Injury Report: Eichel suffers high ankle sprain in Oct 12th practice; out 6-8 weeks

[Rhett4]

We lose an elite talent but can still roll out a center spine of:
ROR
Reinhart
Larsson
Girgensons

We could have worse problems

Except Vogl says ROR not likely for tomorrow now. Otherwise, I agree.

 

[Rhett4]

Thankfully Montreal isn't starting Price, so Buffalo should still be in the game despite a lot of offensive talent being out.

That helps. We need ROR back game two though. Otherwise yikes.

 

[joshjull]

Except Vogl says ROR not likely for tomorrow now. Otherwise, I agree.

Its one game. He has muscle spasms in his back. He, along with Okposo, should be fine in the very near term.

 

[haseoke39]

The story for me becomes whether Reinhart, Okposo, Kane, Ennis, Girgensons, ROR can score at an NHL average pace. The team has a lot of guys who are due for bounce-backs (Moulson, Girgensons, Ennis), guys who are due to break out (Reinhart), guys who should be rock solid producers (ROR, Okposo). There was always a chance that if enough of the supporting cast could hit their potentials, we had a potentially high octane group in place.

If that group can't absorb the loss of Eichel for six weeks, the season story is about them, not Jack.

 

[brian_griffin]

It was a decade ago, but I thought Briere had a groin injury, not ankle.

Wasn't it a stomach muscle / abdominal hernia?

 

[Rhett4]

The story for me becomes whether Reinhart, Okposo, Kane, Ennis, Girgensons, ROR can score at an NHL average pace. The team has a lot of guys who are due for bounce-backs (Moulson, Girgensons, Ennis), guys who are due to break out (Reinhart), guys who should be rock solid producers (ROR, Okposo). There was always a chance that if enough of the supporting cast could hit their potentials, we had a potentially high octane group in place.

If that group can't absorb the loss of Eichel for six weeks, the season story is about them, not Jack.

All good points. There's enough here that they can't get sad about it.

 

[JOVIS*]

RIP Playoffs this season in all seriousness, lets be real. There is always hope ofc but this is as devastating an injury to our fan morale as could have happened. A DAY BEFORE OPENING NIGHT!? thats so #BUFsy

silver lining, we can still have fun at the KBC i guess?

 

[joshjull]

Briere only played 48 games of the 05-06 season, just saying.

It was a decade ago, but I thought Briere had a groin injury, not ankle.

Wasn't it a stomach muscle / abdominal hernia?

I think he's saying we still had a great year even with him out that long

 

[Zman5778]

My biggest fear is that this bothers him for the rest of his career...

Nah. But it could very well affect him for most of this season, even once he's back.

It's entirely possible that we don't see the "real Jack" again until October 2017.

 

[Rhett4]

I'm calling it now. The Derek Grant miracle season.

 

[Chainshot]

Briere only played 48 games of the 05-06 season, just saying.

It was a decade ago, but I thought Briere had a groin injury, not ankle.



I think he's saying we still had a great year even with him out that long

Yep, Briere had the infamous "sports hernia".

 

[JOVIS*]

I'm calling it now. The Derek Grant miracle season.

YES! Derek Grant could score 30. I want TM to lock him up past this year! Vegas is going to steal him. He has figured it out. his AHL scoring was no fluke, he did it ALL pre-season.

 

[joshjull]

This is where our depth at center should, at minimum, be able to hold things together until Eichel returns. A lot will hinge on how Disco reacts to this and what adjustments he makes.

 

[Zman5778]

This is where our depth at center should, at minimum, be able to hold things together until Eichel returns. A lot will hinge on how Disco reacts to this and what adjustments he makes.

Given that ROR is out too.....it may take a week or so before we fully see how Disco reacts.

 

[Myllz]

The team should be able to stay afloat at around .500 until Jack returns. If they can do that, they'll still have a shot at making the playoffs.

 

[JOVIS*]

Given that ROR is out too.....it may take a week or so before we fully see how Disco reacts.

oh gawd. please not another season of Dan's musical chairs line combos

 

[Aladyyn]

oh gawd. please not another season of Dan's musical chairs line combos

I think finding something that worked for Jack was one of the biggest reasons for the shuffling last season. Bylsma doesn't need to do that for ROR/Reinhart

 

[VaporTrail]

Buffaluck

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

This is where our depth at center should, at minimum, be able to hold things together until Eichel returns. A lot will hinge on how Disco reacts to this and what adjustments he makes.

It's pretty great that we're replacing a 44% GF player with someone who was 50% or better last season.

Our ceiling is lower, but the injury also raises our floor and gives us three very strong defensive centers in the top 9. It also might force a more offensive role for Risto.

 

[Chainshot]

Good time to dial up the defensive play and figure out how to win ugly early.

 

[joshjull]

It's pretty great that we're replacing a 44% GF player with someone who was 50% or better last season.

Our ceiling is lower, but the injury also raises our floor and gives us three very strong defensive centers in the top 9. It also might force a more offensive role for Risto.

In English please

 

[haseoke39]

So high ankle sprain average recovery time would keep him out until Thanksgiving.

Our schedule until Thanksgiving is pretty easy. Twelve out of our first fifteen games are against teams that missed the playoffs last year. The next five are tougher, but all together, thirteen out of our first twenty games are against non-playoff teams.

That schedule is a bigger deal for our first quarter than missing Eichel.

 

[joshjull]

Good time to dial up the defensive play and figure out how to win ugly early.

I was wondering if that was what they were going to do regardless of this injury. Most of the preseason games I watched they were frequently sitting back in a 1-2-2. Lots of counterpunching. Not sure if thats a window into anything or not though.

 

[ZZamboni]

Sucks ... Sure. But who was actually banking on Eichel being the end all be all to a horrible vs. great season for the team?

I know I wasn't.

Ledge jumpers from the first two pages made me laugh.

Hope he comes back later and fully healed instead of early and being a season long issue.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

It's pretty great that we're replacing a 44% GF player with someone who was 50% or better last season.

Our ceiling is lower, but the injury also raises our floor and gives us three very strong defensive centers in the top 9. It also might force a more offensive role for Risto.

This is the first post that I've found at least somewhat comforting

This, combined with the schedule, gives me hope that we might squeak by relatively unscathed, depending on how the coach plays things.

Imagine if we're over 500 by game 20 and then Eichel comes back? The early wins without the star would boost confidence big time, and his return would jumpstart things into high octane mode.