The Jack Eichel saga is now over. The Vegas Golden Knights acquired the all-star forward from the Buffalo Sabers at dawn Thursday.
The Golden Knights also got a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, and in return gave the Sabers forwards Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs their first-round pick in 2022 and third-round pick in 2023.
Eichel had failed his medical exam at training camp in September and as a result his name was put on the long-term injured list.
Since that time, a huge rift persisted between the two parties over how to treat a herniated disc that has plagued him for more than six months.
The Sabers and Eichel still disagreed on how to deal with the injury he sustained after being pushed against the ramp by New York Islanders forward Casey Cizikas during a meeting in March.
Eichel is in favor of disc replacement surgery. The Sabers objected to him undergoing the procedure, because it was never performed on an NHL player.
Under the collective agreement ratified last year, teams have the final say on how to deal with injuries sustained by their players.
Sabers general manager Kevyn Adams added at the time that the all-star player had also lost his title of captain of the team, raising the curtain of the camp.
Eichel will therefore be out of the game for a good period of time. The American was selected by the Sabers second in the 2015 NHL Draft.
So far, the Sabers still haven’t been able to trade the one who has had five seasons of 20 or more goals. And Eichel, who first raised the possibility of leaving Buffalo last May, changed agents in August in hopes of shaking things up.
The 24-year-old hockey player has five more seasons to go to his eight-year, US $ 80 million deal. A pact that includes a non-trade clause that will come into force from the summer of 2022.
For his part, Tuch had surgery earlier this summer and remains on the injured list. He is expected to return to the game in early 2022.
Tuch, 25, had 33 points, including 18 goals, in 55 games last season.
For his part, Krebs is a young 20-year-old forward who had 13 goals and 30 assists in just 24 games last year with the Winnipeg Ice in the Western Junior League. This season, he has amassed five assists in two games with the Henderson Silver Knights in the AHL. He was also shut out in nine games with the Golden Knights in 2021-22.