Buffalo Sabres trade Jack Eichel to Vegas Golden Knights

Jack Eichel heard the whispers.

When owners Terry and Kim Pegula fired 22 employees with the Buffalo Sabres’ hockey operations department in June 2020, there was talk that their new general manager, Kevyn Adams, was ready to orchestrate yet another rebuild.

The Sabres missed the playoffs for a ninth consecutive year and Eichel expressed his frustration when speaking to reporters after a 2019-20 season in which the 25-year-old center became a Hart Trophy contender with a career-high 36 goals.

Eichel wasn’t willing to go another season without experiencing the playoffs, so he approached Adams with a request. If the Sabres wanted to retool, Eichel suggested that a change of scenery would be best for both sides. Adams declined and delivered on a promise by signing the top free-agent available, winger Taylor Hall in October 2020, and adding veteran center Eric Staal, among others. The moves were made to try to win immediately. 

The Sabres’ plan went awry. Eichel broke a rib prior to training camp, played through an abdominal injury and suffered a herniated disk in his neck that cut his season short at 21 games in March. When the eight-month saga ended with Eichel’s trade to Vegas on Thursday, he sat down with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman for an interview and traced the disconnect back to that first conversation with Adams one year ago.

“I was hearing a lot of things that we were going to try to do a rebuild, so I went to the team and just said I wasn’t really happy with the idea of that,” recalled Eichel. “And 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 in getting some picks, prospects, whatever you want to say, and start your rebuild if that’s the case. Obviously, that didn’t go over well. I’m a competitor. I want to win. We obviously hadn’t won and, like I said, this is a business. This is pretty apparent to me after the last eight months and I looked at that as a decision I was making strictly because I thought that was the best business decision for me as a hockey player. That didn’t go over well, but then throughout the offseason, I give Kevyn Adams a lot of credit. He went out, he signed Taylor, he made some trades. It seemed like we were in a better position to be competitive and that excited me again. Obviously, we went into the season in January, and we didn’t have nearly the year we wanted as a group.

“It was kind of a disaster in terms of a personal season for myself. I didn’t have a great year. I was obviously injured in March and things just didn’t go well. But yeah, I think probably that conversation that happened a year ago probably had something to do with part of the process being so difficult.”

Eichel’s comments confirm what was rumored for the past year. Last fall, the New York Rangers expressed interest in acquiring Eichel. Their overtures were rebuffed by Adams, who told reporters that he did not intend to trade the face of the franchise. Word of Eichel's frustration spread across the league.

The retool spearheaded by Adams and former coach Ralph Krueger fell apart during the abbreviated 56-game season. Playing through injury resulted in a career-worst 3.3% shooting percentage for Eichel, who totaled two goals and 18 points in 21 games. Eichel’s final game was March 7 against the New York Islanders when he appeared to suffer the neck injury on a check from behind by Cal Clutterbuck.

Krueger initially told reporters there was an outside chance that Eichel could return before the end of the season. Meanwhile, Eichel left the team to seek a different opinion and his fact-finding mission led him to an artificial disk replacement. While the procedure has produced promising results in other professional athletes, it had never been done on an NHL player.

The Sabres’ doctors wouldn’t OK the surgery. Eventually, Eichel again stated his desire to be traded and the dispute went public when he told reporters about the disagreement during an end-of-season media availability in May. Eichel has since fired his agent and was stripped of the captaincy in September.

Drafted second overall by the Sabres in 2015, Eichel played with the weight of the playoff drought on his shoulders. Individual success came quickly – he had five consecutive seasons of 24-plus goals and three all-star nods – but the team struggled. Eichel played for three head coaches, not including Don Granato, and three general managers in six years.

The bitter ending has upset some Sabres supporters, but Eichel did some damage control during an interview with ESPN on Thursday afternoon.

“I can’t say enough good things about the fans here,” Eichel said. “They love hockey. They deserve a winner. You know what, I feel bad that I wasn’t able to contribute more to winning here, but they deserve it all. I really, truly care about the fans here in Buffalo.”

SEATTLE – The deal is done. At this stage of the Buffalo Sabres' season, and in the history of the franchise, that's probably the most important point to make before we get into all the fan histrionics about the return.

'Vegas Baby:' Jack Eichel exits Sabres in latest blockbuster move by GM Kevyn Adams

Eichel, 25, exits the Sabres having experienced zero playoff games in six seasons since he was drafted second overall in 2015.

