The Buffalo Sabres announced on Wednesday that captain Jack Eichel will miss the rest of the season, as the forward has been sidelined due a herniated disc. While arguably not the outcome he wanted, Eichel is expected to be ready for the start of next season.
Through the duration of this shortened season, Eichel has skated in just 21 games, racking up two goals along with 16 assists. As such, he’s tallied 18 points, along with a Plus/Minus of -10. This season did not go as expected for Eichel, nor did it for many other players on the Sabres roster. The American had to sit and watch his team go through an 18-game winless streak, the firing of Ralph Krueger, another trade deadline where they were sellers instead of bolstering for the playoffs and many other negative aspects of the hockey club. The question now for Eichel and the Sabres is, what’s next?
In his end of the season press conference at the end of the 2019-20 season, Eichel let his anger and frustration loose, saying he was “sick of losing” and he was “frustrated with the way this team is headed.” The 2015 second overall pick has not made the playoffs in his career with the Sabres yet, and with Buffalo’s 10th consecutive season without making the postseason within reach, GM Kevyn Adams and associate GM Jason Karmanos have a lot of work to do this offseason to assure Jack Eichel he will want to stay with the organization.
The Sabres are set to play Thursday in Washington to take on the Capitals at 7:00pmET. Goaltender Linus Ullmark left Tuesday’s game against the Bruins and no update has been provided since the time of his injury. This paved the way in Boston for Dustin Tokarski to start in net for Buffalo.