It’s no secret much of the rift between Jack Eichel and the Buffalo Sabres stems from a difference in opinion over how to treat the star centre’s neck injury.
It appears as though former Sabres netminder Robin Lehner can relate to some of Eichel’s frustrations with how the organization treats its players on the mend.
Lehner was a guest on The Cam & Strick Podcast earlier this week where he discussed some of his experiences when he was an injured member of the Sabres several seasons ago. The current Vegas Golden Knights starting goalie began his career with the Ottawa Senators before being traded to the Sabres prior to the 2015-16 season. Lehner sustained a lower-body injury during Buffalo’s season opener that year – against the Senators no less – and ended up missing more than three months due to the injury.
“I had a high ankle sprain, I tear everything in my foot and go through that and there was a bunch of problems,” Lehner told former NHL enforcer Cam Janssen and NHL insider Andy Strickland. “They hired like 12, 13 new people on that team that year that never played, never been around hockey,” Lehner explained. “The medical guys and (physiotherapists) and all that stuff. They took them in from all over the world and none of them had ever seen a puck in their life and I ended up getting a lot worse and ended up getting surgery at the end of that season because they just kept screwing it up.”
Lehner, who was 24 in his first season in Buffalo, suited up for 20 additional games after initially returning from the injury but his season was cut short due to lingering ankle issues.
He reflected back on his time dealing with injuries as a Sabres player when he was asked about Eichel’s predicament.
“It’s another medical problem there too,” Lehner said. “I mean the (expletive) they did to some of the players when I was there – and especially to me regarding my ankle – I mean it was crazy, man. I had a high ankle sprain they had me on the bike one week after. One week after I had my fully torn everything, worst-grade ankle sprain, one week after they put me on the bike in a special boot. I should’ve been walking on it maybe six to eight weeks after (surgery). They had me doing leg presses with 300 pounds three weeks into (rehab) and I re-sprained everything and I had to have surgery.”
Eichel’s agents released a statement two weeks ago stating they had anticipated Eichel would’ve been traded prior to the start of the league’s free agency period but that did not happen.
“I've been a bit upset about the way things have been handled since I've been hurt. I'd be lying to say that things have moved smoothly since my injury,” Eichel said back in May. “There's been a bit of a disconnect between myself and the organization. It's been tough at times. Right now, for me, the most important thing now is to try to get healthy, figure out a way to be available to play hockey next year, wherever that might be.”
