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The 2021-22 NHL season was a tumultuous one for Vegas Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel. Before arriving in Sin City, Eichel had a falling out with his former team, the Buffalo Sabres, mainly over how his neck injury should be handled. The two sides would eventually part ways with the Sabres trading Jack Eichel to the Golden Knights in a stunning November 2021 deal.
It still took Eichel a few months before he made his debut for the Golden Knights after going under the knife to repair his problematic neck. While he was still able to score 14 goals and score 25 points total in 34 games in Vegas threads, Jack Eichel can't consider his first year with the Golden Knights a success.
Via Jackie Spiegel of NHL.com:
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“Listen, I'm not going to make excuses,” Eichel said. “I don't think I played well last year in terms of my expectation of myself, and I'm sure the opinion of the public is probably pretty similar. They expect more out of me, and rightfully so. With that being said, I came off a major surgery after not playing for a year, and I had major spine surgery and played three months after and, so, that's pretty quick and, you know, like anybody that's had surgery or went through an injury, it takes a lot of time for you to get back to feeling like yourself.”
With a longer preparation this time around, Jack Eichel is looking forward to being the major contributor the Golden Knights expected him to be when they acquired him from the Sabres. After all, he is not a cheap asset at all. Eichel has a $10 million cap hit until the end of the his current deal in 2027. The talent is definitely there for Eichel, who is still looking for his first appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Now healthier, Jack Eichel should be able to help the Golden Knight convert their relative dominance in the possession battle into a higher-scoring offense. Last season, Vegas was eighth in the NHL in 5-on-5 CF% and second in 5-on-5 xGF but were just 13th overall with 3.2 goals per contest.
