Jack Eichel expected to take the next step in the coming days.

We are now several games into the regular season and despite that it would appear as though star forward Jack Eichel and the Buffalo Sabres are no closer to a resolution.

Eichel remains sidelined as he awaits either approval from the Buffalo Sabres on his preferred method of surgical treatment or a trade to a team that will grant him the same, but it sounds like Eichel has not been idle during his time away from the game. On Saturday night National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman strongly hinted at the fact that Eichel and his representatives may be moving on to the next phase of this battle, and that the move may come very soon indeed.

"I'm not saying it's going to be as quick as the next 24 to 48 hours but I think we are getting to the point where the grievance could come down to force a kind of move," said Friedman during Saturday night's NHL broadcast. "I think if sometime in the next, I don't know, maybe week or two weeks max, the sense I'm getting if there is not a trade or an agreement with the Sabres and the Eichels on his medical path, I think you're going to see Eichel file a grievance to see if he can make that move things along."

The problem here of course is that it would appear as though the collective bargaining agreement is on the Sabres side. According to the newly negotiated CBA, the team has the final say when it comes to a players choice of medical procedure. Friedman admitted that he isn't sure how this one will play out in the legal system, if Eichel and his representatives do end up going down that particular path.

"I'm not a lawyer, I can't predict how that would go, but it sure sounds like it's coming if it's not sorted out in the next two weeks I would say max," said Friedman in closing.

As more and more time passes without a resolution to this problem I feel an ever growing number of fans are shifting towards Jack Eichel's side on this particular issue. The fact that he is sitting at home with an injured neck and unable to get treatment strikes me as profoundly wrong, whether it is legal or not, and I don't believe I'm the only one who feels that way.