I have a lot of content already pre-written in preparation for a Jack Eichel trade. I was going to hold onto all of these until the move was made and release the content accordingly. Instead, I’ve decided to not waste the time I put into these and release some of them as a series. I’ll keep putting these types of pieces out until a trade goes down.

I’m going to focus on players that could fit the Sabres that are not the “main piece.” Basically, these won’t be about Peyton Krebs, Trevor Zegras, and Marco Rossi. It’ll be about the other pieces that could be involved in possible trade scenarios. Up first is one of my personal favories in Max Comtois.

The Canadian-born winger just completed his first full NHL season. He scored 16 goals and 33 points in 55 games. That is a 24-goal and 49 points pace over 82 games. Comtois was one of the best 5 on 5 scorers in the league last season. He ranked 30th in 5 on 5 goals per 60 minutes (1.17) and 50th among all players in points per 60 (2.34), according to Evolving Hockey.

Impacts

His on-ice impacts are strong when you look at the publicly available models. Micah McCurdy’s model has him as a break-even forward that has plus finishing ability.

The twins’ goals above replacement model shows how strong of a season Comtois had offensively this past season. He broke out on a pretty poor Ducks club as one of their key offensive players.

Playing Style

When people say that they want the Sabres to be harder to play against on a nightly basis, they’re talking about adding players like Comtois. His style of play fits perfectly for what they need to add to their lineup. Comtois is a strong forechecker and uses his size to gain space on the ice. Combine that with his offensive skill and you can begin to see why he’s an intriguing player.

I watched a handful of Ducks games from last season and some of his games playing for Canada in the World Championships to get some video of how he plays.

In this first clip, Comtois comes crashing down on the Finnish defenseman to force a quick decision. He then gets back into the play to cause a turnover that results in a penalty. 

Comtois isn’t a big speed player, but he skates with power through the neutral zone once he gets moving. You can see him pick up speed in the clip below pick up speed carrying the puck and then getting in on the forecheck to regain possession.

Here’s a similar clip while playing with the Ducks.

Comtois will always be located around the net in the offensive zone. He has great finishing ability in tight and can use his size to get position on opposing defenders. In the clip below he falls down in the corner and immediately goes to the net to deflect in a goal.

This was a big goal in the Gold Medal game in the IIHF World Championships on the power play. He enters the zone with possession. Passes it off to the defender and heads right to the net.

While Comtois may not be the headliner of a trade I feel like he would be a key roster player for them to get back. He immediately steps into their top six and can replace some of the scoring lost with the departure of Eichel. He’ll need a new contract as he’s currently a restricted free agent, but he’s not arbitration-eligible. That should make that process easier between the two sides.

Data via: Evolving Hockey and Hockeyviz.com

Photo Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images