Jack Eichel Discusses Time with Sabres After Blockbuster Trade to Golden Knights

Now that his tenure with the Buffalo Sabres has come to an end, Jack Eichel has opened up about what went wrong when he was with the organization. 

Speaking to Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada, Eichel said the front office changes after the 2019-20 season and the team's struggles last season were major contributing factors to his wanting out:

The Sabres announced on Thursday that they sent Eichel and a 2023 third-round draft pick to the Vegas Golden Knights for Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, a 2022 protected first-round pick and a 2023 second-round pick. 

The Sabres fired general manager Jason Botterill on June 16, 2020. They had zero playoff appearances during his three seasons running the front office. 

Kevyn Adams, who took over for Botterill, told WGR 550 in Buffalo (h/t NHL.com) in September 2020 that he wasn't going to trade Eichel. 

"I think it is something that I want to make very clear, we have no intentions and we're not shopping Jack or talking to teams looking to do anything with Jack," Adams said. "People call and ask questions and you have conversations."

That came after TSN's Bob McKenzie reported the Sabres did take some calls from other teams about Eichel's availability, but the 25-year-old wasn't interested in moving on at that time.

Things seemed to take a turn last season, as the Sabres posted the league's worst record (15-34-7). They fired head coach Ralph Krueger on March 17 after 12 consecutive losses. The losing streak reached 18 games before a 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on March 31. 

Eichel played in only 21 games last season because of a spinal disc herniation that required surgery. He and the Sabres had differing opinions on the type of procedure that would best treat the issue. 

His personal doctor, Chad J. Prusmack, said on the 31 Thoughts podcast (h/t Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News) in July that Eichel wanted an artificial disc replacement. The Sabres preferred the more common anterior cervical discectomy with fusion operation.

Harrington noted the artificial disc replacement procedure has never been done on an NHL player, despite being around since 2000. 

Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon told reporters Thursday that Eichel will be permitted to have the surgery he wants. 

Eichel was expected to be the face of the franchise and lead the Sabres back to prominence after they selected him with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NHL draft. He led the team in points in four straight seasons from 2016-19. 

However, the Sabres never finished higher than sixth in their division in any of Eichel's six seasons with the organization.