The standoff drew the attention of the highest levels of the league, with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman calling it “a terrible situation”, without fixing blame on either side. In recent weeks, Eichel’s camp began threatening to file a grievance through the NHL Players’ Association, questioning whether Sabres doctors followed the collective bargaining agreement in giving his option of surgery serious consideration. In September, the Sabres stripped Eichel of his captaincy before the start of training camp. The dispute escalated over the summer, with Eichel changing agents in August in a bid to spur a trade. The feud became public in May, when Eichel revealed what he called “a disconnect” with the team over treating the injury, and he questioned his future with a franchise that once regarded him as a key building block after selecting him with the No 2 pick in the 2015 draft.

Vegas also acquired a 2023 third-round pick. Overall, he finishes with 139 goals and 355 points in 375 career games with Buffalo.īuffalo acquired a top-10 protected first-round pick in the 2022 draft and a 2023 second-round selection. He topped 20 goals in each of his first five seasons and enjoyed a breakout year in 2019-20, when he had a career-best 36 goals in 68 games before the season was abruptly canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sabres doctors favored Eichel having fusion surgery and opposed the disk replacement procedure because it has never been conducted on an NHL player.Įichel was the Sabres’ highest-paid player and is in the fourth year of an eight-year, $80m contract. The length of the dispute also essentially eliminates Eichel’s chance to represent the United States at the Winter Olympics, which will be held in Beijing in February. Though Eichel remains sidelined, the Golden Knights addressed their biggest long-term need in landing a top-line center by trading forward Alex Tuch, rookie center Peyton Krebs and two draft picks to the Sabres.Įichel is expected to have the disk replacement surgery he preferred, though the recovery timetable means he’ll likely miss most if not all of the remainder of the season.

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