Jack Eichel fails physical and is stripped of Buffalo Sabres captaincy
Jack Eichel is no longer the captain of the Buffalo Sabres.
The 2015 No. 2 overall pick failed his physical and has been placed on the Injured Reserve. Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams also announced that the team has chosen to strip him of his captaincy.
“I spoke to Jack two days ago, I spoke to the team yesterday and addressed this, Jack Eichel is no longer the captain of the Buffalo Sabres. From our perspective, the captain is your heartbeat of your team, and we are in a situation where we felt we needed to make that decision.” pic.twitter.com/K0vajWnCR0
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) September 23, 2021
None of this comes as much of a surprise as Eichel has been the league’s top trade candidate over the past few months.
Eichel was limited to just 21 games in 2021 due to a herniated disc in his neck and the player and the team have developed a rift on how to proceed. Eichel wants to have artificial disk replacement surgery that has never been performed on an NHL player while the Sabres want him to avoid having surgery.
Eichel’s exit interview with the team, specifically his quote “wherever that might be” in regards to where he’ll be playing next season, made it very clear that he was ready to move on…
The full Jack Eichel quote from his @BuffaloSabres exit interview. pic.twitter.com/VhanttZNWy
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) May 10, 2021
The Sabres have reportedly been trying to move Eichel over the off-season but they haven’t yet found a deal that works for them. As a result, Eichel waits in purgatory.
Buffalo dealt veterans @Sam Reinhart and @Rasmus Ristolainen this summer and are diving into another full-on rebuild. It seems it’s only a matter of time before Eichel has a new home as well.