Jack Eichel

The Buffalo Sabres announced center Jack Eichel will miss the remainder of the 2020-21 season because of a herniated disc in his neck.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported Wednesday that Eichel, who last played March 7, will have surgery "soon" so he can begin recovery and preparations for next season.

The 24-year-old Boston University product is one of the NHL's most dynamic offensive talents when healthy. He's recorded 355 points (139 goals and 216 assists) across 375 games since the Sabres selected him with the second overall picks in the 2015 draft. He tallied two goals and 16 helpers in 21 appearances this season.

Eichel has remained mostly durable during his time in Buffalo. His absence because of the upper-body injury marked his first extended time out of the lineup since suffering a high-ankle sprain in back-to-back seasons (2016-17 and 2017-18).

Sam Reinhart should continue to serve as the team's top-line center after shifting over from right wing. It could also lead to more opportunities for the resurgent Casey Mittelstadt in offensive situations.

Eichel is a critical piece of an otherwise struggling Sabres offense. It always made sense for the team to play it safe with its captain following his latest injury since they fall well short of the contender category again this season and he remains a foundational cornerstone for the future.

Buffalo Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger announced Saturday center Jack Eichel will be out of the lineup for the "foreseeable future" with an upper-body injury.

Former NHL defenseman Aaron Ward reported Eichel is expected to miss around eight weeks with a neck injury, which means he could be sidelined for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.

Eichel, the second overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft, enjoyed a strong rookie season for the Sabres. The former Boston University standout tallied 24 goals and 32 assists across 81 games. His second season got off to a delayed start because of a high-ankle sprain, however.

The 24-year-old Massachusetts native missed the first quarter of the 2016-17 campaign with the ailment, which he suffered in the final practice before the season. He returned to play the final 61 contests. It represented a rare health setback after missing just one game each as a rookie and during his year at BU.

Eichel suffered another high-ankle sprain during the 2017-18 season. He ended up making 67 appearances before bouncing back to play 145 appearances over the past two years.

In all, he's tallied 355 points in 375 career games despite the injury absences.

The Sabres will need to juggle the lineup to fill the void. Rookie Dylan Cozens is the best option to take over alongside Taylor Hall and Sam Reinhart on the top line, but Krueger's head-scratching lineup decisions make it tough to project how the lines will look in the coming weeks.

Buffalo's offense has ranked near the bottom of the league in recent years, and its struggles are compounded when Eichel is sidelined. That said, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the team play it safe with its young star with an eye toward the future since it's not prepared to contend yet.

Following the 2019-20 NHL season, disgruntled Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen said what every Sabres fan has been thinking for years:

"Buffalo has a bright future, but we've been saying the 'bright future' for seven years now when I've been here. And I'm not sure, when is it?"

The future is still, well, in the future. It's not here yet, and that much is clear after another uninspiring loss by the Sabres on Thursday night. Buffalo might be a revamped squad this season after adding elite forward Taylor Hall and a few quality role players, yet the results are still the same. 

The Sabres are 4-7-2 and sitting in last place in the East Division. 

The expectations surrounding the Sabres were somewhat subdued heading into the 2021 season, because after years of rebuilding, fans know better than to get too excited. And they clearly were not wrong in tempering those expectations, because night after night, the Sabres continue to look disjointed, which leads to the inevitable question: Will Jack Eichel be around much longer?

Whether or not Buffalo wants to trade the 2015 No. 2 overall pick is one thing, but whether it should is another. It's time to begin the teardown in Buffalo.

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman recently appeared on the Sabres' radio show The Instigators (h/t The Athletic's John Vogl) and said that, yes, he could see Eichel being traded. First-year general manager Kevyn Adams said he received calls about the availability of the 24-year-old captain in October. 

Adams is in an unenviable position. He was tasked with building a team around a frustrated star on the fly, and while he was able to make some notable acquisitions, they haven't been working out. There was a long layoff due to a COVID-19 outbreak, but the Sabres weren't playing well even before 12 games were rescheduled. 

Hall, the 2018 Hart Trophy winner who put the New Jersey Devils on his back and dragged them to a playoff spot that year, has not been the same since that season. His knee injury cost him much of the 2018-19 season and he was snakebitten last year, often unable to capitalize on high-danger scoring chances. 

