The Buffalo Sabres’ season couldn’t get much worse at this point, yet somehow they continue to receive bad news. Sabres captain Jack Eichel will miss the remainder of the NHL season due to a herniated disc in his neck. The team announced the injury on Wednesday, but did add that Eichel is “expected to be healthy and ready to play at the beginning of the 2021-22 season.”

The captain has been sidelined since March 7 and the Sabres were forced to endure an 18-game losing streak, the longest in the salary-cap era. They finally snapped that winless streak against Philadelphia, but it’s hard to imagine that going through that wasn’t embarrassing for the players. The team fired head coach Ralph Krueger, but things haven’t gotten much better since the change in coaching staff. 

Buffalo’s chances of making the playoffs are basically nonexistent. The team is currently 10-25-7 with 27 points. They are in last place in the MassMutual East Division, and aren’t even remotely within striking distance. 

The Sabres also went into sell-mode ahead of Monday’s trade deadline, shipping off some of their best players including Taylor Hall, Brandon Montour and Eric Staal. While Buffalo did receive some draft picks and somewhat valuable assets for these veteran players, it may be a few years before the Sabres are competitive again. They are about to miss the playoffs for the 10th consecutive year.

In 24 games this season, the 24-year-old Eichel produced 18 points (two goals and 16 assists). He has just gotten hot prior to going down with the injury, as he was on a four-game point streak before being forced to miss time. Interim coach Don Granato had told ESPN earlier this month that he was “hopeful” Eichel would eventually return this season. It appears the coach was wrong about that prediction.

“I had Jack in the U.S. program when he was 16,” Granato told ESPN. “I got to know him then, and I thought the world of him then. It’s something I’m excited to be a part of when he’s back — because we expect him back, we’re hopeful he’ll be back before the end of the year — and I look forward to that, now in the position of head coach.

“He means a lot to me personally. I love the fact that he has such strong and visible emotions of the game. I’ve reminded him numerous times that he’s got to make sure he finds the fun in all of this, too. Sometimes a lot of these great athletes are so intense, and there’s so much demand on them that they feel like they can’t have fun. It becomes such a business. They’re judged on different levels. I’m speaking generally now, but when you lose that, or you stop being aware of that, it becomes even harder.”

The Sabres will need to nail their draft picks and make some otherworldly offseason moves if they intend on moving in the right direction next year. At least they will have their captain back though.

Jack Eichel was a successful hockey player in college, and now he has landed a big deal after two years in the NHL.

Jack Eichel contract extension news

The former Boston University center — who bill be 21 later this month — agreed to an eight-year, $80 million contract extension with the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.

The $10 million average annual value of Eichel’s deal ties the Sabres star with Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar for sixth on the NHL’s list of average annual salaries, per Spotrac.com.

Eichel — who called his first two NHL seasons “mediocre” when he arrived at training camp last month — was entering the final year of his three-year contract and was only eligible to become a restricted free agent next summer.

ESPN’s Emily Kaplan recently interviewed Eichel and asked him what he would like to do if he hadn’t become a professional hockey player. The center gave an interesting answer.

“I would still be in college, but I wouldn’t be at BU,” the 20-year-old said with a smile. “I wasn’t a bad student in high school, but I probably wasn’t smart enough to go to BU. I probably would have gone to a school out west in California, or the South. I always thought it would be cool to be in the CIA or Homeland Security. It’s obviously kind of scary, but if you watch enough shows about it, you get curious enough.”

Kaplan added that she believes Eichel — the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft — will be a powerful asset to Buffalo.

In his only season at BU in 2014-2015, Eichel became only the second freshman to win the Hobey Baker Award as NCAA hockey’s MVP. He had a team-best 57 points with the Sabres last season and also led the squad with 24 goals as a rookie. Eichel missed the first 21 contests last campaign with a sprained left ankle.

The Sabres underwent some coaching and front office changes this offseason. Buffalo fired both general manager Tim Murray and coach Dan Bylsma, and replaced them with GM Jason Botterill and coach Phil Housley.

Buffalo missed the playoffs last year to stretch the franchise’s longest postseason drought to six years. The team also acquired winger Jason Pominville in a trade with the Minnesota Wild in June.

The Sabres will host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday for their season opener.

NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 03: Jack Eichel #15 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on January 3, 2017 in New York City. The Sabres defeated the Rangers 4-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Jack Eichel scored his second goal of the game at 2:35 of overtime to lift the Buffalo Sabres to a 5-4 road victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

Jack Eichel Nets Winner In Sabres’ 5-4 OT Victory Over Predators

Eichel beat Predators forward Colin Wilson and shot past goaltender Juuse Saros for his 12th goal of the season.

“I was just trying to build some speed and attack them,” Eichel said. “I noticed that I had a forward playing [defense] back there, so I just tried to use my speed and go after him and obviously try and get a shot on. He’s a really athletic goaltender and he makes it hard on you, so I’m just trying to move him a little bit and get it up.”