The denials of coach Don Granato notwithstanding, the looming Jack Eichel trade was becoming a growing distraction with every rumor that ESPN was putting out there.

The ex-captain is gone, ready to roll the dice on his career for the Golden Knights after he gets the neck surgery he needs that no NHL player has had and the Sabres would not approve.

When it involves the Sabres, of course, nothing is ever normal.

Eichel is the player the team got from their horrific 2015 tank that was so blatant, it made the NHL change the rules of the draft lottery so things could never happen that way again. And when the relationship between player and team soured past the point of no return six years later, of course it couldn't just be an easy trade with potential suitors lining up with big offers.

Eichel memories: A look back at the Buffalo career of Captain Jack after trade to Vegas Golden Knights

The selection of the 18-year-old from Boston University with the No. 2 pick in the NHL draft was supposed to mark the end of the suffering, the key moment in a rebuild to bring the Sabres back to prominence. It didn't happen. 

Eichel was hurt. Teams wondered about the risk of a $10 million player with a neck problem. The Sabres wouldn't let him have the surgery he wanted – and it should be again noted the CBA was in their favor and many other teams agreed with their stance. 

But through all this, an interesting subplot emerged: The Sabres weren't a terrible team anymore and their prospect haul into the future led by Owen Power has real belief spreading through the new organizational leadership. It behooved them to get a deal done, get the best return they could get and move on.

And while they seemed on solid legal ground with their position on Eichel's surgery, their morality on the issue was withering away. This is a 25-year-old who needs neck surgery. Hockey or not, standing in the way of that was simply not a good look.

The team and its doctors made their point. Everyone understood it. If another team was prepared to go a different direction, it was time to let Eichel have some control of his life back.

What are Sabres draft picks in 2022 following Jack Eichel trade?

Following the trade of Jack Eichel to the Las Vegas Knights, here is the status of the Sabres' draft picks for 2022.

"It was never personal," General Manager Kevyn Adams said on a video call Thursday morning. "We got to a point where this was the offer that we felt was the strongest we had to this date and we felt very good about it. We were not going to compromise on what we felt we needed as a return."

On the deal itself, Adams did what he set out to do. First of all, he got a top prospect. Peyton Krebs might not be at the level of Anaheim's Trevor Zegras or Los Angeles' Quinton Byfield, but he's a former first-round pick with a big upside. And he was Dylan Cozens' linemate and Jack Quinn's teammate with Team Canada at the World Juniors 11 months ago, too, so there's some instant organizational connection.

Alex Tuch is an established NHL player, a 20-goal scorer from the Syracuse suburb of Baldwinsville who grew up a Sabres fan and lived two houses down from former Buffalo center Tim Connolly.

"This is a dream come true for him," Adams said of Tuch. It was notable that later in the call, Adams made it a point to note "we need to build this organization with people that are dying to be Buffalo Sabres."

That no longer applied to Eichel.

Adams got a first-round pick, too. And a second. And he retained no salary, no small item on the balance sheets at Pegula Sports & Entertainment. But as I've said previously, why should they carry salary for a player for five years? Nobody does that.

"That was an absolute non-starter from the beginning for us that we would not compromise on," Adams said.

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Jack Eichel through the years

Would they have gotten more had they kept some coin? Most likely. But someday, they're going to have to really pay Dylan Cozens and Casey Mittelstadt and Power and others. If you're trading Eichel anyway, create all the cap space you can.

Adams looked and sounded exhausted on his video call. It was understandable. This was a draining process and a pivotal point in franchise history. The GM had to drive a hard bargain, lest an Eichel trade be his career epitaph while he had been on the job less than two years.

And Adams did OK. This is no Ryan O'Reilly trade and it's hard to indict the GM for much. You might be fretting over the trades of Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Ristolainen and the free agent departures of Jake McCabe and Linus Ullmark, but they won exactly nothing. In fact, they were last in the NHL last season. That core didn't work for a variety of reasons. It was time to move on.

And Adams refuses to rush things. Krebs is starting his Buffalo career in Rochester, a bit of a head-scratcher but a thought that makes sense with the organization's long-term planning. Adams immediately mentioned Power on the call, again showing whatever happens this season is a bit of a bridge year until Power can get on board next season.

Adams is now the face of the front office and the one who ultimately had to make the deal. But if you want to be mad Eichel is an ex-Sabre, this one lies squarely at the feet of Terry and Kim Pegula, as well as Dan Bylsma, Phil Housley, Ralph Krueger and Jason Botterill.

