Eichel (neck) failed his training camp physical and has been stripped of his captaincy, The Athletic NHL reports.

EDGE Analysis

General manager Kevyn Adams told reporters Thursday, "I feel the captain is the heartbeat of your team. I felt we needed to address that." At this point it's safe to assume Eichel will never play another game for the Sabres, but a trade still doesn't seem imminent. The Sabres and Eichel's camp still disagree on the correct course of action to repair the herniated disk in the star center's neck. Eichel is dead set on undergoing an artificial disk replacement procedure, whereas the Sabres believe fusion surgery is the best course of action. At this point, it seems evident Eichel will refuse to address his injury via surgery until he's traded, and there's still no telling when that might happen. Eichel will start the season on injured reserve, and it looks like he may be in real danger of missing the entirety of the 2021-22 campaign.