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.”