Former GM Tim Murray got ownership to buy into the tank but never got to finish building the team because the owners caved to Eichel's dislike of Bylsma. Other past coaches and Botterill, the previous GM, failed to get the team into the playoffs and the results and uncertainty ultimately soured Eichel on the entire idea of being in Buffalo.

Eichel gave a lot on the ice in his time here. Behind the scenes, there was always an uneasiness about him. He was considered petty and churlish at times by teammates and staff. The captaincy, in hindsight, was probably too much too soon for him. 

But it's hard to blame him. He went through a lot of chaos in his time here. It's a relationship that didn't work. Some of that is his fault, a lot of that is the Sabres' fault.

It was just time to go.

Twitter was abuzz with the news that injured Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Eichel had been traded to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Here's what fans had to say.

Very surprised the #flames couldn’t beat that package. Wow that’s a bargain for Eichel. There are going to be a lot of teams upset they didn’t stay in the game for him. Reminds me of the Joe Thornton trade outta Boston.

— Jordan (@Jordan_FlamingC) November 4, 2021

I’m saying it right now: @GoldenKnights gave up WAY too much for Jack Eichel.

— Russ Rankin (@russrankinNJD) November 4, 2021

Guys I was really hoping for the Rangers’ 7th best prospect, the “Y” from Chytil’s nameplate, a conditional 5th, and Kravtsov’s translator but I guess Adams wanted Eichel out of the conference?

— Kevyn Is not spelled with a Y (@Lappstar) November 4, 2021

Most important result from all of this is that Eichel is finally going to get the surgery he wants so he doesn’t miss anymore valuable time after not being allowed to do what he felt was best for his body. Hopefully this truly improves his quality of life on and off the ice.

— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) November 4, 2021

I already liked the Golden Knights. I’m not entirely sure my support isn’t going to Vegas along with Jack Eichel.

— Andrew - Black Lives Matter (@andallya) November 4, 2021

I think it’s clear that Eichel has won this trade

— Jazzy (@jasdip_24) November 4, 2021

Thank you Jack for everything. You were my favorite player, I wish you nothing but the best for you down in Vegas my man 💯 keep stacking the Eichel Tower! https://t.co/X2j97Qa5kS

— Zachary Meredith (@ZackSportsFan) November 4, 2021

Eichel return a bit of a letdown. But probably the best BUF could do without having to retain to take weird conditional picks back or use a 3rd party. Entire cap hit off the books, that's worth something

— Crispy Fishbowl (@Novice97_) November 4, 2021

I honestly thought Jack Eichel would never be free https://t.co/3HNumidTSy

— burr (@WeFlyBeantown) November 4, 2021

Idc what anyone says, Jack Eichel is an incredible hockey player and it sucks how his situation went down. Stop pretending he did nothing for the team https://t.co/Gz1dV9sX2Y

— Krystal Russillo (@klrussillo) November 4, 2021

Good for Jack man, he can finally get the surgery he wants and get back to playing hockey with a team he’s actually got a chance with, a healthy eichel on a fully healthy Vegas team could be very dangerous

— han (@eastcoastleaf) November 4, 2021

The hockey world will finally see Jack Eichel on a good team

— Jasmine Yen (@jasminesports) November 4, 2021

Following the trade of Jack Eichel to the Las Vegas Knights, here is the status of the Buffalo Sabres' draft picks for 2022: 

First round

Own

From Vegas, top 10 protected (in Eichel trade, see note below)

From Florida, top 10 protected (in Sam Reinhart trade)

Second round 

Own

Third round

Own

Fourth round

Own

Fifth round

From New Jersey (Will Butcher trade)

Sixth round

Own

Seventh round 

Own

***

Top 10 protection

Here is how the draft protection for the top-10 pick will work, per ESPN.

* If Vegas does not pick in the top 10 ... Vegas will send its first-round pick in 2022 and second-round pick in 2023 to Buffalo and Sabres will send their 2023 third-round pick to Vegas.

* If Vegas does pick in the top 10 ... Vegas will send its first-round pick in 2023 second-round pick in 2024 to Buffalo and Sabres will send thieir 2024 third-round pick to Vegas.

General Manager Kevyn Adams bided his time, fielded offers from teams across the National Hockey League and waited for someone to meet his asking price for injured, disgruntled center Jack Eichel.

