It's time to pay Jack Eichel what he's worth.

The Buffalo Sabres sniper's camp has reportedly been negotiating an eight-year contract extension for weeks, but the two sides appear hung up on the dollar amount.

Eichel, who has one more season left on his entry-level deal, is rumored to be seeking $10 million annually on a potential extension, but the club is believed to be reluctant to go that high, according to The Buffalo News' Mike Harrington.

The 20-year-old forward led Buffalo with 57 points and ranked second on the Sabres with 24 goals despite missing 21 games due to injury.

He finished 11th in the NHL among qualified players with 0.9344 points per game, just barely missing out on a $2-million bonus for ending up in the top 10, because Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers wrapped up the regular season at 0.939.

Eichel matched the goal total he posted in his rookie season and exceeded his point total from that 2015-16 campaign by one despite being limited to 20 fewer games.

That he was able to improve his rate of point production by more than 33 percent in an injury-plagued campaign provides quantitative evidence of his year-to-year improvement, and it's hard to imagine he'll regress considering the tools he possesses that justified his selection as the second overall pick behind Connor McDavid in 2015.

Eichel's negotiations have no doubt been influenced by McDavid's eight-year, $100-million extension and the eight-year, $68-million deal Draisaitl agreed to earlier this week. He doesn't deserve the $12.5 million McDavid will earn annually, but it makes sense to pay Eichel a number that slots in somewhere between the two Oilers stars.

The fact that Draisaitl agreed to take a team-friendly $8.5 million per campaign could work against Eichel in his contract talks considering their comparable point production, but it shouldn't.

Draisaitl collected many of those points while playing with McDavid, who won the Art Ross Trophy with 100 points in the regular season and took home the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP.

Giving Eichel upwards of $10 million per year would put him in rarefied air. A $10.5-million annual amount would match what the Chicago Blackhawks are paying Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews against the cap on their respective deals, and it would exceed Alex Ovechkin's cap hit.

But those contracts were signed years ago, the market has evolved since then, and Eichel is a star in the making whose name will soon be mentioned among the very best active players in the game if he continues to improve.

He has less than two full seasons under his belt at the NHL level, but neither his injury nor his relative inexperience should prevent him from truly cashing in.

It's understandable that the Sabres would be hesitant about giving Eichel $10 million every season until 2026, but we're at the point now where the two sides could be as close as $1 million apart on the annual figure, and they could be even closer.

While there's no huge rush to get a deal done, both sides would clearly like to avoid having talks stretch into the fall.

Is it really worth creating a potential in-season distraction when you're as close as you appear to be to locking up your franchise player for the majority of his prime years?

If the Sabres are indeed concerned about paying Eichel double digits on a per-season basis, they should get creative with the year-by-year breakdown and front-load it to give themselves flexibility in the future.

An extra million dollars per season won't do much to hamper their cap situation in the grand scheme of things, anyway, and conceding would create some added goodwill between the franchise and Eichel after a season full of reported frustration for the budding superstar.

The Sabres should offer him an eight-year, $80-million extension and shouldn't hesitate to do it any longer.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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Craig Cunningham will have his No. 14 retired by the Tuscon Roadrunners prior to an Oct. 27 contest against the Iowa Wild this season, nearly one year after an on-ice emergency ended the former captain of the team's playing days.

Cunningham appeared in 11 games with the Roadrunners last season. However, prior to a Nov. 19, 2016 contest against the Manitoba Moose, he suffered acute cardiac arrest and collapsed on the ice.

Cunningham was rushed to an area hospital where he was provided with life-saving care. He awoke from a coma nine days later when surgery was performed to amputate part of his foot as a result of the medical emergency.

Cunningham, 26, has since been named as a professional scout with the Arizona Coyotes, the parent club of the Roadrunners.

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A homecoming could be in the cards for Alexander Kerfoot.

The Harvard University center became an unrestricted free agent Wednesday, and one of his first meetings took place with his hometown Canucks, as he sat down with general manager Jim Benning, hockey operations president Trevor Linden, and new coach Travis Green.

Kerfoot has the opportunity to join a team of his choosing after he failed to sign an entry-level deal with the New Jersey Devils, which drafted him 150th overall in 2012. And while Wednesday's meet and greet didn't end with a contract, Kerfoot's agent J.P. Barry classified the talks as "productive and informative," per Rick Dhaliwal of NEWS 1130 Sports.

A finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, presented to the NCAA's top player, Kerfoot tallied 45 points in 36 games with Harvard last season. He wrapped his four-year collegiate career just above a point-per-game pace, as he registered 123 points in 121 contests.

Prior to reaching free agency, Devils GM Ray Shero made a late attempt to put pen to paper with Kerfoot, stating in July, "Would love to have him. I think what we're doing, he'd fit in the way he'd play. The speed he brings, the hockey sense, would love to have him. But I don't control that. He does."

Joining Vancouver's hockey scene wouldn't be a first for Kerfoot. Prior to committing to Harvard, he spent three seasons with the BCHL's Coquitlam Express.

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Jack Eichel likes life in Buffalo.