Some of it was puck luck, some of it was good goalies, some of it could be attributed to the Devils' weak blue line being unable to get the puck up to their talented forwards. Hall made an impact after he was traded to the Arizona Coyotes, but he still struggled to produce points at a high rate. 

This season, he came to Buffalo as a surprise free-agent signing, hoping to reset his market. From the outside, it looked as though playing alongside an elite center like Eichel would help him boost his own game. 

Hall also wanted the opportunity to play for coach Ralph Krueger, who was an assistant he grew close with in his early years in the NHL playing for the Edmonton Oilers. After seeing how John Hynes helped his game in New Jersey, Hall understood the impact of a quality head coach and how beneficial the relationship can be. 

But Hall has been better off on his own line. He doesn't need a center to drive the offense because he's capable of doing that himself, and the Sabres have struggled to jump-start the line with Eichel and Jeff Skinner. On paper, the Sabres now have the personnel to have two dominant forward lines, but nothing seems to be working out the way it should. 

Hall appears to be just as snakebitten as he was last season. He's shooting at a dismal 3.0 percent. Eichel's 4.5 percent isn't much better. According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic, Hall is interested in a contract extension in Buffalo. Maybe it's better off trading him as well, but it's worth a shot if he wants to stay. He gives the Sabres a big piece to work with. 

And what do we make of Rasmus Dahlin? The defenseman hasn't quite developed into the top-pairing, two-way threat the club hoped he would be. The Sabres are beginning to look like the Oilers did a few years ago, with all of the high draft picks and nothing to show for them. Except the Oilers have at least managed to get Connor McDavid to the playoffs twice, and Eichel is still waiting for that to happen in Buffalo. 

Trading a 24-year-old captain is a sign that the organization is not in a good place, but it might expedite the rebuilding process. The Devils traded away Hall last season, and while they're not exactly at the top of the standings, they're in a much better place than they were a year ago. And not because they traded Hall, but because Hall was the first domino to fall. Once he did, the club was able to make a series of moves that added to its prospect pool and strengthened its NHL roster as well. 

Eichel is in the third year of an eight-year, $80 million contract, and his no-move clause doesn't kick in until the 2022-23 season. The $10 million cap hit is high. It might be too high for some teams to make work, but two clubs do stand out. 

The New York Rangers seem to believe they have the pieces in place to win right away, and someone of Eichel's caliber would certainly add depth to a talented forward group. Much like in baseball, anytime a team is having trouble hanging on to a star, rumors that the player will go to the Yankees start flying. It's no different in hockey, where coming to New York and playing on Broadway provides a different level of marketability and exposure as well as the expectation of winning. 

The Rangers also have the cap space and the prospects to be able to make a deal for Eichel, though one could make the argument that they need more help on the blue line than anywhere else. However, the Rangers are led by Eichel's collegiate coach from Boston University, David Quinn.

If they can't make a deal for Eichel midseason but see an opening in the offseason, it may entice them to keep Quinn around for another season or two. 

The Los Angeles Kings also have the cap space, and Eichel has trained in the area with Ben Bruno, as documented on the trainer's Instagram page. However, they're a few years away from being a playoff team again. The Kings finally have some developing talent after years of bare minor league cupboards. 

The Devils have some cap space to work with, and they would have even more if they could get P.K. Subban's contract off their books. Eichel, Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes would give them considerable depth up the middle and add immense talent to a burgeoning young core. Typically, the Devils tend to shy away from long contracts like Eichel's, but his age makes this a relative bargain. However, they do have some restricted free agents that will need to be extended after this season, which could preclude them from taking on a big investment like this.

Tearing down a rebuilt team is never ideal, but the Sabres may not have a choice. If they want to see that bright future eventually come to fruition, this could be their best path forward, and the best path for a player who has been "fed up" with losing. 

Leon Draisaitl may have won the 2019-20 Hart Trophy, but his Edmonton Oilers teammate Conor McDavid is the favorite to take home the NHL MVP this season. 

DraftKings Sportsbook currently lists McDavid as a +450 favorite to take home hockey's top honor. However, Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon has actually drawn in the largest number of bets at +550.

