So far, the Sabers have wasted Jack Eichel:

Jack Eichel of the Buffalo Sabers is an up and coming superstar. With players like Connor Mcdavid, Eichel will surely be one of the covers of the sport in the many years to come. As the second overall selection behind Connor Mcdavid in 2015, Eichel has been nothing short of incredible. Already playing five full seasons at only the age of 23, Eichel has been a point per game player. In just this season alone, as captain of the team, Eichel was on pace for a career-high of ninety-four points. In our estimation, this accomplishment in itself warrants Eichel to be included in the Hart Trophy (MVP) discussion this season. For the past five years, he has been the sole backbone of the team. However, what makes Eichel even scarier is that he has not even reached his ceiling yet. At only twenty-three years old he has not even reached his prime physical peak yet. In the next few seasons, all signs point towards a positive progression in his game which could result in Eichel becoming a top-three player in the league. He has the ability to consistently be a one hundred point player, per season. Additionally, it's not like Eichel is playing with superstar linemates. He has constantly been forced to carry the other two players on his line. As a result, this portrays Eichel's superstar ability to enhance the success of the players around him. He cannot do everything alone, however. Jeff Skinner who was supposed to be the second scoring option on the team has unfortunately failed immensely this year. He was demoted to play a bottom-six forward role this season and failed to live up to his eight-year 72 million dollar contract with only twenty-three points this year. Eichel has lacked an adequate supporting cast for his whole tenure in the league, specifically on the offensive side of the puck. Essentially, Eichel was single-handedly the only reason the Sabers were not the worst team in the league this year.

To make matters worse in Buffalo, the Sabers have not made the playoffs since the 2010-11 season. Unfortunately, this constitutes the longest current playoff drought in the NHL. Their last playoff series win was 13 years ago and the team has never won a Stanley Cup in their fifty years of existence. As seen, for the past decade, the team has been allergic to prosperity.

Consequently, the Sabers star Jack Eichel went on the radio this week to express his frustration. He claimed that "I'm fed up with the losing and I'm frustrated. It's definitely not an easy pill to swallow..". Eichel also has a reason to be upset after the new 24 team playoff format was announced. When the season was put on pause in early March, the Sabers were tied with the Devils as the 25th ranked team in the league based on points percentage. In fact, the day the season was paused, the Sabers were playing the 24th ranked team, Montreal Canadiens, and with a win, they could've passed them in the standings. The team cannot catch a break. Just in these past few years, players don't want to be in Buffalo anymore. Two years ago, Ryan O'Reilly, at the end of the season claimed that "he had lost love for the game" while in Buffalo. He was not playing up to his ceiling or standard. Ultimately, O'Reilly was traded to the Blues that offseason and rejuvenated his love for the game in St. Louis. His dissatisfaction with playing in Buffalo was justified when in his first year with the new club, O'Reilly lead the Blues to the Stanley Cup, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. More recently, this year it was reported that both Evan Rodrigues and Rasmus Ristolainen were unhappy in Buffalo. Ultimately, Rodrigues was traded to Pittsburgh and Ristolainen is still "stuck" and unhappy with the lack of success in Buffalo. Players not wanting to play in the city of Buffalo is further proof that people are all around the situation are unhappy with the failure of the franchise.

On top of that, despite the city of Buffalo known for being a sports town, the Sabers have always had a hard time luring in past free agents. This past trade deadline the Sabers were forced to add an aging and declining player in Wayne Simmonds from the Devils. Simmonds is the type of player who leads a team through his work ethic and competitiveness, rather than an outstanding skill. The Sabers were desperate for players who were willing to play in Buffalo without any added drama off the ice, without focusing on Simmonds' decline in play. Bringing in a player with experience would also benefit the younger players of the struggling team. Those types of players are needed because it's not like the Sabers coaching staff has had great success with player development in the past few seasons. Both their drafting and development of players have been average at best.

Although the Sabers have lacked success recently, not everything has been negative. The team still has a sizable amount of young talent. With Eichel, they also have recent number one overall defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, young stud in Sam Reinhart, and a top-five rookie player this year in Victor Olofsson. The team also is very inconsistent throughout the year which ultimately has been the epitome of their failures. This inconsistency has been illustrated in the past two seasons when the team has started off with success and then rapidly declines as time progresses. If they are able to play the way they play early on in the year, they might have a shot at a playoff berth. Additionally, they have an excellent player-friendly coach in Ralph Krueger.

Despite some of these positives, this offseason Sabers management and general manager Jason Botterill must improve this team in the short term. Maybe adding UFA goaltender Braden Holtby this summer would be a good place to start. If they can get lucky at the draft and win a top-five selection in October, it would also enhance Eichel's belief in the future of the team. If the Sabers want to make Eichel happy and get into the playoffs they will have to act fast. With the immense talent in the Sabers Division like Auston. Matthews, Mitch Marner, Alex Barkov, Nikita Kucherov, Carey Price, and Brad Marchand, the Sabers have a lot of work to do this summer.

However, if the Sabers fail to improve their roster this summer and miss the playoffs for an 11th straight season, considering Eichel's recent comments, could he end up requesting a trade next summer? I'd say it's definitely under the realm of possibilities. He and his team deserve better. The passionate fans of Buffalo deserve better, as they still are able to withstand their ticket sellings each year. Additionally, Eichel has been nothing but a quiet, respectful leader on as captain of the Sabers both on and off the ice. Until this week, he has never caused any drama in the past five years, despite his obvious anger throughout the season. He has been a class act. With an eight-year eighty million dollar contract that financially covers Eichel into the summer of 2026, the Sabers would be looking for a massive return for their superstar player.

Assuming they don't want to trade him, the Sabers' management should not take this week's comments by Eichel lightly. Hopefully, this added pressure will help the team improve their roster for next season. Until the Sabers have some success, this will be a very important and relevant storyline in the NHL that as fans, we should definitely keep an eye on.