams has no real pressure to trade Eichel until the ex-captain's no-movement clause kicks in come July, so the Eichel camp may have no choice but to file a grievance through the PA to force the issue. But see above: What are the chances Eichel could win that?

It's a delicate dance Adams is doing here, but the GM must be feeling a good deal of hubris over his summer work. And he wants what he wants.

Craig Anderson has found a fountain of youth in goal. Vinnie Hinostroza and Drake Caggiula add speed. Robert Hagg has been a shot-blocking ace and came along with a first- and second-round pick for Rasmus Ristolainen.

In the prospect barn, Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka are flat-out tearing up the AHL in Rochester and Owen Power, Erik Portillo, Devon Levi and Ryan Johnson look like the real deal in the college ranks. The whispers on the 2021 draft class after Power are that it could rate as one of the best the franchise has put together in a long time.

Eichel, meanwhile, needs surgery. Any surgery, frankly. It's a surprise it's taken this long for the grievance threat to get more buzz. And I guess we shouldn't be surprised if Adams keeps playing the waiting game.