The Buffalo Sabres are already investing a lot in Jack Eichel’s future. Giving him a leadership role should help groom him for his future captaincy.
For the past few seasons, the Buffalo Sabres have been a terrible hockey team. A lack of talent is surely a huge factor in this. But another reason is they’ve lacked an identity. Whether it’s fair or not, the leadership group has to be held responsible for it.
Former captain Brian Gionta will not be returning to the Sabres. This gives the new front office and coaching staff a chance to rebuild the team from the bottom up. At the bottom lies their current vacant captaincy.
Star center Jack Eichel is a very strong candidate. And why wouldn’t he be? The Sabres are investing a lot in Eichel’s future. He finished just shy of the top 10 in points per game last season. Had it not been for a high ankle sprain in October, Eichel likely would have finished in the top 10 in points.
However, he’s not yet ready for the captaincy. Eichel, through no fault of his own, is still a bit too raw and immature to be a captain. Although he made huge progressions last season, he hasn’t been quite the off the ice leader the Sabres need. To be fair, very few, if any, young players could serve in that role.
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For every Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid success story, there’s a story of a young player who struggle with an early captaincy. Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche immediately comes to mind. Handling this situation is crucial for the Sabres. Failing to do so could set the franchise back even farther in its rebuild.
The best course of action is to wean Eichel into a future role. With no obvious captain candidate on the team except for him, Buffalo can take their time. There’ s no reason Eichel shouldn’t be an alternate captain this season. With Ryan O’Reilly and Josh Gorges as holdovers, the Sabres can have one more alternate should they not elect a captain. And Gorges could easily be stripped of his letter.
Looking at Buffalo’s roster, Eichel is by a significant margin the most deserving player of a letter. One could make an argument for Rasmus Ristolainen, and if Gorges loses his leadership role, he’d be a great choice to take his “A”. But Eichel’s the one who everyone sees as a future captain. So Jack has to be the guy to get the third alternate role.
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Not selecting a captain right now is probably in the best interest for everyone. It keeps a spot open for Eichel. The Sabres (and the potential lame duck captain) avoid what could be a woefully awkward situation. And Buffalo can anoint Eichel as their new captain whenever he and the team feel he is ready.