Eichel trade high-risk, high-reward move for Golden Knights

Jack Eichel isn't just the latest high-profile acquisition by the Vegas Golden Knights, joining the likes of Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, Alex Pietrangelo and Robin Lehner. He is the highest-risk, highest-reward one of them all.

The reason the Golden Knights got Eichel in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday is that they were willing to take a risk that other teams wouldn't. They'll let him have a neck surgery that has never been done on an NHL player, wait months for him to recover and trust he'll return to form, betting millions of dollars and lots of assets.
Eichel is in the fourth year of an eight-year contract with an average annual value of $10 million. Vegas gave up forwards Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch, plus a top 10 protected first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, while also receiving a third-round pick in 2023.
But if healthy and playing to his potential, Eichel will give the Golden Knights the No. 1 center they've lacked. He could put them over the top in their quest to win the Stanley Cup. How often does a player like that become available?
RELATED: [Eichel traded to Golden Knights by Sabres | 2021-22 NHL Trade Tracker]
"We are getting a player that I think is one of the top players in the league, one of the top centers in the league," Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. "He is in the prime of his career as a player who's just turned 25 years old. It addresses a need in our organization."
Don't discount the risks.
Eichel hasn't played since March 7 because of a herniated disk in his neck. He wanted an artificial disk replacement (ADR), the Sabres wanted him to have a fusion, and the sides were in a stalemate for months. The Sabres stripped him of the captaincy and put him on injured reserve Sept. 23 after he failed his physical at training camp. As they explored trades, the medical issue was massive.
"Jack saw a lot of different doctors, and there were a lot of different opinions," Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said. "Some felt more comfortable that, 'OK, we'd willing be to do this ADR surgery.' Some said that, 'You know, we agree with the Sabres doctors, and we'd not be comfortable.' So this was an extremely complicated situation, and that added to it."
Ultimately, the Golden Knights decided to defer to Eichel, his agents and his doctors, while taking on Eichel's remaining contract (Adams said retaining salary was a non-starter) and meeting the Sabres' demands in terms of assets.
"Why wouldn't his people want what's best for him?" McCrimmon said.
McCrimmon said Eichel will have surgery soon, and he thinks Eichel will be ready to play in 3-5 months. But he called that a best guess. The Golden Knights don't know when Eichel will be on the ice, let alone if and when he'll be up to speed.
"I think what we do believe is, he will make a full recovery," McCrimmon said. "We do believe if he makes a full recovery, he'll return to form. With respect to exactly what that time frame [will be], he has not played hockey since March, so there will be a period of time required for him to return to form assuming the surgery goes exactly how they intend and his rehab goes exactly [how they intend]. There's just too many variables to say with much certainty."

If and when Eichel returns to form, though, look out.
The Golden Knights have made the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs three times in four seasons since entering the NHL as an expansion team in 2017-18, but they've been eliminated in that round each of the past two seasons mainly due to scoring slumps. They have struggled on the power play. Eichel has scored 355 points (139 goals, 216 assists) in 375 NHL games, including 127 points (41 goals, 86 assists) on the power play.
"There's only a handful of guys that have that type of skill," Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer said. "He's one of them. He's on that short list. In that time of year, when the games get tight and checking gets tight, those difference-makers are really important."
Eichel could center Stone and Pacioretty on the top line, potentially. William Karlsson could stay between Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith on the second line, and Chandler Stephenson could go from No. 1 center to No. 3 center, strengthening Vegas down the middle.
"[Eichel is] one of the top forwards, top centermen, in the entire NHL," defenseman Pietrangelo said. "If you look at how he complements the other guys up front, that's going to be a huge part."
If and when the Golden Knights are fully healthy, they will have to maneuver to fit their payroll under the NHL salary cap, but they'll deal with that then. They'll deal with the depletion of their prospects and picks later too.
This is a Cup-or-bust move by a Cup-or-bust team.
"It's easy to sit and do nothing," McCrimmon said. "But I don't think you're doing the best service to your organization if you aren't trying to improve your team and build a winner."
NHL.com independent correspondent Danny Webster contributed to this report