Jack Eichel injury update: Sabres star out with bad ankle

A bad season for the Buffalo Sabres just got worse, with Jack Eichel likely out for a bit with an ankle injury.

It’s safe to say Phil Housley’s first season as head coach is not going nearly as planned for the Buffalo Sabres, with a 16-29-10 record entering Sunday leaving them with the second-worst point total in the NHL (42). One bright spot has been Jack Eichel, with 53 points (22 goals and 31 assists) in 55 games played. But after being injured Saturday night, the young star center looks to be facing an extended absence with an ankle injury.

Eichel fell awkwardly in the first period of Saturday night’s game against the Boston Bruins, and he did not return to what became a 4-2 win for Buffalo. That inability to return seemed to put a multi-game absence in play, and the Sabres released an official diagnosis on Sunday.

High ankle sprains are always tricky in terms of return timeline, and they tend to bring longer absences when diagnosed that way. The Sabres deserve credit for going public with specifics, rather than maintaining NHL decorum by vaguely saying “lower body injury.” But Eichel’s stature and importance to the team makes clarity about an injury a priority, if only so Housley isn’t bombarded with questions about it for a little while.

Besides Eichel, no Sabres’ player even has 20 goals or 40 points this season and just three others have topped 30 points thus far. One of those who is close to the first two marks, left winger Evander Kane (17 goals, 37 points), could be (or surely should be) on the move before the Feb. 26 trade deadline.

Next: 2018 NHL Mock Draft

As the Sabres play out the final 27 games of a season that’s going nowhere, Eichel may not see the ice again. He’ll surely want to return before the season is over if at all possible, but the Sabres have to protect their franchise centerpiece.