Lately I’ve been sitting here watching this version of the Sabres and thinking, man, maybe we were a little too harsh on Eichel when he bounced. At the time everyone was fired up and calling him selfish, but looking back at how messy things have been, the coaching carousel, the weird roster decisions, it kind of makes sense why a guy who actually wanted to win got fed up.
I’m not trying to say he was a saint or anything, just that the situation feels different in hindsight. Curious if anyone else has found themselves re thinking that whole saga and seeing it in a better light?
22 comments
No, thanks for asking
I didn’t realize during the tank year that 3-5 years out from being a contender actually meant 14 years of pain, misery, and mismanagement with no clear end in sight while my fandom withers away to nothing. I wish I could bring myself to root for literally any other team, but my damn brain seems to only care about the team that is geographically closest to me.
I don’t get the point of this since he wanted out no matter what
A couple of things: 1) Eichel was right to want out, the Sabres were primed to waste his prime years playing meaningless hockey. If you could see that then you were prepared for him wanting out and it you wouldn’t have taken it so badly. 2) fans are right to boo him, the organization made a huge commitment to him and he bailed in no time. 3) his comments after the game were childish and he should’ve accepted them as part of the package of getting out of a bottom feeder and sent to a readymade contender. 4) he should always been seen as a villain in Buffalo and booed heartedly whenever he’s here.
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I mean. He asked out a year into an 8 year extension, was made captain, and given the biggest contract in team history. Kind of a moot point.
Only thing I wish they did differently was let him get the surgery, make him come back and play, then trade him
I get it y’all, the Sabres are a tire fire. Logically, yes I understand why Jack didn’t want to spend more time here.
But no! We weren’t “to harsh” on him! He signed an 8 year deal and almost immediately gave up on us. The neck issue was just the cherry on top because he wanted out before that was a thing. We literally threw the entire franchise in the garbage to draft him or McDavid. I am allowed to boo him when he comes back, and that’s fine. I’m a fan, it’s what I do. He’ll make well over 150 million dollars in his career, he’ll probably win a Hart, and he’s already lifted the Stanley Cup. Jack Eichel is not some victim, he is doing just fine.
Nope nope nope
Terry Pegula is the problem. He ran Eichel out of Buffalo. Until Pegula leaves, Buffalo will be a barren wasteland.
I’m not really an Eichel fan, but I would’ve been more pissed than he was if my boss was trying to tell me what sort of surgery I was “allowed” to get lol. I don’t blame him for that shit.
No.
I don’t have any issue with him requesting the trade before his injury. I don’t have any issue with former players like Eichel and Reinhart wanting out and won’t have any hard feelings when players like Tuch and Thompson want out or asking for a trade.
I’m also happy he is healthy.
But the shit he and his agents pulled was wrong regarding the surgery. Like it or not, he is a product/service and there were guaranteed contracts and insurance policies in play. That’s the other side to getting paid millions to play a game, you turn your body into a product/service and you give up autonomy. Don’t want to do that, 100% fine, don’t sign the contracts. Also, F tools like John Vogl calling it a human right to drive engagement.
Some guy on r/hockey made a post a few days ago saying he got the same surgery that Eich rejected (fusion surgery). He can’t pick up his kids, he can’t run, he can’t skate. His arms and legs get very tingly at random times. The Sabres refusing to let Eichel get the surgery he wanted was unacceptable and he was right to want out. Yes he probably wanted out before that, but for this reason alone I do not blame him for forcing a trade. They would not allow him to get the surgery, on his own body, that he wanted. Yeah if it failed he would have had to have been ltir’ed and the Sabres would get nothing and I guess it’s better that they got tuch and krebs, but the best would be to let the professional hockey player be his own avocate.
At the time of the trade I was more mad at Terry, Adams, etc than Eichel. That’s still how I feel now.
Eichel crying about the fans being loud for the first time in his career, after he had just lost in his return to Buffalo definitely made me think a lot less of him as a person and got me on board with booing him. I was against booing him prior to those remarks.
He was 100% correct to want out.
You can’t blame him or Reinhart, as much as it hurts us loser Sabre fans lol. Jack has one cup and Reinhart has two. Tuch is next.
Nope
Not really. I do think we should have signed Sam long term instead of giving him the bridge deal.
Yes, no, maybe, perhaps.
The decision to fire Granato, THAT’S the decision I’ll never see in a kind light. 😠
In hindsight… I wish he didn’t get the C. He is a selfish player and person, but who cares … I don’t hang with him:) I fit hang wit people like that but when I watch hockey games i want to see hustle and heart. And surprisingly… wins.
The C It was too much for him and IMO he is not a leader. Should have given him an A at most and gone from there.
There was too much going on between his neck, coaching, team direction for anyone to want to stay.
The Amazon prime Hockey show put him is a different light for me as well. Made him seem human vs what was talked about here .
He still should have traded. The trade should have been better.
The Sabres did everything Eichel wanted from the moment he was drafted here. They fired a coach (Bylsma) because he didn’t like him. They gave him the largest contract in team history, and named him captain. ONE YEAR LATER he asked for a trade, and they made more moves with the sole purpose of making him happy.
The Sabres bent over backwards for the guy, and he still gave up on them and wanted out almost immediately. So yeah, he was a selfish prick. Go talk to anyone in the service industry around town about how Eichel treated them , and see what they say about the guy.
This doesn’t mean the Sabres were saints either. They could have handled the medical situation much better. I don’t blame Eichel for wanting to do what he felt was best for him long term, but I also don’t blame the Sabres for being hesitant about approving a procedure unproven on a pro hockey player. That being said, the relationship had clearly become toxic after the initial trade request, so if it wasn’t this it would have been something else.
It’s in the past. Let it go.
I don’t like what he did and how he tried to manipulate the facts. He asked for a trade, didn’t get it and then got hurt and used it as a basis to force a trade. However, I now see why he did it. He could see the incompetence in the front office and the lack of detail. The poor drafting, the broken system.
The Sabres don’t need a team rebuild. They need an organization rebuild.
Na he’s an asshole