BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Former Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel is set to make his Vegas Golden Knights debut Wednesday.
Vegas Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon announced Eichel's debut during a press conference Monday. McCrimmon also announced Golden Knight's forward Mark Stone will be placed on LTIR.
GM Kelly McCrimmon has announced that Mark Stone will be going on LTIR effective today.
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) February 14, 2022
McCrimmon also announced that Jack Eichel will make his Golden Knights debut Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche. #VegasBorn
In a tweet from team's official Twitter account, McCrimmon is quoted as saying "it’s been a long wait but well worth it and we’re excited to bring Jack back on Wednesday night."
"It’s been a long wait but well worth it and we’re excited to bring Jack back on Wednesday night."
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) February 14, 2022
The Sabres traded their former captain to the Golden Knights in November. Buffalo acquired forwards Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch, a top-10 protected 2022 first-round pick and a 2023 second-round pick from Vegas in exchange for Eichel and a 2023 third-round pick.
Buffalo drafted Eichel in the 2015 NHL Draft with the 2nd overall pick. In October of 2017, he signed an eight-year, $80M contract extension that began at the start of the 2018-19 season. Exactly a year after signing that contract extension, Eichel was named the team's captain. He held that captaincy until September 2021, in which General Manager Kevyn Adams took the letter 'C' away following an offseason of tension between the two sides.
Eichel was injured in March 2021 and missed the team's final 33 games of the 2020-2021 season. Tensions came to a head after Eichel's wish to have an artificial disk replacement wasn't agreed to by the team, instead choosing to go with their team doctors' recommendations of a disk fusion surgery, something Eichel did not want. During the end of season press conferences, Eichel expressed his frustration with the organization and the handling of his injury.
He released a video on his Twitter account thanking Sabres fans after he was traded.
Eichel played 375 games with the Sabres, scoring 139 goals and adding 216 assists for 355 points.