Sabres forward Kyle Okposo tied the game 4-4 with 1:05 left in the third period on a shot from the right face-off circle. He beat Nashville forward Ryan Johansen to the puck and fired it past Saros for his 15th goal. Okposo’s goal came on a Sabres power play.

Zemgus Girgensons and Brian Gionta also scored and Robin Lehner made 35 saves for Buffalo (20-18-9), which has now won three straight.

James Neal finished with a goal and an assist, and Filip Forsberg, Cody McLeod and Viktor Arvidsson also scored for the Predators (23-17-8), who had won three in a row. Saros blocked 32 shots.

Gionta scored to make it 4-3 at 14:10 of the third period. Girgensons made a cross-ice pass to Gionta, who beat Saros for his 11th goal.

Arvidsson gave Nashville a 3-2 lead at 5:08 of the third on the power play. The winger got the rebound of his own shot and flicked the puck past Lehner for his 12th goal.

Eichel scored his first goal of the game, which tied it 2-2, with 17.4 seconds remaining in the second period.

Buffalo defenseman Dmitry Kulikov returned to the lineup after missing 12 games with a back injury. He played 24:11 and blocked seven shots. Wilson returned to Nashville’s lineup after missing eight games with a lower-body injury.

The Sabres next visit the Dallas Stars on Thursday, when the Predators host the Columbus Blue Jackets.

NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 03: Jack Eichel #15 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on January 3, 2017 in New York City. The Sabres defeated the Rangers 4-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Jack Eichel scored twice in the third period to lift the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-3 home victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday.

Jack Eichel Scores Twice To Lead Sabres To 4-3 Win Over Rangers

The 20-year-old center, a former Boston University player who won the Hobey Baker Award in 2015, played in his home debut with the Sabres Thursday.

Eichel gave Buffalo a 4-3 lead when he sent the puck out of the corner and it bounced off Mats Zuccarello and past Henrik Lundqvist (30 saves) with 5:32 remaining in the third period.

“It’s kind of hectic down there and [you] just try to find a soft spot and [Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh] makes a great play,” Eichel said. “I knew that Lundqvist got over, so I was trying to hit [Evander Kane] coming back through and luckily I got a nice bounce; kind of rewarding.”

Eichel’s first goal tied the game 3-3 and came on the power play just 1:43 before his game-winner. He took a pass from Kyle Okposo and raced up the right wing where he took a wrist shot that beat Lundqvist low to the far side.

The rookie had a goal and an assist when he returned to the lineup Tuesday in a 5-4 victory against the Ottawa Senators after he missed 21 games with a high ankle sprain.

“Did I anticipate a two-goal game type of bump? No,” Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said of Eichel. “It just kind of shows what kind of player he can be, what kind of player he is. He’s a dynamic player and he brings so much to our team in speed and attack. Everyone feeds off it … it has carried over to other players.”

The Sabres (9-9-5) have won two consecutive games. The Rangers (16-8-1), meanwhile, have lost two of their last three games.

Marc Staal’s second goal of the season gave New York a 3-2 lead with 8:18 remaining in the second period. Staal took a pass from Jesper Fast and fired a shot that beat Anders Nilsson (22 saves) over his shoulder.

Johan Larsson scored his fourth goal 18 seconds into the game to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead.

McDonagh’s first of the season made it 1-1 with 3:45 left in the first.

Rick Nash gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead 8:15 into the second period with a power-play goal. Nash hit a rebound of a shot by Adam Clendening that was deflected by Jimmy Vesey through Nilsson’s legs for his 11th goal.

Sabres captain Brian Gionta tied it 2-2 at 9:48 of the second with his fifth goal. Gionta tapped a pass from behind the net from Marcus Foligno past Lundqvist. Foligno’s assist marked his 100th NHL point.

The Rangers next host the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, while the Sabres will host the Boston Bruins that day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltzqQCtr1Tk

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 09: Jack Eichel #15 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the New York Islanders at the Barclays Center on April 9, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Sabres defeated the Islanders 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Jack Eichel, rookie for the Buffalo Sabres and former Boston University Terrier, has proved to be an unstoppable force.

Sabres Rookie Jack Eichel Skates End To End To Score Goal Over Avalanche

Eichel stunned the crowd during the Sabres’ 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo on Sunday, after he went end to end to score the first goal of the game just two minutes into the first period.

The centerman took the puck in the neutral zone and reset in the Sabres end before skating past the Colorado defense and firing a wrist shot past goalie Semyon Varlamov.

Eichel,19, was drafted No. 2 overall by the Sabres in the 2015 NHL Draft. He also received the 2015 Hobey Baker Award, which is given to the top NCAA men’s ice hockey player.

The Sabres are now 23-28-6 this season. Eichel has 17 goals and 21 assists this season, for a total of 38 points.

Caption: MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 03: Jack Eichel #15 of the Buffalo Sabres skates the puck during the NHL game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on February 3, 2016 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Buffalo Sabres defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)