Jack Eichel takes final shot at the Sabres

Forward Jack Eichel took part in practice for the first time with his teammates of the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, nearly two months after artificial neck surgery.

And we have to admit he looks good. Eichel also wanted to share how good he feels and excited about his return to action approaching.

“A bit of an emotional moment for me. Another step in the process, but this was like a kid at Christmas getting out there with the guys,” Eichel said afterward.

When meeting reporters after the skate, Eichel was asked many questions and the procedure and recovery, and the forward clearly couldn’t help himself to fire one last shot at the Buffalo Sabres. After an eight-month saga in which Eichel wanted out of Buffalo as the Sabres preferred an anterior cervical discectomy fusion, while Eichel and his representatives preferred this ADR procedure, the discord led to the Sabres trading Eichel and a future third-round pick to the Golden Knights on Nov. 4 for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs and two picks.

When talking about the recovery he’s going through, Eichel had this to say about his pride of sticking up for himself and what he believed what the best procedure for him.

“I was sitting here and I was pinching myself a few times during the rehab process, just being like, ‘I went through all that for this?’ It’s pretty straightforward. I had surgery, I went out to dinner with my parents that night.

“It was a lot more straightforward than I had expected. To be completely honest, it was a really smooth process. I do have a lot of people to credit for that, but everything went very well – knock on wood.

“I’m in a great place now, and I’m very happy that I stood up for what I believed in. At the end of the day, it all kind of panned out the way I hoped it would.”

Eichel has yet to play with the Golden Knights since they acquired him from the Sabres. In 375 career NHL games, Eichel has 139 goals and 355 points all with the Sabres. He has moved on - clearly with this last jab - and is he is looking forward to playing for his new team.

“I was actually thinking about suiting up tonight, but they wouldn’t let me go,” Eichel joked.