Jack Eichel

Limited attendance notwithstanding, the Rangers-Devils' four-game set over the past week felt like a postseason series.

While the Devils were supposed to be in a growing year, their counterparts across the Hudson came into the season with optimistic expectations. Artemi Panarin is one of the NHL's most dynamic forwards. Rangers youngsters such as Adam Fox, Kaapo Kakko and Ryan Lindgren gained postseason experience in last year's bubble. To top it all off, they drafted Alexis Lafreniere No. 1 overall in October. 

Yet the Rangers have endured a frustrating roller coaster of a season. A slow start put them on the outside looking in of the four playoff spots of the MassMutual East Division, but they've come alive in recent games. They're riding a four-game winning streak after a sweep of their lowly division rivals and sit four points out of a playoff spot, but they have to contend with four legitimate Stanley Cup hopefuls ahead of them. It's an uphill climb and a steep one.

The Blueshirts are in a strange sort of limbo. They probably aren't good enough to reach the postseason, but they're not bad enough to tank and try to get another high draft pick.

The Rangers have four key young players in the lineup in Lafreniere, 2019 first-rounder Kakko, 2018 first-round pick K'Andre Miller and goalie Igor Shesterkin (drafted No. 118 in 2014). They have one of the best forwards in the game in Panarin and a Norris Trophy hopeful in Fox.

Pavel Buchnevich celebrated his 26th birthday with his first career hat trick Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. Vitali Kravtsov, another 2018 pick, debuted earlier this month after a standout KHL career. 

The club also boasts one of the NHL's top prospect pools, so it's impossible to not be excited about the future of the Rangers. But if they weren't able to do any damage in the East Division this year, then what will it take to compete in the Metropolitan Division moving forward?

Divisional alignment will play a role. The previous divisional format will likely return next season, so the Rangers won't be forced to play 32 games against the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders. Seeing all 32 teams will level the playing field.

The trade deadline came and went without the Rangers making any major deals. Being good but not good enough is a tough spot for a general manager. Typically, it's frowned upon to not do anything at the deadline. It is a way to gain assets for the future, be it short-term or long-term. Be a buyer or be a seller, but don't do nothing.

But this was a unique situation where doing nothing was the best thing. General manager Jeff Gorton opted to not give up a key piece in the rebuild for a pricey rental who may be able to help the Rangers get to the playoffs but not much further. 

The team should be aggressive in the trade market this summer. The Rangers have nine draft picks this year and seven next year, including both first-round picks. At some point, they'll have to upgrade Panarin's center, and Buffalo's Jack Eichel should be the obvious target. The Rangers have to decide if Eichel, along with the five years and $50 million left on his contract, is worth it or if they can stand pat with Ryan Strome as Panarin's linemate.

But elite, playmaking centers of Eichel's caliber don't come along often. Scoring wingers of Panarin's caliber don't come along often either, and elite tandems like that usually lead to championships. Just ask Ryan Getzlaf about having Corey Perry on his wing with the Anaheim Ducks or Jonathan Toews about having Patrick Kane by his side in Chicago.

Eichel leads the Rangers brass to what might be the biggest question of the offseason: Do they keep coach David Quinn or go in another direction for the next step in this rebuild? 

Quinn, the former Boston University coach hired in 2018, has been scrutinized for the slow development of Kakko and Lafreniere. The criticism hit a fever pitch when Quinn and his assistants were forced to quarantine because of COVID-19 protocols in March. Kris Knoblauch, the head coach of the team's AHL affiliate, took over behind the bench. In Knoblauch's first game filling in for Quinn, the Rangers walloped the Flyers 9-0, and the team went on a 4-2 run with him in charge.

Established coaches like Claude Julien are out there, and others will become available after the season ends. But Eichel might want to play for Quinn, his former college coach, and the younger players might be better served with some coaching continuity.

The kids on the team will get a crash course in elevated play over the final month of the season. Forget all of the analytics and underlying numbers. Kravtsov, Miller, Kakko and Lafreniere will get bigger roles, play bigger minutes and face difficult matchups.

Maybe they'll steal a few more wins than anticipated and get themselves into a postseason position. If not, this kind of late-season experience may be more beneficial than playing in lopsided postseason losses anyway.

The next step in this rebuild should be the one that gets the Rangers back into contention, not just for playoff spots but for Stanley Cups too. Their core is too good and their farm system is too deep for anything else. The Rangers are almost ready to contend again, but the club has to answer some big questions before it can take that next step.

Buffalo Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger announced Saturday center Jack Eichel will be out of the lineup for the "foreseeable future" with an upper-body injury.

Former NHL defenseman Aaron Ward reported Eichel is expected to miss around eight weeks with a neck injury, which means he could be sidelined for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.

Eichel, the second overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft, enjoyed a strong rookie season for the Sabres. The former Boston University standout tallied 24 goals and 32 assists across 81 games. His second season got off to a delayed start because of a high-ankle sprain, however.

The 24-year-old Massachusetts native missed the first quarter of the 2016-17 campaign with the ailment, which he suffered in the final practice before the season. He returned to play the final 61 contests. It represented a rare health setback after missing just one game each as a rookie and during his year at BU.

