YIKES: Sabres' Jack Eichel is 'fed up and frustrated'

The Buffalo Sabres drafted Jack Eichel 2nd overall with full intentions of using him as the core piece to build a successful future with. One problem, there's been no success. On Thursday, Eichel spoke with Postmedia, and did not hold back on his feelings towards his team and their success.

Listen, I'm fed up with the losing and I'm frustrated. It's not an easy pill to swallow right now. It's been a tough past couple of months and a tough past five years. It adds to the frustration that you can't get to a 24-team playoff. Our goal at the beginning of the season wasn't to make the 24-team playoff, it was to make a 16-team playoff. In a situation like this, a lot of the teams that are going to continue to play. They probably thought they were going to be out of it. They're going to gain valuable experience. Now we're not one of them. It adds to the frustration. It adds to it a lot.

Eichel is Buffalo's best player by a country mile and his relationship with his head coach is extremely positive. The team hopes to add some more depth up front and a 1-A goaltender next season to boost their chances at success. At this point, winning the draft lottery is their next focus, a far cry from the playoffs that Eichel so dearly wants to be a part of.

Eichel: "Look, I'm fed up with the losing & I'm frustrated. ... It's been a tough couple of months. It's been a tough five years. ... I want to win the Stanley Cup every time I start a season. ... I'd be lying if I said I'm not getting frustrated with the way things are going."
— Lance Lysowski (@LLysowski) May 28, 2020