For the first time since being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, center Jack Eichel will play his first game against the Buffalo Sabres following a "messy" divorce from the franchise that drafted him.
"I think about my time in Buffalo, it obviously ended a little bit messy," Eichel told ESPN's Emily Kaplan. "But I hope [fans] can look past some of the things that happened maybe in the last year and think about the previous five-and-a-half, six years that I was there and everything that I tried to do for the community, everything that I feel like I put forth on the ice as a hockey player, and know I just tried to do as much as I could for the city."
The Sabres selected Eichel with the second overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft and made him the face of the franchise. The team even signed Eichel to an eight-year, $80 million contract extension back in 2017.
However, late in the 2020-21 season, Eichel was suffering from a herniated disk in his neck and was out of the lineup indefinitely. After weighing his options, Eichel wanted to undergo artificial disk replacement surgery to repair his neck injury, which had never been performed on an NHL player before.
The Sabres made it clear that they didn't agree with Eichel's decision and wouldn't allow the star center to get the surgery. The NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement states that teams make the final decision when it comes to treating injuries.
Prior to the start of the 2021-22 NHL season, Eichel was stripped of his captaincy by the team, which ultimately opened to the door to being moved. In November, Eichel was traded to Vegas in exchange for forwards Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs and a pair of draft picks.
"I was frustrated," Eichel said regarding the team's decision not to allow him to receive the surgery. "If you think about the reason why you took the captaincy away from me, it was because I didn't agree with you medically. Then you basically told me not to come around for training camp. At that point, it just felt like they were toying with me. So I was just, I was pretty over it."
Shortly after Eichel was traded to Vegas, he received the fusion surgery that he had wanted for months. The procedure kept the 25-year old off the ice until last month when Eichel made his Golden Knights debut.
Since returning to the ice, Eichel has registered three goals and four assists in 10 games. Eichel also told ESPN that he isn't feeling "100 percent yet," but is on the right track.
Most recently, Eichel scored a game-winning goal with 5.2 seconds left to lift the Golden Knights to a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.