Eichel suffered another high-ankle sprain during the 2017-18 season. He ended up making 67 appearances before bouncing back to play 145 appearances over the past two years.

In all, he's tallied 355 points in 375 career games despite the injury absences.

The Sabres will need to juggle the lineup to fill the void. Rookie Dylan Cozens is the best option to take over alongside Taylor Hall and Sam Reinhart on the top line, but Krueger's head-scratching lineup decisions make it tough to project how the lines will look in the coming weeks.

Buffalo's offense has ranked near the bottom of the league in recent years, and its struggles are compounded when Eichel is sidelined. That said, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the team play it safe with its young star with an eye toward the future since it's not prepared to contend yet.

Leon Draisaitl may have won the 2019-20 Hart Trophy, but his Edmonton Oilers teammate Conor McDavid is the favorite to take home the NHL MVP this season. 

DraftKings Sportsbook currently lists McDavid as a +450 favorite to take home hockey's top honor. However, Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon has actually drawn in the largest number of bets at +550.

Draisaitl is apparently far from the bettors' minds, as he does not show up among the favorites or most-bet options. No player has repeated as the Hart winner since Alexander Ovechkin in 2007-08 and 2008-09.

McDavid previously won the Hart Trophy in 2016-17 at the age of 20 and has finished in the top five in voting each of the last four years. 

MacKinnon has finished second in the Hart voting twice in the last three years, and it's considered a matter of time before he ultimately adds the MVP to his mantle.

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A shorter NHL offseason means even less time between the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs and the start of serious trade talks.

As the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrate the second title in franchise history, players and staff will want to keep an eye on their phones to make sure they aren't left out of the loop. Already the NHL has seen a number of trades—both small and large—completed, with the likes of Marc Staal, Patric Hornqvist and Dylan Sikura on the move.

Those deals are more than likely an appetizer for what's to come.

With the NHL draft set to get underway Tuesday, talks around the league are beginning to produce some rumors that bear watching.

Perhaps the most important name being discussed is Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel.

Rumors surrounding Eichel keep popping up, yet it doesn't appear there's much to them—though TSN's Bob McKenzie felt the need to check in.

McKenzie reported Eichel isn't asking out of Buffalo and that the Sabres don't appear interested in trading him. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman is hearing the same, with one major caveat: If things don't get better in Buffalo next year, talk of moving Eichel may gain more steam.

For now, a change of scenery appears unlikely.

"People make phone calls and ask about players every day," Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams told Andrew Peters and Craig Rivet of WGR 550. "My job is to listen. ... We have no intention and we're not looking to do anything with Jack Eichel."

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference, the New Jersey Devils may be getting ready to grab a young, club-controlled talent who can add an immediate boost to the lineup.

Friedman reports at least two of the Devils' three first-round picks are available in trade talks, with the No. 18 and No. 20 overall selections most likely to be moved. The No. 7 overall pick also belongs to New Jersey, but given the depth at the top of the draft pool, it may take a relative blockbuster for the Devils to part with that.

According to Friedman, New Jersey would be open to moving down if that gives it a chance to add an NHL-ready player.

One player who could be worth targeting is Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba.

The Athletic's Michael Russo recently noted talk of moving Dumba has "cooled," with general manager Bill Guerin "underwhelmed" by offers. Minnesota needs a second-line center and some scoring depth, so trading for New Jersey's first-rounders doesn't exactly line up here.

Per Russo:

"Guerin has made it very clear to his compatriots that he's not just giving Dumba away. If Dumba's the asset that can eventually get a center but there's none to Guerin's liking now, he can just hold on to Dumba until one becomes available. After all, Dumba's got three more years left on his contract."

Perhaps draft day changes that and the Wild are able to get their guy.

In the meantime, Minnesota will continue searching for scoring anywhere it can.

TSN's Bob McKenzie reported Monday that Buffalo Sabres star Jack Eichel may have requested a trade, and the New York Rangers are one of the teams interested in acquiring him.

Eichel's agent attempted to put the rumor to rest when McKenzie inquired about them.

"I hear that trade talk a lot," he said. "Jack wants to win, he's frustrated [not winning] but no, he doesn't want out. Jack is preparing to head to Buffalo at some point here and prepare for the season, whenever that may be. That's all he controls."  

McKenzie said that the team also said they were not actively looking to trade Eichel, but several teams inquired about the center's availability when Kevyn Adams took over as the team's general manager in June.

"None of those talks with other clubs resulted in Eichel trade traction," McKenzie wrote. "But it's also believed there has been dialogue between Eichel and [Buffalo] to ensure they both want the same thing (to get better obviously) and share the same timetable (sooner rather than later). 

The bottom line, McKenzie reported, was that calls were made, but Eichel is staying put.

Since Eichel was drafted out of Boston University in the first round in 2015, has been a mainstay in the Sabres lineup since he joined the team. Through five years, he has appeared in 354 games, starting 137 of them, and has potted 137 goals and helped out on 200 others. 

The Sabres want to keep him around, which is clear in the contract they signed him to in 2017—an eight-year extension, with a $10 million cap hit annually. 

Eichel is the focal point of a Sabres squad that went 30-31-8 this season, and at just 23, he's the future of the team, too. It would serve the Sabres well to keep him around.