Well, Kaprizov signed for 5/$45M, so that’s one drama out of the way. I feel like Eichel is going to draw out longer, though.
Good for the Wild. He’s by far the most interesting player they have and is a lot of fun to watch. I also would have been pissed if he was one and done in Minnesota after I bought a Wild Kaprizov jersey…
Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel fails physical, stripped of captaincy
Jack Eichel failed his physical at Buffalo Sabres training camp and has been stripped of his captaincy, as the team and its franchise player remain at an impasse over surgery options.
Eichel, 24, has been out since March with a herniated disk in his neck. The star center and his team have battled over the proper way to treat that injury, and he's requested a trade out of Buffalo. He'll be placed on injured reserve to start the 2021-22 NHL season.
"Unfortunately, yesterday, Jack did not pass his physical," Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said Thursday. "To this point, Jack is not willing to move forward with the fusion surgery that our doctors are suggesting. So we're going to continue to work towards solutions."
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After Eichel's injury diagnosis, the Sabres opted for non-surgical rehabilitation, before their medical experts suggested an anterior cervical discectomy with fusion to alleviate Eichel's discomfort. Eichel wanted disk replacement surgery, with an artificial disk being placed in his neck. It promises a shorter rehab time, the potential for less loss of motion and far less potential for the necessity for future surgeries. But it's never been done on an NHL player before, while the Sabres' preferred method is more commonplace.
Entire article:
https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id...jack-eichel-fails-physical-stripped-captaincy
Just sayin': Apparently Eichel needs surgery and hasn't had it yet due to the impasse between the player and team as to what type of procedure to do. I'll say he probably will eventually have one of the 2 procedures and won't be physically fit to play this season.
Jack Eichel signed a 8 year / $80,000,000 contract with the Buffalo Sabres, including a $15,000,000 signing bonus, $80,000,000 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $10,000,000.
Normally I would say, it's the player's body so he should have final say on any surgery. However, Buffalo is on the hook for a guaranteed $10M a year contract through the 2025/2026 season. I can see a real potential for a lawsuit to void the contract if he doesn't agree to the team's preferred surgery, he has his chosen surgery, and it goes bad.
