from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

...someone please explain what numbers Jack Eichel could possibly put up in Buffalo over the next four seasons that would turn the eight-year, $80 Million extension he was granted this week — and for which the Sabres were hailed — into a cost-saver?

Ten million dollars a year for a player—as gifted and motivated as the 20-year-old center might be—who in 143 career games had recorded 48 goals and 114 points for a team that hadn’t come close to contending for a playoff spot.

More per year than Sidney Crosby and Evegni Malkin earn in Pittsburgh. More per year than Carey Price earns in Montreal. More per year than Alex Ovechkin earns in Washington. More per year on a deal for which Eichel had zero negotiating leverage. Zero....

Connor McDavid, the guy who is faster than a speeding bullet, is one. Auston Matthews, after only 84 games in the league, most certainly appears to be another. But that is why they are called generational players.

Genuflect before me if I am wrong, but has anyone ever applied that tag to Nikolaj Ehlers? Nevertheless, the Jets rushed to sign the winger who had recorded 40 goals and 102 points in his first two seasons to a seven-year extension worth $6 million per.

And there in Tampa Bay is generational talent Nikita Kucherov working for $4.767 million per on his second deal because his GM, Steve Yzerman, swung the hammer when he had it and forced the Russian winger to cross the bridge when he came to it.

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