NHL insider Elliotte Friedman noted during his most recent episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast that Jack Eichel’s recent injury has people in the organization worried. The Vegas Golden Knights have placed Eichel on injured reserve. Eichel has not played a game since January 11th against the Boston Bruins but initial reports suggested he was pegged to return on January 20th against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Despite only missing three potential games, Friedman noted, “People are nervous, I guess that’s the best way to put it, I don’t like to overstate anything I don’t know, but I think nervous is the right word, until you know for sure that this isn’t a bad thing, people are nervous.” What the team was assumed was something minor at first is now not so clear of an issue.
Eichel is leading Vegas in scoring, putting up 19 goals and 44 points in 43 games. Losing that kind of player is problematic. More concerning is Eichel’s injury history.
In the 2020-21 season, the star center suffered a neck injury that led to a contentious situation with the Buffalo Sabres regarding the preferred method of treatment. Eventually, Eichel underwent a neck surgery after being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in November 2021. The recovery process kept him sidelined for an extended period. Since returning, he’s been relatively healthy, but there have likely been underlying concerns about his long-term durability and the potential influence on his elite-level performance.
“He’s going to miss a little bit of time,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said of the center. “But I don’t know how much time. Obviously, not good news for us or Jack. But we’ll see how it plays out.”
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