The eight-month saga that saw Eichel stripped of his captaincy amid a disagreement with the Sabres over his preferred treatment for a herniated disk finally ended early Thursday morning with the 25-year-old center traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, who agreed to allow the three-time all-star to have the surgery he desires.

Golden Knights General Manager Kelly McCrimmon estimated that Eichel will face a three-to-five month recovery. The timeline should have Eichel ready to compete in the playoffs if Vegas qualifies.

Meanwhile, Sabres fans may not have to wait long to see the fruits of Adams’ negotiations. In addition to acquiring draft choices in 2022 (first round, albeit top 10 protected) and 2023 (second round), Buffalo added playoff-hardened power forward Alex Tuch and top prospect Peyton Krebs.

“We're thrilled about both of them,” said Adams. “It was really important for us, these two players in particular, and these type of players that we can move forward with for many years.”

A 25-year-old Syracuse native, Tuch is recovering from shoulder surgery and is on track to return in January or February. He has three seasons of 15-plus goals, including a career-high 20 in 2018-19, and his track record includes 33 points in 66 career playoff games. The 6-foot-4 winger should provide a consistent net-front presence in the Sabres’ top six once he joins the franchise he adored as a kid.

“Alex is a very good hockey player, proven in this league,” said Adams. “Under contract for this year and the next four years at a young age, and a very productive player. And high character, leader. All the intangibles. Wants to be a part of the solution.”

“He was unbelievable in my conversation with him, and how excited he is to be a Buffalo Sabre. He told me this is a dream come true for him. That's exactly the type of person and talent on the ice we need. And exactly the type of personality we need off the ice as we drive our culture forward.”

Krebs, 20, was the Golden Knights’ top prospect, reportedly untouchable in trade talks with the Sabres. A rash of injuries thrust Krebs into a prominent spot in Vegas’ lineup this season, but he had only 10 shots on goal and zero points in nine games.

While the Sabres are thin at center, Krebs was immediately assigned to the Rochester Americans where he’ll join forces with top prospects Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka. Krebs was named the Western Hockey League’s player of the year for the abbreviated 2020-21 season and made his professional debut last spring, splitting time between Vegas and its AHL affiliate in nearby Henderson.

Krebs had one goal and five points in five games for the Henderson Silver Knights and appeared in four games with Vegas before his season ended with a broken jaw. He was regarded as a top prospect in the 2019 draft but fell to the 17th pick because of an Achilles injury.

The return significantly bolsters a Sabres forward group that was hit hard by the trade of Sam Reinhart in July. Drafted second overall by Buffalo in 2014, Reinhart was dealt to Florida in exchange for goalie prospect Devon Levi and a 2022 first-round draft choice.

“It’s just making sure we set him up for success,” Adams said of the decision to send Krebs to Rochester. “You’re absolutely right, he could be jumping into our lineup (Thursday) and playing. We know he’s a really good hockey player right now, and what we’re excited about is the hockey player he’s going to become over time. And that’s our focus, making sure we set him up for success. ... And when it’s the right time, he’ll be here and be here for a long time.”

Patience can’t be easy for the Sabres given their roster constraints. With Reinhart gone and Eichel sidelined, the Sabres were forced to experiment at center under coach Don Granato. Tage Thompson, Zemgus Girgensons and Arttu Ruotsalainen shifted to the position in camp. The club’s depth took another hit when Casey Mittelstadt suffered an upper-body injury in the season-opening win over Montreal.

Krebs could solidify the Sabres’ depth down the middle, providing Adams with a potential top three of Mittelstadt, Krebs and Dylan Cozens. Krebs joins a prospect pipeline that includes Quinn, Peterka, Owen Power, Ryan Johnson, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Erik Portillo, Mattias Samuelsson, Prokhor Poltapov and Isak Rosen, among others.

While many will evaluate the trade based on Krebs’ development, Tuch should be a key cog for the Sabres and is a proven NHL player, unlike the rest of the return. He had 15 goals during his first full season in 2017-18, followed by a career-high 20. After an eight-goal season in 2019-20, Tuch tied for third on the team with 18 goals in 55 games last season. He had 33 points while averaging a career-high 16:50 of ice time per game.

Tuch is also under contract through 2025-26 with an annual cap hit of $4.75 million, while Krebs is at the start of his entry-level contract.

