Jack Eichel stood at a lectern in the Vegas Golden Knights' practice facility Monday and uttered what must have been music to the ears of his general manager, Kelly McCrimmon.
"I'm ready to rock," Eichel declared.
Pleased with his connection with linemates Alex Tuch and Jeff Skinner, Thompson knows his goals will come soon.
Almost 11 months since his final game with the Buffalo Sabres, Eichel will finally debut with the Golden Knights on Wednesday night against the Colorado Avalanche in Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena. Eichel, 25, underwent artificial disk replacement surgery on Nov. 12, one week after his the blockbuster trade that sent him from Buffalo to Vegas. He went through the physical rehabilitation, skated in a noncontact capacity with his new teammates and, finally, received clearance to play his first NHL game since he appeared to injure his neck on March 7, 2021.
"I think there’s a lot to prove," Eichel told reporters at City National Arena in Las Vegas. "I think there’s a lot prove to myself, I think to the rest of the league, to the organization. I think you’re always trying to prove something. What that is, I think you consider yourself one of the better players in our league and you just kind of want to get back to that. I feel like prior to the injury and last season I was starting to establish myself where I wanted to be and obviously kind of been derailed a little bit with injuries. But just want to get back to where my game was and hopefully take it to the next level."
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McCrimmon admitted that it's never easy to wait for a player to appear in his first game after a trade, especially when it takes over three months. And the Golden Knights, who are first in the Pacific Division with a 28-17-3 record, paid a hefty price to acquire Eichel from the Sabres in November.
Ever since the trade with the Sabres went down in November, this was a brewing issue, Mike Harrington says.
Vegas sent winger Alex Tuch, center Peyton Krebs, a conditional 2022 first-round draft choice and a 2023 second-rounder to Buffalo. In return, the Golden Knights received the Sabres' former captain and face of the franchise who was considered one of the top centers in the NHL before the injuries. Tuch has 17 points in 14 games with Buffalo since returning from shoulder surgery, while Krebs has six points in 13 games with the club.
The addition of Eichel came at another price, as the Golden Knights placed captain and first-line winger Mark Stone on long-term injured reserve with a back injury to create enough enough space under the cap for Eichel's $10 million annual price tag.
"When we made the trade, we didn't really know what that timeline would look like," McCrimmon said. "We're excited there are 34 games in the regular season that still remain. This gives Jack a rare opportunity to integrate with our hockey team. ... When you make a trade, you're usually anxious for that next game that you play to see what that new player looks like in your lineup. In this case, it's been a long wait, but well worth it."
Jokiharju doesn’t make jaw-dropping plays, aside from pinpoint breakout passes that can be overlooked by the casual observer, but he’s a stable presence on the blue line and unquestionably one of the Sabres’ top trade acquisitions in recent years.
Drafted second overall in 2015, Eichel totaled 139 goals and 355 points in 375 games across six seasons with the Sabres. He endured a difficult final year in Buffalo, including an abdominal injury suffered during the 2019-20 season. Eichel also broke a rib shortly before training camp in December 2021 and he totaled 18 points in 21 games before his season ended with the news of a herniated disk in March. The Sabres' doctors wouldn't approve Eichel's desired procedure, an artificial disk replacement, because it had never been done on an NHL player.
Eichel, a three-time all-star, scored a career-high 36 goals in 68 games in 2019-20, and his 78 points were only four fewer than his previous best. He skated on the Golden Knights' first line in practice Monday and took a spot on their top power-play unit. His long-awaited debut will come with immense expectations, but he admitted that it will be challenging.
"I’m also trying to temper my expectations," Eichel said. "I understand I haven’t played in 11 months and these guys – I don’t know how many games we’re in, 50 games into the season – a lot of these guys are in midseason form, and I’m coming off rehab and haven’t played in 11 months. With that being said, I have to make an impact and I hope to do that right away."
