It was a move a long time in the making for Jack Eichel, but he was finally traded on Thursday from the Buffalo Sabres to the Vegas Golden Knights.
After months of trying to find a suitor for the veteran center, Buffalo packaged Eichel with a 2023 conditional third round pick to send to the Golden Knights in exchange for forwards Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs, a top-10 protected first round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and a conditional 2023 second round pick.
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The trade ends an era of Sabres hockey that saw Eichel develop into a superstar at the NHL level, but not lead anywhere close to playoff hockey in Buffalo.
The former second overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft ends his career with the Sabres playing in 375 games with the organization, scoring 139 goals and registering 216 assists for 355 points. However, despite Eichel's success on the ice, the team around him never got a sniff of postseason action with the best finish coming in his rookie 2015-16 season.
With Eichel now on the move to Vegas, the Sabres can look past the dark cloud that hung over the organization and focus on the new direction of the team going forward.
As for Eichel, he now goes to a franchise that has made the playoffs in each of the first four years of its existence. More importantly, he now gets the opportunity to undergo his preferred artificial disk replacement surgery to repair a herniated disk in his neck suffered in March.
While it took months for a trade to happen after Eichel's comments made at his end-of-season press conference back in May, it was revealed on Thursday that Eichel's displeasure with the team's direction goes back even further.
During a 1-on-1 interview with Sportsnet hockey insider Elliotte Friedman, Eichel said his frustrations with the Sabres began shortly after the team made a management change in 2020 with the firing of Jason Botterill and hiring current general manager Kevyn Adams.
"We weren't really in a position that we were going to try and go win. I was hearing a lot of things that we were going to try and do a rebuild, so I went to the team and just said I wasn't really happy with the idea of that," Eichel explained of his situation. "If that's the route they wanted to take, that maybe it would be better to move me and use me as sort of a jump start and get some picks, prospects - whatever you want to say - and start your rebuild. Obviously that didn't go over well."
Being a competitor and wanting to win right away, Eichel said he felt that was, at the time, the best business decision for him as a hockey player.
Despite the team looking at a potential rebuild, at the time, the Sabres were active in the offseason leading up to the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season. This included the signing of free agent winger Taylor Hall and other moves that got Eichel amped up and looking forward to the upcoming year.
However, the season went south very fast for the Sabres, as the team ended up going 6-14-3 in the games Eichel was available for before suffering his neck injury. In the 21 games he played last season, Eichel was only able to net two goals and register 16 assists for 18 points.
As the offseason went on, it was clear the Sabres were not going to let Eichel get his artificial disk replacement (ADR) surgery, rather preferring him to undergo an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) procedure.
Even after reaching out to a number of other medical professionals to gauge their opinions on an ADR procedure, Eichel remained on the losing end of the argument, given the Sabres - and every NHL team - have the final decision on any medical procedure for their players.
"Out of all the doctors that I saw outside of the team, they were all on board with what I was doing," Eichel told Friedman.
So what if the Sabres had been on board with the ADR procedure shortly after Eichel's injury in March? Would Eichel have remained with in Buffalo and back in blue and gold this season?
"I'm not sure about that. I had expressed to them that I wanted to get this operation done last spring. They weren't comfortable with it, [which is] understood," Eichel said during a separate interview with John Buccigress on ESPN's "The Point". "I understand that there's no NHL player that's done it, but with that said, I feel like it's the best opportunity for me.
"I really appreciate the Vegas Golden Knights organization giving me the opportunity to move forward with what I want to do and just getting back to hockey, doing what I love."
Despite the differences between Eichel and the Sabres on the direction of the team and, eventually, his medical situation this offseason, the 25-year-old is happy that this saga has come to an end.
"[It was] a lot of drama you don't want to deal with, but I guess you just learn to. I'm just happy to be on the other side of it, happy to be moving on," Eichel said.
While Eichel's tenure with the Sabres is now officially over, he says that he will cherish his time spent in Buffalo, and is forever grateful for the fans and their continued support over the years.
"I can't say enough good things about the fans here in Buffalo. From the minute I got drafted back in 2015, they've opened their arms to me and my family," Eichel said. "They've done so much. They've supported me, they've supported out team through ups-and-downs; when we've been good, when we haven't been good. I love Buffalo. It'll always have a special, special place in my heart.
"It means a lot that I was able to start my career here, and I've met some of the most amazing people in this city. I've played with some incredible people, but even outside of the game, I've been very fortunate to meet some incredible, incredible people here in Buffalo. I'm very thankful for my time here. I'm very thankful for all the time and effort from the people in the organization to help me continue to evolve as a player and a person. I can't say enough good things about the fans. They love hockey and deserve a winner. I feel bad that I wasn't able to contribute more to winning here, but they deserve it all. I really, truly care a lot about the fans here in Buffalo."
While there is no official date yet for his surgery to take place, it is expected Eichel will go under the knife some time next week.
Eichel is hopeful to get a chance to represent the United States in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, but knows he first has to get his surgery and put that behind him.
