BUFFALO, N.Y. — Things didn’t go real well in Las Vegas for Jack Eichel last season. After his trade from the Buffalo Sabres to the Vegas Golden Knights, he had his disk surgery and came back to play 34 games with the Knights.
Eichel could only muster 25 points and his new team didn’t make the playoffs for the first time in their existence.
Eichel has been taking heat from the fan base in Vegas because players like Max Pacioretty and Evgenii Dadonov had to be traded because Eichel’s salary had them over the cap.
In an article on NHL.com, Eichel said he’s used the summer to try to get 100% percent healthy and he knows fans of the Golden Knights expect more than they got from him and that they should. He also admitted he didn’t play up to his standards during those 34 games.
From Buffalo’s side, they couldn’t have been happier with Alex Tuch and the quick improvement from youngster Peyton Krebs.
Krebs only had one point in his first six games with the Sabres, but then he scored two goals against the Philadelphia Flyers and the 21-year-old was off and running. In his next 38 games, Krebs netted seven goals and 14 assists for 21 points.
The kid then went to Rochester for the AHL playoffs and had 11 assists in 10 games. That ranked him sixth overall playing eight fewer games than the players around him.
Krebs is so excited about playing in Buffalo, he’s talked about building a house in Western New York because he wants a yard with grass for his kids. Krebs isn’t even a father yet.
If you want to talk about a player that wants to be a Sabre, it’s Tuch. He has been as excited as you can be to put on that Sabres sweater. The crest means something to Tuch. Buffalo’s hockey history with the French Connection and Dominik Hasek as well as others is a big deal to him. Most of the self absorbed players Kevyn Adams showed the door wouldn’t have known Perreault and Hasek if they tripped over them and couldn’t have cared less.
Tuch spent quite a few games at a point per game pace and finished with 38 points in 50 games.
Buffalo also got a first-round pick that they used this year to take Noah Ostlund 16th overall. Ostlund looked great at development camp and certainly showed many of the things the Sabres saw in him to draft him.
I think Krebs and Tuch will only get better this season. Ostlund feels he’s probably two years away, but he has a good chance to make an impact on this team down the line.
Eichel never should’ve been captain of this team and he definitely wasn’t ready when he got the “C.” It’s possible Tuch could become Buffalo’s next captain and it’s a position I think he’d be great for. After getting to know Tuch, he will be an excellent leader in that room for these young kids.
Buffalo still has a second-round pick coming in 2023 while Vegas has a third-rounder coming to them also in ’23.
So nothing has changed my mind about this trade as Eichel strives to be better and the Sabres strive to be better this season under Don Granato. There’s no question that Eichel is the best hockey player of the group, probably by far, but I would take Tuch, Krebs and Ostlund in a heartbeat over Eichel any day of the week. With what those three players bring to the table both on and off the ice, the Sabres are much better off than they were a year ago, even if Eichel was healthy.