Two Team Race for Buffalo Sabres Captain Jack Eichel

The Jack Eichel sweepstakes are not going well for the Buffalo Sabres as general manager Kevyn Adams has less and less teams to negotiate with. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet is reporting several teams have bowed out, including the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings. Meanwhile there does appear to be two teams currently in a bidding war.

The New York Rangers and the Minnesota Wild. The Rangers have had interest in Eichel for years and were close to acquiring him last summer. Meanwhile the Wild are trying to make major changes which have already started with the buy outs of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise. However the team now has a ton of dead cap space, including $14 million in a couple of years, so fitting in Eichel's $10 million per season and then also trying to sign super-rookie Kirill Kaprizov and add other talent for the future, is a tough task for Wild general manager Bill Guerin.

Look for Eichel to either be moved at the NHL Draft or shortly into August once some teams start signing players and rosters start to take shape for next season.

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