Jack EichelThe debut of the Vegas Golden KnightsWednesday: Home game against the Colorado AvalancheOn Monday, Kelly McCrimmon, general manager of Vegas, announced her resignation.
Eichel said, “I had the date marked for a while. I just had to go through all protocols.” “I feel like I’m back at the point where I can play. “I just want to get back into the game and feel confident.”
Eichel, who was traded from the Buffalo SabresIn November, hasn’t played in an NHL match in almost a year. He last suited up on March 7, 2021.
Eichel said that he is sure to feel many emotions Wednesday and that it is his longest layoff in hockey. “I’m trying to be realistic with myself, my expectations. I haven’t played for 11 months, and I haven’t had any preseason games. Now I’m going against the best team right now in the league.
Nov. 12 saw Eichel undergo artificial disc replacement surgery to fix a herniated disc in his neck. This procedure was never done before on an NHL player.
McCrimmon admitted that Eichel’s surgery was not popular with everyone. McCrimmon stated, “But in medical worlds, things are changing all of the time.” He was the first to perform this type of surgery and it has been a great success.
On Monday practice, Eichel was placed on the first row alongside Max Pacioretty.
Vegas also placed captain in a similar move. Mark Stonein long-term injury reserve. The Golden Knights had exceeded the $81.5million salary cap. Stone’s $9.5million salary won’t count against that cap while he is sidelined. This will allow Eichel ($10 million cap hit), to debut.
According to the Golden Knights, Stone suffered back problems dating back to last season’s playoffs and had seen numerous specialists in North America. Stone was off the ice during the recovery process. He also missed a month of injury reserve. Stone has not played back-toback games this season.
McCrimmon stated that it was difficult to pinpoint the exact issue, which has been frustrating for Mark. “But, that’s what we have to do. It takes time.”
McCrimmon claims he is unsure how much time Stone will require after the 10-game schedule and the 24-day long-term injury reserve.
Vegas still has a defenseman Alec Martinez($5.25million) long-term injury reserves; McCrimmon noted that Martinez was also frustrated by the delay in getting a diagnosis after she suffered a severe facial injury during a match against the Minnesota WildMid-November
McCrimmon explained that this man rode a scooter all through the 2021 playoffs. After getting off the scooter, he went into the rink to get his foot frozen. McCrimmon added that McCrimmon did not require any practice, game day skating or taking a step. He is one of the hardest hockey players I have ever seen. There has been speculation that Alec might be being held up for a salary cap [reasons]. It’s impossible to imagine this man not playing when he’s ready. He’d knock the door down.
The salary cap questions for the Golden Knights will continue to linger, just as they did for the Tampa Bay LightningLast season. Last year, the Lightning won the Stanley Cup despite star sniper. Nikita KucherovFollowing hip surgery, Kucherov was unable to play in the regular season. Kucherov was able to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs when the salary cap is removed. The NHL looked into the circumstances surrounding Kucherov’s injury, and determined that there was no wrongdoing.
Due to the herniated disc in his neck, Eichel missed 33 games last season; this injury caused a rift between Eichel’s management and Sabres.
The Sabres wanted Eichel to have a fusion procedure, which would allow him to return to the ice within six months. Eichel’s doctors recommended a disk replacement procedure, which would leave him off the ice for a shorter time and reduce the chance that the center will need to perform future surgeries.
The Sabres didn’t like Eichel becoming the first NHL player to undergo artificial disc surgery.
Buffalo stripped Eichel from his captaincy in this year’s trade and helped to facilitate the Nov.4 trade to the Golden Knights. Eichel received his preferred surgery just eight days later.
Since then, Chicago BlackhawksForward Tyler JohnsonHe also had an artificial disc replacement surgery.
The Eichel trade brought Buffalo a return Peyton Krebs, Alex TuchA future first-round pick and a potential second-rounder. As part of the deal, Vegas was also given a future third round draft pick.