Eichel contradicts head coach Ralph Krueger regarding recent injury

Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Eichel is claiming he wasn't injured prior to Thursday night's game versus the New Jersey Devils, contrary to what head coach Ralph Krueger told media that same night.

After Sunday's match against the Philadelphia Flyers, in which the Sabres got shutout for the second straight game, Eichel told media he got hurt in New Jersey during Buffalo's win against the Devils on Tuesday. He also claimed that same injury forced him out of both Thursday and Saturday's games.

Eichel ended up missing Thursday mornings skate and ended up being a late scratch. After the game, Krueger told reporters that the team captain was hurt during warmups and the injury had nothing to do with his absence that morning. Despite the miscommunication however, Krueger said he wasn't trying to mislead anybody regarding the injury.

"When I mentioned it, the specific region that actually took him out of the game (Thursday), the first time I'd heard about it was warmup," Krueger said. "That he was injured and he came out of the Jersey game (Tuesday) injured was clear to me, but it turns out that there was multiple lower-body injuries and whatever. The point is that he came out of Jersey hurt. The warmup call and the region that ended up being (aggravated), it was his first time back in his skates since that game and it changed the game."

The Sabres coach also made it clear he wasn't trying to do any gamesmanship with his comments. This is just yet another odd story from what has been an extremely disappointing season in Buffalo. With the team having just a 6-10-3 record to this point, reports of Eichel's apparent offseason trade demand have once again been coming up. If they aren't able to turn things around very soon, this very well could be the last season we see of him in a Sabres uniform.

Ralph Krueger: "When I mentioned it, the specific region that actually took him out of the game, the first time I'd heard about it was warm-up. But that he was injured and he came out of that Jersey game injured was clear to me. But it turns out ...— John Vogl (@BuffaloVogl) February 28, 2021

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