Jamie Nye: It’s time for Jack to hit the road

Jack Eichel’s time in Buffalo, though not officially over, seemed doomed before he was even drafted.

Let’s go back to the night of the NHL lottery and the Buffalo Sabres and Arizona Coyotes were awaiting the good news that they won and got the honour of drafting Connor McDavid. Instead, the Oilers, who finished third-last in the standings, got the golden card and the golden boy.

Then Sabres general manager Tim Murray didn’t hold back after slipping to the second overall pick. The infamous quote was, “I’m disappointed for our fans.”

I’m sure Eichel, who was the consensus No. 2 pick, was thrilled to hear he was a disappointment before he was even selected.

Now, Eichel is the one who sounds disappointed, wanting to get a surgery the team doctors won’t sign off on to address a neck injury that some worry threatens his entire career.

It seems almost guaranteed Eichel, if his neck injury passes testing, will be dealt this off-season. And it’ll most assuredly be to a team and fans who won’t be disappointed to see him.