Eichel camp willing to escalate situation with Sabres

Buffalo Sabres star center Jack Eichel is still not receiving what he wants, and his camp is willing to escalate the surgery and trade situation to a new level if he doesn't get it very soon.

According to Elliotte Friedman, there is a good sense that in the next two weeks the 24-year-old will likely file a grievance against the organization if he doesn't receive a trade or get permission for the type of surgery he wants. The continued stalemate between the Sabres and Eichel has been going on for quite some time, and Eichel wants to see something happen.

On HNIC, Friedman said he gets the sense that in the next 1 to 2 weeks if Eichel is not traded, the former #Sabres captain may decide to file a grievance.— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) October 24, 2021

Eichel has been out with a herniated disk since March, and he wants to have a procedure that has never been performed on an NHL player, an artificial disk replacement surgery. The problem is that the team wants him to have a fusion surgery which is much more common for herniated disks. The team does have the final say on what type of surgery will be performed, which makes things even more difficult.

Back in the offseason, Eichel requested a trade, but his injury has made it very difficult to trade him. He still has five years remaining on his contract with an AAV of $10 million. It will be interesting to see if this development causes any movement in the situation.