“I am going to miss the great group they have there,” Tuch tweeted. “Now I want to say how excited I am to be a part of the Buffalo Sabres organization. Being from Upstate NY, it’s been a dream of mine to put on the Sabres jersey. Thank you Buffalo and I can’t wait to get started!”

SEATTLE – It was an era that officially started on a June night in 2015 when then-General Manager Tim Murray walked to the microphone at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla., and simply intoned four words – "Buffalo selects Jack Eichel."

The selection of the 18-year-old from Boston University with the No. 2 pick in the NHL draft was supposed to mark the end of the suffering, the key moment in a rebuild to bring the Sabres back to prominence.

It didn't happen. The Sabres never made the Stanley Cup playoffs in Eichel's six seasons and the captain's era in Buffalo ended Thursday morning when he was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Sabres got top Vegas forward prospect Peyton Krebs (the Golden Knights' first-round pick in 2019), veteran forward Alex Tuch, a first-round pick in 2022 and a second-round pick in 2023 while giving up their former captain and a 2023 third-rounder.

It's hard to pin much of the Sabres' failures over the last few years on Eichel's shoulders, when you consider he had 355 points in 375 games. That included five seasons of 24+ goals and a 2019-20 campaign that saw him finish eighth in the Hart Trophy balloting after collecting a career-high 36 goals and 78 points in just 68 games.

Eichel's statistics never approached the numbers put up in Edmonton by Connor McDavid, the No. 1 pick in 2015 and the player the Sabres were eyeing through their tank season. Ultimately, they couldn't land him when they lost the 2015 NHL draft lottery and were thus gifted Eichel

And in the end, six years in Buffalo won't land Eichel in the Top 10 in franchise history in just about any category for career scoring. The lone exception is his 0.58 assists per game, which currently ranks ninth between Alexander Mogilny (0.61) and John Van Boxmeer (0.56).

Here's a look back at some of the key moments in Eichel's time in Buffalo:

The lottery: The Sabres had to walk back their openly public frustration over their lottery defeat on April 18, 2015, in Toronto. They had a 20% chance to win, followed by Arizona at 13.5 and Edmonton at 11.5%. The Oilers won.

Afterward, Murray said, "I'm disappointed for our fans." An ashen-faced team president Ted Black slowly backed into an elevator and waved reporters away. A few weeks earlier, Murray told The New York Times of McDavid, "I watch him too much and I think too much about him. I wish I could help myself."

To his credit, Eichel never complained about the Sabres' love for McDavid. In fact, when he did his interview with the club at the 2015 scouting combine here, the team's social media channels famously showed a clip of someone in the team's front office off camera saying to him, "Maybe we won the lottery." Eichel cooly responds, "I think you did."

The draft: Eichel and McDavid were the focal points of draft week in Miami. They joined future standouts like Mitch Marner and Noah Hanifin in activities that included batting practice prior to an MLB game in Marlins Park and Eichel joined McDavid in throwing a ceremonial first pitch. The group was also profanely ordered off the top of a fish tank behind home plate by a Marlins groundskeeper who had no idea he was admonishing a future millionaires club.

There was a trip to the Everglades, NHL video and photo shoots, press conferences and, finally, Murray giving Eichel a staredown in the stands as he walked in front of him on the draft floor and headed to the podium.

Eichel's draft day was spiced by the Sabres' acquisition of Robin Lehner in the morning and Ryan O'Reilly just a few minutes before Buffalo's pick. New coach Dan Bylsma admitted afterward he was already sketching out forward lines. Murray was being hailed leaguewide for the stepped-up tank and rebuild.

"It goes by so quickly, you don’t realize what’s going on,” Eichel said of his whirlwind draft week. “It’s a process and an event you watch for so long, then it happens, it just goes by so fast. All of a sudden, you’re wearing an NHL jersey and you’re on stage. It’s your dream and it came true. It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”

The beginning: Several hundred fans cheered as Eichel – who was assigned No. 41 – took the ice for his first development camp scrimmage in KeyBank Center on July 6, 2015. But heads turned across the NHL on July 10, when 17,115 fans packed the arena for the annual camp scrimmage.

With his No. 9 taken by Evander Kane, Eichel announced he would wear No. 15 for the Sabres in honor of his draft year and the lucky number of his sister and father.

