A lot was divulged during Sportsnet hockey insider Elliotte Friedman's weekly appearance during "The Instigators" on Thursday morning. Friedman shared the latest on rumors regarding trade interest surrounding Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel, amongst other talking points.
When discussing how urgent the Sabres should be to trade Eichel, Friedman said at the end of the day, the team wants to move on from their captain.
"That's the poker game they're playing right now," Friedman said with Andrew Peters and Craig Rivet. "Other teams are saying you've got an unhappy player who doesn't want to come back. The Sabres, I really think at the end of the day, want to move on. They don't want him back, they want to move on."
Friedman said Thursday that other teams around the league interested in Eichel are trying to encourage Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams to trade the 24-year-old center sooner rather than later. However, Friedman believes Adams should play this trade talks differently.
"People are saying [to Adams] you've got to trade him, you've got to trade him." Friedman said. "Adams has got to convince them and say not so fast. Adams has to create the marketplace."
Stepping back a bit, Friedman talked about what's going on in trade negotiations for Eichel between the Sabres and other teams around the NHL from a broader perspective.
"What the Sabres are trying to do is say, 'We've got [many] teams interested in Eichel, and we're going to play you all against each other to try and drive up the [trade] value,'" Friedman said. "What teams are saying is, 'Yes, you've got other teams [interested], but he's got an injury. We don't know about the [recovery] process.' ... They also say, 'You guys aren't dealing from a position of strength' in negotiations."
You can listen to Friedman's entire appearance with "The Instigators" below: