Jack Eichel hurt the Sabres’ owners Terry and Kim Pegula

On Thursday, Jack Eichel was traded, along with a third round pick, to the Vegas Golden Knights early on Thursday. The Buffalo Sabres received a hefty return, which includes Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, a future first-round draft pick and a future second-rounder.

This was the end of a saga, one that reportedly started all the way back in the summer 2020, when the Sabres did not enter the NHL’ playoffs and weren’t invited to the playoff bubble in Toronto. Eichel was frustrated, had had enough and demanded a trade as he admitted Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

On the latest 32 Thoughts podcast with Jeff Marek, Friedman explained how Eichel hurt the owners Terry and Kim Pegula when demanding a trade. This is how Friedman put it:

“It’s not unfair to say that they were hurt, as hurt as the fans are, I think the owners were hurt, rightly or wrongly no matter how anyone feels about that, I know you’re all going to have your opinions…

“I’m just dealing with what I believe to be facts, I think they were hurt and I definitely think it affected the process.”

“I think in The Pegulas mind that they had in Jack Eichel this generation’s version of Gilbert Perreault who was going to take them to the Stanley Cup. I think that’s how Terry looked at Jack Eichel. This is our new Gilbert Perreault, he’s taking us there”.

This is true that the Pegulas are real hockey fans, though some players will say they don’t know much about hockey (wink to Robin Lehner).

They care, and clearly they expected a future with Eichel, whose future is now with the Vegas Golden Knights.