Jack Eichel is no longer Buffalo's captain, fails physical

It's likely most hockey fans saw this coming, but it's still jarring to hear it. The Buffalo Sabres have announced that Jack Eichel, once thought to be the team's franchise player, has been stripped of the captaincy he held since 2018.

"I spoke to Jack two days ago, I spoke to the team yesterday and addressed this," said Sabres GM Kevyn Adams. "Jack Eichel is no longer the captain of the Buffalo Sabres. From our perspective, the captain is your heartbeat of your team, and we are in a situation where we felt we needed to make that decision."

No word on who his replacement might be at this time. Adams also told reporters he has the full support of team owners Terry and Kim Pegula in this decision.

Meanwhile, Adams also announced that Eichel has failed his physical and has been sent back home. This was an obvious outcome as Eichel as yet to have surgery for a bulging disc in his neck and remains at odds with the team and its doctors about the type of surgery he should have. Adams would not tell reporters that Eichel has played his last game in Buffalo, though.

"I think we would all agree that we were hoping to avoid surgeryunfortunately, yesterday Jack did not pass his physical," said Adams. "At this point, Jack is not willing to move forward with what our doctors are suggesting...we will continue to work toward a solution."

It seems the longer this dispute drags on, the more bitter it will gets.

«I spoke to Jack two days ago, I spoke to the team yesterday and addressed this, Jack Eichel is no longer the captain of the Buffalo Sabres. From our perspective, the captain is your heartbeat of your team, and we are in a situation where we felt we needed to make that decision.» pic.twitter.com/K0vajWnCR0— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) September 23, 2021

"I think we would all agree that we were hoping to avoid surgeryunfortunately, yesterday Jack did not pass his physical. At this point, Jack is not willing to move forward with what our doctors are suggesting...we will continue to work toward a solution." - GM Kevyn Adams pic.twitter.com/edqUoFjwKw— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) September 23, 2021

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