Fans have been dreaming of Sabres forward Jack Eichel in...

Fans have been dreaming of Sabres forward Jack Eichel in a Rangers uniform, but they would probably have to give up a lot of young talent. Credit: AP/Jeffrey T. Barnes

The speculation about Jack Eichel refuses to go away, or even quiet down for a while. The Buffalo Sabres center has been the subject of trade rumors for months, ever since he told The Athletic in an interview last spring that he was "fed up with the losing.’’

"It’s been a tough five years,’’ Eichel told The Athletic back in May. "I’m a competitor. I want to win every time I go on the ice. I want to win the Stanley Cup every time I start a season.’’

Right now, it doesn’t look like that will happen this year for Eichel, who is in his sixth season and has never appeared in a playoff game. The Sabres were in last place in the East Division when they visited Madison Square Garden Tuesday night to play the Rangers in the 20th game of the season for each team. The top four teams in each division will make the playoffs in this year’s 56-game season, and at the moment, both the Sabres (6-10-3) and Rangers (7-9-3) are on the outside looking in.

Buffalo had its season interrupted by a two-week break because of COVID-19 issues within its team, and entered Tuesday 2-6-1 in the nine games since that break. And with every loss, the chatter seemed to grow louder about the likelihood that Eichel, Buffalo’s captain and the No. 2 pick overall in the 2015 draft, will be traded, most likely in the offseason. The Rangers are among the teams rumored to be in the mix to potentially acquire the 24-year-old Eichel, along with the L.A. Kings, Boston Bruins, Minnesota Wild and others.

The Kings and Rangers are generally thought to have the most high-end prospects to offer in return, as well as the necessary space under the salary cap to absorb Eichel’s $10 million per year cap hit.

No doubt, many among the 1,800 fans expected to be in the Garden for the game would be looking at Eichel and imagining him in a Rangers jersey, playing for his old college coach, David Quinn. With the Rangers’ own top center, Mika Zibanejad, struggling mightily this season (2 goals, 4 assists in 19 games entering Tuesday) the thought of having Eichel in a Blueshirt is something many Ranger fans have been dreaming about.

The reality is, though, trading for a player like Eichel, who had 139 goals and 351 points in 371 career games entering Tuesday, would be expensive. If the Sabres did decide to move on from their franchise player, they wouldn’t settle for mere draft picks and spare parts in return. They would be demanding good players back, and the names of Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, K’Andre Miller have all been tossed around in speculation. Giving up any of those young players to get Eichel would hurt.

Lafreniere, the No. 1 pick overall in 2020, had assists in each of the last two games entering Tuesday night, playing on the Rangers’ top line with Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich. Kakko, who missed his fifth straight game after being placed on the COVID-19 list, had been one of the Rangers’ top players before he was sidelined, and Miller has been one of the Rangers’ steadiest and most impressive defensemen this season.

Eichel has battled injuries all season, and was a last-minute scratch for the Sabres’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Devils last Thursday. He entered Tuesday with two goals and 12 assists (14 points) in 17 games for the Sabres. That point total was tied for second on the Sabres, and would be second on the Rangers, behind Artemi Panarin, who missed his fourth game since taking a leave of absence from the team last week.

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