Jack Eichel Injury Update: Eichel Expected to Join Golden Knights This Week

Cue up those GIFs of Michael Scott from The Office saying “Oh my god, it’s happening.” Jack Eichel is expected to arrive in Las Vegas this week and join his new team in the Vegas Golden Knights soon after. The 25-year old superstar center was acquired on November 4th by the Golden Knights in a blockbuster that involved six pieces

Two of these pieces were Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs who have both made their debuts with the Buffalo Sabres this season. Now it is Eichel’s turn as the center is close to returning after undergoing artificial disk replacement surgery back in mid-November. At the time Eichel was set to miss three-to-five months when the initial surgery was performed. It has been two.

On Thursday, TSN Insider Chris Johnston gave the following injury update on Jack Eichel: “The timeline is right on time and Jack Eichel is progressing towards a point where he is expected to be in Vegas within the next week or so to officially join the Golden Knights and work towards practicing with them. There is an eye here on having him play games in February.”

Eichel has been skating and rehabilitating in North Carolina for the past couple of months and is not cleared for contact. But his arrival in Vegas put him a step closer to practicing with his new team.

The Golden Knights, when fully healthy are expected to be way above the NHL’s salary cap with Eichel in the mix. There is a good chance they will have to dip into the NHL trade market to shed some assets. But it could all be worth it given the type of player Eichel is who has 355 points in 375 career NHL games played.

In other news regarding injured Golden Knights players, Alec Martinez is now in COVID-19 protocols, Nicolas Hague is still day-to-day with a wrist injury, and Laurent Brossoit’s status is unknown.

Stay tuned for updates on Eichel with Vegas Hockey Now.