Eichel opted to live with veteran Matt Moulson for his rookie season and had the winger on his line at times. In his first preseason game on Sept. 21, 2015, the Sabres posted a 3-2 win at Minnesota as Eichel fed Moulson for the tying goal early in the third period and scored the winner himself on a short-handed breakaway at 5:44 of the third period by burning Minnesota regulars Jared Spurgeon on defense and Darcy Kuemper in goal.

"I don’t think he took a stride past the blueline,” said a stunned Moulson. “He’s sure got that smooth skating style.”

Oddly enough, Eichel only scored one short-handed goal during his six regular seasons in Buffalo -- and it didn't come until New Year's Eve, 2019 vs. Tampa Bay.

The first goal: Eichel's career officially opened with a 3-1 home loss to Ottawa on Oct 8, 2015 – and he scored the Sabres' only goal, getting his first NHL tally at 9:11 of the third period to cut a 2-0 deficit in half. The Sabres scored again to apparently tie the game on a Kane goal a couple of minutes later, but were confounded by the first offside replay challenge in franchise history to wipe out a goal.

"It was a special moment, something I’ll never forget,” Eichel said of his first NHL goal. “But it’s tough to really enjoy it when you don’t win the game. You come out in a season opener with so much riding on it. We had a great third period. At the end of the day, we fell a little bit short."

The overtime magic: Some of Eichel's most memorable Buffalo goals came in the 3-on-3 sessions to produce instant victories. He had eight overtime goals in his career, the most by a Sabres player since regular season OT was instituted by the NHL in 1983.

One of the most memorable was his beat-the-clock special to beat Carolina with one second left in OT on March 12, 2016. Eichel took a high flip from Kane – getting help from players on the bench yelling at him which shoulder to look over to find the puck – and was able to look at the clock on the end scoreboard before beating Canes goalie Cam Ward.

The play went viral in part because of the "RJ cam," which MSG was using that day to show play-by-play announcer Rick Jeanneret making his calls on the screen along with the game action.

There was his end-to-end rush to silence the Music City and give the Sabres a 5-4 win at Nashville on Jan. 24, 2017. And a quick rush to burn defenseman Mark Giordano to win in Calgary on Jan. 17, 2019.

And on Jan. 2, 2020, McDavid could only stand and watch as Eichel became the first player in Sabres history to win a game in OT on a penalty shot by giving Buffalo a 3-2 win over Edmonton in the first game of a new decade.

The first hat trick: It came in a 5-4 loss to Carolina on Dec. 15, 2017, with Eichel scoring two goals in a 10-second span of the third period to complete what play-by-play man Dan Dunleavy dubbed a "Jack trick." It was the first one by a Sabre at home since Thomas Vanek connected against Tampa Bay in 2011.

The contract: On Oct. 3, 2017, the eve of the season opener that would mark Phil Housley's debut as Sabres coach, the 20-year-old Eichel signed an eight-year, $80 million contract extension to become the richest player in franchise history. The contract kicked in for the 2018-19 season and remains in force through 2025-26.

The captaincy: Though it was not part of the negotiations the previous year, the Sabres named Eichel their captain on Oct. 3, 2018. He was cooking dinner in his waterfront town house when he received a call from Housley asking him to drive back to the arena for a meeting. Eichel was greeted by Housley, General Manager Jason Botterill and owner Terry Pegula, and they gave him the news.

"It was a really cool moment," Eichel said. "I'm very thankful and honored to be the captain of this franchise."

In what was probably not a cool moment, Sabres GM Kevyn Adams announced on Sept. 23 of this year that Eichel was no longer the captain.

"From our perspective and my perspective, I feel the captain is the heartbeat of your team," Adams said prior to the Sabres’ first training camp practices. "And we're in a situation from where we were in the past and where we are now that we felt that we need to do to address that and make that decision here."

The Referee – Eichel's All-Star debut was most memorable for what Auston Matthews dubbed the pointing, good-goal celebration he and Eichel used at the 2018 event in Tampa. It came on Eichel's goal that snapped a tie in an eventual 7-4 win by the Atlantic Division over the Metropolitan and was a tweak of NHL officiating that had wiped out a Matthews goal due to goalie interference during a game in Toronto the previous week.

The celebration was planned on the bench by the two USA Hockey alums after an Erik Karlsson goal was wiped out on an offside challenge.

