"That part of the business is never going to be easy," Kyle Okposo said of the Jack Eichel trade. "But I think that it was time and there wasn't going to be an amicable ending to this thing.
Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
Kyle Okposo talks about the Jack Eichel trade Thursday with reporters at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
SEATTLE – Jack Eichel was with the Sabres before Kyle Okposo signed his seven-year, $42 million contract with the Sabres in 2016, and they've grown closer over the last three years. While everyone in the dressing room is happy that Eichel should be able to get healthy again and get back on the ice, the finality of Thursday's big trade struck Okposo hard.
In addition to acquiring draft choices in 2022 (first round, albeit top 10 protected) and 2023 (second round), Buffalo added power forward Alex Tuch and top prospect Peyton Krebs.
"If you want to be mad Eichel is an ex-Sabre, this one lies squarely at the feet of Terry and Kim Pegula, as well as Dan Bylsma, Phil Housley, Ralph Krueger and Jason Botterill," Harrington writes.
"That part of the business is never going to be easy," Kyle Okposo said of the Jack Eichel trade. "But I think that it was time and there wasn't going to be an amicable ending to this thing.