The Sabres center, who could enter the coming campaign on the final year of his entry-level contract, is negotiating a long-term extension with the club, which he hopes covers a championship for the city.

"I've made it clear that I want to be a Sabre. I want to be in Buffalo when we start winning. I want to reward the city," the North Chelmsford, Mass., native told Barry Scanlon from the Lowell Sun. "It's been two great years. I don't want to go anywhere else."

The Sabres drafted Eichel second overall in 2015, one slot behind Connor McDavid. The Edmonton Oilers captain, coming off a season in which he won the Art Ross and Hart Memorial trophies, agreed to an eight-year, $100-million extension this offseason, a deal which could be used as a comparison for Eichel.

So too could that of McDavid's teammate, Leon Draisaitl, who on Wednesday inked a $68-million extension that will him keep in Edmonton through 2025.

"We're in the midst of it. It's between my agent and (Sabres general manager) Mr. (Jason) Botterill," Eichel said. "I'm just going to work hard this summer. All of that tends to take care of itself. Obviously the contract is important. But for me it's all about the play."

Eichel, whose season was delayed last year due to a high ankle sprain, appeared in 61 games with the Sabres in 2016-17, recording 24 goals and 33 assists.

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While the players have been the centerpieces of the NHL's offseason movement, management teams deserve their due.

General managers have flexed their muscles this summer largely during the free agency period, using their wit to lure new fish to their rosters, while also locking up homegrown talent.

Here are five of the offseason's best signings:

5. Scott Hartnell - Predators

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

Hartnell has gone from buyout dud to potential offseason stud.

At the conclusion of the 2017 season, the Columbus Blue Jackets bought out the final two years of Hartnell's six-year, $28.5-million contract - which held an annual cap hit of $4.75 million.

Following the buyout, the Nashville Predators swooped in and signed the 35-year-old to a risk-free, one-year, $1-million deal.

Hartnell had a down year in 2017, tallying 13 goals and 37 points in 78 games, but he played just an average of 12:03 per game. In the three years prior, Hartnell averaged 23 goals and 53 points, but averaged 16:25 per night.

Hartnell's best days are surely behind him, but he can still produce if given an opportunity, and Nashville might just be able to provide him with that.

4. Kevin Shattenkirk - Rangers

Shattenkirk was the biggest fish to be had in free agency, and in the end he went where he wanted at solid value.

After stating his desire to play in the New York area, the Rangers inked the 28-year-old to a four-year, $26.6-million deal - an annual average of $6.65 million. Surprisingly, the Rangers didn't have to aggressively overpay for the offensive rearguard and also weren't swayed into giving him an excessively long-term deal.

Shattenkirk has 189 points over the last four seasons, good enough for 11th among defenders, while 104 of those points came on the power play, ranking second only to Erik Karlsson.

He's a great grab by the Rangers.

3. Tanner Pearson - Kings

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

This offseason, the Los Angeles Kings made sure to lockup two future stars in Tyler Toffoli and Pearson.

The club did well to get both on potential bargain deals, especially Pearson on a four-year deal with an annual average of $3.75 million.

Last season, the 25-year-old scored a career-high 24 goals, finishing behind only Jeff Carter for the Kings' lead. The two were the only Kings players to hit the 20-goal mark in 2016-17.

Pearson is still getting the hang of the NHL, but he looks to be a vital building block for the Kings, so getting him on a budget is a huge gain for the club.

2. Viktor Arvidsson - Predators

After Arvidsson's breakout season last year, the Predators took an interesting gamble with the 24-year-old winger.

They avoided a bridge deal, electing to sign Arvidsson to a seven-year, $29.75-million contract. The deal is risky given the term and the fact that Arvidsson appears to have come into his own only last season, pacing the team with 31 goals and sharing the lead in points with Ryan Johansen (61).

That said, if it was just a sign of what's to come for Arvidsson, locking him up long term at a $4.25-million cap hit is masterful work by GM David Poile.

1. Conor Sheary - Penguins

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

In Sheary's short time with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he's become an integral part of the team.

The 25-year-old has found a home on Sidney Crosby's wing, where his talent has become evident. Sheary played his first full season in 2017 and, despite being limited to 61 games, still managed 23 goals and 53 points.

In fact, he boasted a higher points per game average than John Tavares, Phil Kessel, Auston Matthews, and Johnny Gaudreau, just to name a few. Despite that, the Penguins were able to ink the restricted free agent to a three-year, $9-million deal.

If he can continue to develop and produce as he has, this contract could become one of the NHL's best bargains.

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A team name contest for a pending East Coast Hockey League franchise has turned up quite an entry.

Beginning in fall 2018, Portland will join the ECHL, but first it needs a name. Comcast Spectacor opened a "name the team" contest in July and on Thursday the final five nominees were announced. For better or worse, one entry has garnered more attention than the others.

The final five nominees are: the Mariners, the Watchmen, the Lumberjacks, the Puffins, and the Wild Blueberries.

As bizarre or awesome as Wild Blueberries might sound, blueberries are the official berry of Maine, as the state produces 10 percent of all blueberries in North America, according to the club.

Fans can vote on the five five nominees at PortlandMaineHockey.com.

- With h/t to Puck Daddy

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