BUFFALO, NY – Buffalo Sabers will be without captain Jack Eichel for what coach Ralph Krueger called the “predictable future” of delivering another blow to a team amid a nine-game skid.
The injury is not considered the end of the season, although on Saturday Krueger failed to offer a fixed schedule on how long he will miss Eichel.
“An injury of this nature requires more assessment and more time to understand it,” he said. “We only know that it will take some time here from the shortest to what you have already mentioned [season-ending], but it’s somewhere in between. “
The update came after Eichel traveled to see a specialist in the past two days to further determine the severity of the injury. Under the rules of the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol, Eichel is required to spend seven days in quarantine as a result of the trip, which means he will miss at least the next four games in Buffalo.
He has already missed two games since being recorded in the final tables by Casey Cizikas in the final minutes of a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders on Sunday. Eichel went to the bench, where he was seen shaking in pain as he flexed his neck.
The Sabers, who host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night, are in free fall. Buffalo (6-15-4) ranks last in the league in wins and on a 0-7-2 slip, putting the team already in danger of extending their drought in the playoffs to a 10th season that matches NHL record.
Eichel’s last injury is separated from the two previous ones that seriously hindered his production this season.
He missed the first week of training camp after suffering an upper body injury during a pre-ice training camp at the Sabers practice unit. A person with direct knowledge of what happened told the Associated Press on Saturday that Eichel suffered a rib injury during a training session with Matt Ellis, the development director of the team’s player.
Eichel also missed two games last month with a lower body injury.
A year after scoring the best 36 career goals in 68 games, the five-time scorer with 20 goals has been limited to two goals and 16 assists in 21 games this year. He did not score in 13 games before being injured.
Eichel’s scoring problems reflect those of the Sabers, who rank 30th in the league of 31 teams with an average of 2.24 goals per game and the last after scoring 34 times in five to five situations.
His extended absence is the latest failure of a team that has gone from one crisis to another in the first two months of the season and led to questions about Krueger’s job security two years after his job.
The Buffalo program was halted for two weeks after a COVID-19 outbreak hit the team in early February, during which seven players and Krueger were injured. The break led to Saber with a tight schedule in which they gather in the last 46 games over 83 days.
Injuries have become a problem.
Starting goalkeeper Linus Ullmark is still a few weeks away from recovering from a lower body injury last month. The Sabers are also missing two key defenders, including Jake McCabe, who suffered a knee injury at the end of last season.
The Dylan Cozens rookie center is the latest in the standings. Krueger said Cozens will not play on Saturday and is listed daily with an upper body injury.
Cozens was injured as he collapsed on a board after a Midice check from Zach Anton-Reese of Pittsburgh early in the third period of a 5-2 loss to the Penguins on Thursday. Cozens had just released the puck and they seemed to hit him on the head as they hit the boards.
Cozens has three goals and two assists in 20 games and was raised to play on Buffalo’s front line instead of Eichel.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.