"Me and Auston talked about it at the faceoff previous and he was like, 'Hey, if we score here let's both point at the net' so we kind of had it planned already," Eichel said. "He said, 'We better score this shift so we can do it.' "

The injuries: The neck issue that led to Eichel's trade developed on what looked like a routine hit by Casey Cizikas during a game on Long Island on March 7. NBC cameras caught Eichel in pain after a trainer touched his neck and it was the last time he was ever seen wearing a Sabres uniform.

Eichel in discomfort around the neck #LetsGoBuffalo #Isles #HDIA pic.twitter.com/IJtbL7TGpk

— Buffalo Hockey moments (@SabresPlays) March 7, 2021

Eichel suffered two significant ankle injuries in his career and the first proved to be franchise-changing. The Sabres improved from 54 points to 81 in Eichel's rookie season and Bylsma told reporters during development camp in 2016 he felt he was going to coach a 95-point club in 2016-17.

Optimism was high throughout training camp and the postseason heading toward opening night – and came crashing down with less than 10 minutes left in the final practice the day before the opener. Reporters heard a prolonged shout echo through the empty arena after a collision in front of the net and Eichel was helped off the ice. It was a high ankle sprain and Eichel missed the season's first 21 games. The Sabres never recovered. They missed the playoffs and both Murray and Bylsma were fired six months later.

Still, Eichel led the club with 57 points in 61 games and became just the fourth player in franchise history to lead the Sabres in points before age 21, joining Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and Pierre Turgeon.

The disconnect: Eichel's final season with the Sabres, the pandemic-shortened 2021 campaign, ended with just two goals and 18 points in 21 games. And almost an annual rite of closure to a season since 2017 was Eichel sounding off about the club's lack of success and failure to make the playoffs.

But things turned dramatically on May 10, when Eichel dropped a bombshell during a 24-minute video session with reporters where he said there was a "disconnect" over treatment of the neck injury. He wanted surgery, the team said rest and rehab and that was that. Eventually, R&R didn't work and team agreed surgery was necessary but wouldn't approve Eichel's surgery of choice. The May video call was the last time Buffalo reporters heard from Eichel as a Sabre.

"Yeah, I'm frustrated, I'm sure if you went down the line in the locker room, I'm sure everyone's frustrated," Eichel said that day. "So I'm not in any different situation than anyone else. You can't sit here on Media Day and be happy that we're having this conversation. We should still be playing."

Once he fully recovers from his neck surgery, Eichel will back playing once again. But this time, it will be in Vegas.

As Kevyn Adams spoke to reporters from his KeyBank Center office Thursday morning, the 25-year-old disgruntled superstar center he traded hours earlier broke his silence with a three-word tweet that signaled the end of an eight-months-long public feud with the Buffalo Sabres.

“Vegas Baby, Vegas,” Jack Eichel exclaimed to his 27,000 followers.

An unprecedented saga that began in March with Eichel suffering a herniated disk in his neck and surfaced publicly in May when he termed his disagreement with the team over medical treatment as a “disconnect,” officially departed Buffalo early Thursday with his trade to the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Sabres stockpiled more young talent by acquiring 25-year-old winger Alex Tuch, top center prospect Peyton Krebs, a 2022 first-round draft choice and a 2023 second-round selection. Both draft picks slide back one year if Vegas somehow selects in the top 10 this summer, and the Sabres sent a 2023 third-round pick to the Golden Knights.

Stripped of his captaincy in September, Eichel can continue a career that was put on pause by the Sabres’ reluctance to approve a procedure that has never been performed on an NHL player. Golden Knights General Manager Kelly McCrimmon told reporters following the trade that Eichel will undergo surgery soon and could face a three-to-five month recovery, a timeline that should have the three-time all-star ready to appear in his first career playoff game if Vegas qualifies.

Adams skipped the Sabres’ four-game road trip out West to complete negotiations that gained traction over the past week. He expressed relief and excitement to complete a process he described as “really, really challenging,” and explained that retaining a portion of Eichel’s $10 million annual salary through 2025-26 was a “non-starter,” given the length of the contract. In the end, it appears both sides got what they wanted.

“What I can tell you is, we got to a point where this was the offer that we felt was the strongest that we had up to this date, and we felt very good about it,” said Adams. “We worked extremely hard for months and months. And we were not going to compromise on what we felt we needed as a return. This was a really important decision for us. So however long it was going to take, it was going to take.

“But at the same point, when we felt it was the right time, we were going to make the deal.”

The time came early Thursday morning with the Golden Knights agreeing to part with two players who should help the Sabres this season.

