The Buffalo Sabres have announced their captain Jack Eichel will miss the rest of the season due to a neck injury. The captain is expected to be back for the 2021-22 season.
Injury update: captain Jack Eichel will miss the remainder of the season due to a herniated disc in his neck.
Eichel is expected to be healthy and ready to play at the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
Details: https://t.co/7a0Ekah5Pj pic.twitter.com/xGHJbcnzdF
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 14, 2021
Jack Eichel To Miss Rest Of the Year Due to Neck Injury
Eichel has been out of the lineup since March 7 after sustaining an injury on a game against the New York Islanders. He hit the board awkwardly after being checked by the Islanders’ Casey Cizikas. Afterwards, he left the ice with some discomfort on his neck. The forward has missed 19 games since, having travelled out of state to seek treatment.
The Sabres’ general manager Kevyn Adams didn’t have an update on Eichel during his media availability on Monday. However, he hadn’t ruled the captain out of the season completely until now.
Elliotte Friedman has reported the centreman will undergo surgery soon but no official word from the team regarding surgery has been released. It has also been reported that the 24-year-old player has been nursing an upper-body injury since training camp.
Eichel played 21 games this season, scoring two goals and 16 assists for 18 points. During last year’s campaign, the centre appeared in 68 games, scoring 36 goals and 78 points.
What This Means For The Future
As said before, the Sabres’ captain has missed the past 19 games due to his injury. However, it’s fair to say his absence has been felt by the team. Even though they have been doing a lot better since Don Granato took over the bench, having Eichel in the lineup would’ve helped a lot in a few details.
To start, he was a key piece for their power play – that hasn’t been great since he left. Before the injury, Eichel had nine power-play points and helped the team be one of the highest power-play percentages in the league. Since he left, they dropped to 13th place with 20.9%. He has been their best offensive player since he joined the team.
Eichel is also their captain and a veteran among a now very young Sabres team. Having him out for the rest of the season is not the ideal scenario but they’ll have to work it out now.
As things on the ice seem to be improving, Buffalo is also working on their office improvements. The Sabres are working on hiring Jason Karmanos as assistant general manager, as reported by Darren Dreger.
The Buffalo Sabres are finalizing details in the hiring of Jason Karmanos as assistant general manager to Kevyn Adams.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 14, 2021
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