Draisaitl is apparently far from the bettors' minds, as he does not show up among the favorites or most-bet options. No player has repeated as the Hart winner since Alexander Ovechkin in 2007-08 and 2008-09.

McDavid previously won the Hart Trophy in 2016-17 at the age of 20 and has finished in the top five in voting each of the last four years. 

MacKinnon has finished second in the Hart voting twice in the last three years, and it's considered a matter of time before he ultimately adds the MVP to his mantle.

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A shorter NHL offseason means even less time between the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs and the start of serious trade talks.

As the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrate the second title in franchise history, players and staff will want to keep an eye on their phones to make sure they aren't left out of the loop. Already the NHL has seen a number of trades—both small and large—completed, with the likes of Marc Staal, Patric Hornqvist and Dylan Sikura on the move.

Those deals are more than likely an appetizer for what's to come.

With the NHL draft set to get underway Tuesday, talks around the league are beginning to produce some rumors that bear watching.

Perhaps the most important name being discussed is Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel.

Rumors surrounding Eichel keep popping up, yet it doesn't appear there's much to them—though TSN's Bob McKenzie felt the need to check in.

McKenzie reported Eichel isn't asking out of Buffalo and that the Sabres don't appear interested in trading him. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman is hearing the same, with one major caveat: If things don't get better in Buffalo next year, talk of moving Eichel may gain more steam.

For now, a change of scenery appears unlikely.

"People make phone calls and ask about players every day," Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams told Andrew Peters and Craig Rivet of WGR 550. "My job is to listen. ... We have no intention and we're not looking to do anything with Jack Eichel."

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference, the New Jersey Devils may be getting ready to grab a young, club-controlled talent who can add an immediate boost to the lineup.

Friedman reports at least two of the Devils' three first-round picks are available in trade talks, with the No. 18 and No. 20 overall selections most likely to be moved. The No. 7 overall pick also belongs to New Jersey, but given the depth at the top of the draft pool, it may take a relative blockbuster for the Devils to part with that.

According to Friedman, New Jersey would be open to moving down if that gives it a chance to add an NHL-ready player.

One player who could be worth targeting is Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba.

The Athletic's Michael Russo recently noted talk of moving Dumba has "cooled," with general manager Bill Guerin "underwhelmed" by offers. Minnesota needs a second-line center and some scoring depth, so trading for New Jersey's first-rounders doesn't exactly line up here.

Per Russo:

"Guerin has made it very clear to his compatriots that he's not just giving Dumba away. If Dumba's the asset that can eventually get a center but there's none to Guerin's liking now, he can just hold on to Dumba until one becomes available. After all, Dumba's got three more years left on his contract."

Perhaps draft day changes that and the Wild are able to get their guy.

In the meantime, Minnesota will continue searching for scoring anywhere it can.

TSN's Bob McKenzie reported Monday that Buffalo Sabres star Jack Eichel may have requested a trade, and the New York Rangers are one of the teams interested in acquiring him.

Eichel's agent attempted to put the rumor to rest when McKenzie inquired about them.

"I hear that trade talk a lot," he said. "Jack wants to win, he's frustrated [not winning] but no, he doesn't want out. Jack is preparing to head to Buffalo at some point here and prepare for the season, whenever that may be. That's all he controls."  

McKenzie said that the team also said they were not actively looking to trade Eichel, but several teams inquired about the center's availability when Kevyn Adams took over as the team's general manager in June.

"None of those talks with other clubs resulted in Eichel trade traction," McKenzie wrote. "But it's also believed there has been dialogue between Eichel and [Buffalo] to ensure they both want the same thing (to get better obviously) and share the same timetable (sooner rather than later). 

The bottom line, McKenzie reported, was that calls were made, but Eichel is staying put.

Since Eichel was drafted out of Boston University in the first round in 2015, has been a mainstay in the Sabres lineup since he joined the team. Through five years, he has appeared in 354 games, starting 137 of them, and has potted 137 goals and helped out on 200 others. 

The Sabres want to keep him around, which is clear in the contract they signed him to in 2017—an eight-year extension, with a $10 million cap hit annually. 

Eichel is the focal point of a Sabres squad that went 30-31-8 this season, and at just 23, he's the future of the team, too. It would serve the Sabres well to keep him around.