Tuch, a Syracuse native, is a proven NHL player with 61 goals and 139 points across 255 regular-season games since 2016-17. His speed, relentless pursuit of the puck and fearlessness to get to the net produced 33 points in 66 playoff games with Vegas. Krebs is a 20-year-old center drafted 17th overall in 2019 who was immediately assigned to Rochester and fortifies the Sabres’ depth down the middle. He’s appeared in 13 NHL games, producing zero points in nine games this season.

The Sabres now own three picks in the first round of the 2022 draft, including one acquired from Florida in the Sam Reinhart trade. It’s a haul some are calling lackluster considering Eichel’s production and the fact that the franchise tanked the 2014-15 to try to draft a player with his talents. He had five consecutive seasons of 24-plus goals, capped by a career-high 36 in 2019-20. But there is uncertainty surrounding Eichel’s long-term health and he hasn’t played an NHL game at full strength since March 2020.

Eichel's final season, his third after signing an eight-year, $80 million contract with Buffalo in October 2017, included only two goals and 18 points in 21 games. He suffered a broken rib in the days leading up to training camp, a sprained ankle that caused him to miss two games in February and endured a lingering abdominal injury that bothered Eichel since the prior season.

Finally, there was the neck ailment that ended his season on March 7, a devastating blow for the club amid what became a franchise-record 18-game winless streak and the final death nail in a 10th consecutive season outside the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Eichel sought a second opinion from Dr. Chad J. Prusmack, who recommended the artificial disk replacement. Eichel and his new agent, Pat Brisson, received medical opinions from several experts, some of whom backed the 2015 No. 2 draft pick’s preferred treatment. The Sabres’ medical team didn’t change its opinion, but more information created a trade market that included multiple teams.

“I've been aware of what's been going on through my discussions with both Buffalo and his representatives,” McCrimmon said. “We're respectful of what they want to do. None of us in this room have the level of expertise that would be required for an opinion. I defer to the people that he's entrusted himself and his health to to make that decision and we'll obviously have a hand in next steps, rehabilitation, return to play -- those types of things.”

McCrimmon called his new centerpiece, “one of the top players in the league,” and his motivation stemmed from his opinion that every Stanley Cup champion needs an elite center. It was only two years ago that Eichel was amid a career year that led him to finish eighth in voting for the Hart Trophy. He’s a top-10 center in the NHL, a player that could have been a centerpiece of Adams’ roster in Buffalo. But frustration was mounting before the injury. 

Since Eichel arrived in June 2015, the Sabres have employed three general managers and four head coaches. The franchise’s playoff drought is tied for the longest in NHL history and Adams has declined to put an exact timeline on when he expects his rebuild to blossom into a contender. The two met face-to-face since the feud began, each laying out their vision for the future. 

Eichel told Sportsnet on Thursday that requested a trade in 2020 after ownership fired 22 hockey operations employees, including former general manager Jason Botterill.

“He shared with me that he was ready to – just, it was a frustration for him and it all built over time and that’s where he got to,” said Adams. “I don’t know exactly, and you don’t want to put words in his mouth of why it didn’t work, per se. But things happen for a reason, and I was very clear to him that we need to build this organization with people that are dying to be Buffalo Sabres, that care so much about that jersey that they’re going to put on, and that’s how we have to move forward. So, it’s not personal. I wish him the best, I really do.”

Eichel’s six years with the Sabres may be remembered more for his exit than his on-ice heroics. It’s also one of the biggest what-ifs in the history of Buffalo sports. One year ago, Eichel was preparing to unite with Reinhart, Taylor Hall, Eric Staal and some of the Sabres’ young core, particularly Rasmus Dahlin, to try to reach the playoffs during an abbreviated season.

The plan went awry before it took flight. In addition to Eichel’s injuries, the Sabres fell apart following a Covid-19 outbreak. Their 18-game winless streak included Ralph Krueger’s firing and led to the club’s fourth last-place finish in eight years.

The outlook brightened with the ascent of young players under coach Don Granato and the addition of defenseman Owen Power with the first pick in the 2021 draft. Yet, this wasn’t enough to convince Eichel to put his fate in someone else’s hands. Both sides remained resolute until a long-awaited blend of relief and excitement was created by the franchise-altering trade.

“I think we got a really, really good return in a really challenging situation that we can move forward with in our organization,” said Adams. “That’s what I’m thankful for and thinking about.”