Losing Jack Eichel is a huge blow for the Vegas Golden Knights

The Vegas Golden Knights announced on Tuesday that forward Jack Eichel had undergone successful surgery on his lower body and would be out week-to-week as he recovers.

Through 42 games this season, Eichel has 19 goals and 25 assists for 44 points, tied for the team lead in scoring. The 27-year-old has fit in nicely with Vegas since he was traded there by the Buffalo Sabres in November 2021. Not only has Eichel thrived offensively, scoring 135 points in 143 games with the Golden Knights, but he was a large part of the team’s Stanley Cup championship last season.

However, after the Golden Knights’ hot start to the season, starting 21-6-5 as of Dec. 17, they’ve lost eight of their last 12, and are now without one of their top offensive threats for the forseable future.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss Eichel’s injury and how much it will affect the Golden Knights in the back half of the 2023-24 regular season.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The Golden Knights continue to sputter along in the Western Conference, 4-6-0 in their last 10 and now Eichel is week-to-week after undergoing surgery. Frank, this is a big blow and it goes without saying that he’s their most important player. He leads the team in goals and shots, this is bad for Vegas.

Frank Seravalli: I’ve never seen a surgery quite that expansive before. The ol’ lower-body surgery. I mean, he had the whole thing operated on in one stretch? Jeez, week-to-week? More like year-to-year.

In all seriousness, you watch him in his last game against the Boston Bruins on Jan. 11, there’s nothing really to point to as it being “the” moment he got injured. If you’re looking at timelines after surgery in the past, it might be eight weeks before he can really be impactful and get back to normal.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…