NHL: Jack Eichel felt like the Sabers were “playing” with him

As he prepares to face his former team on Thursday night, Jack Eichel shed some light on his complicated breakup with the Buffalo Sabres.

Eichel was traded by the Sabers to the Vegas Golden Knights last November. The trade follows a herniated disc he suffered last March, for which he had to undergo surgery to repair it. He and the team had what the superstar forward called a “disconnect” last spring, as the two sides had differing opinions on how to go about resolving the issue. As a result, the relationship deteriorated to the point that it became beyond repair.

ESPN caught up with Eichel to discuss his departure from Buffalo, and while he says he has no bitterness toward the organization, it’s clear he continues to be frustrated by what happened and by the way his tenure with the Sabers ended.

“I was frustrated,” Eichel told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. “If you think about why you took the captaincy away from me, it was because I disagreed with you medically. Then you basically told me not to come to training camp. At that moment, I felt like they were playing with me. So I was just, I’ve had enough.

While that remains to be seen, many expect a chorus of boos to rain down on Eichel on Thursday from the Sabers faithful. He was asked about the possibility of that happening and said he hopes fans understand how much he wants to win with the Sabres.

“I think about my time in Buffalo, it obviously ended a little messy,” Eichel said. “But I hope (fans) can look past some of the things that happened maybe last year and think about the previous five and a half or six years that I was there, and all that that I tried to do for the community, everything that I feel like I put forward on the ice as a hockey player, and I know that I just tried to do everything that I could for the city.

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