Buffalo Sabres fans watching their favorite players leave Western New York and then finding high-end success elsewhere around the NHL has become an unfortunate tradition during the club's current 14-year playoff drought.
Former Sabres captain Jack Eichel is making a serious bid to add another accolade to the ever-growing list. The Vegas Golden Knights center was named the early front-runner for the 2025-26 Hart Trophy, which is the league's Most Valuable Player Award, on Tuesday.
ESPN's Greg Wyshynski provided the results from informal Professional Hockey Writers Association balloting, which showed Eichel leading a close race also headlined by the defenseman Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche and forward Mark Scheifele of the Winnipeg Jets.
"It's a wide-open race after 10 games," one unnamed voter told Wyshynski. "Lots of guys having incredible impacts on the scoreboard and tilting the ice in favor of their respective teams."
Eichel, who spent the first six years of his NHL career in Buffalo, has recorded 19 points (eight goals and 11 assists) in 11 games for the Golden Knights so far this season.
Jack Eichel will forever be one of the biggest "what if" scenarios in Buffalo Sabres history
Eichel was already an NHL superstar when Buffalo traded him to Vegas in 2021. He'd scored 355 points in 375 appearances for the Blue and Gold, establishing himself as an elite offensive threat with a unique combination of speed, hands and attacking-zone vision.
The 2015 second overall pick had grown tired of the Sabres' endless losing, however, and disagreement with the team's doctors about treatment of a neck injury ultimately led to his departure.
Buffalo's return wasn't terrible in a vacuum — it received Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, a draft pick used on promising prospect Noah Ostlund and a pick traded for Jordan Greenway — but it certainly isn't equal value given what Eichel has brought to the Golden Knights, including a Stanley Cup.
In addition, a bona fide No. 1 center in the NHL is like a franchise quarterback in the NFL. It's the most important building block to long-term success, and the Sabres haven't been able to fill that massive void since the four-time All-Star's exit.
(It's also worth noting here that Buffalo's trade return will look a lot worse if Tuch leaves in free agency while Eichel continues to dominate for Vegas.)
All things considered, it's hard to imagine a scenario where Eichel would have stayed with the Blue and Gold. He wasn't pleased with the franchise's direction, and it's impossible to blame him in that regard, and the injury treatment provided a reason for the sides to go their separate ways.
Still, it's tough for Sabres fans not to think about what kind of roster they'd have if the Eichel Era worked out with Sam Reinhart, Ryan O'Reilly, Rasmus Dahlin, Jeff Skinner and Linus Ullmark among the notable names to pass through Western New York over the years. Buffalo also drafted Brandon Hagel but never got him under contract.
The elements for sustained success were there, as evidenced by the fact rarely is a Stanley Cup raised in recent years without a former Sabre playing a critical role, but it just didn't work out.
Meanwhile, the Sabres have continued to flounder. They've played a more competitive brand of hockey in the early stages of the current campaign, but it's still far from a guarantee they'll be able to bring a long-awaited end of their playoff drought in 2026.
It's an unfortunate reality for one of the best hockey markets in North America, and every former player who succeeds for another organization merely adds to the frustration.