Golden Knights Reveal Details on Jack Eichel's 'Other' Injury

Jack Eichel has dealt with a number of injuries over the course of his career, including one which led to his trade from the Buffalo Sabres. Now a member of the Vegas Golden Knights, Eichel had some high expectations placed on his shoulders as he made his debut mid-season on the Vegas strip. While all the attention was on his performance after his artificial disc replacement surgery, turns out another injury crept up and was a huge factor down the stretch for the Golden Knights center.

President of hockey operations George McPhee revealed the details as a guest on the The Bob McCown Podcast and had this to say:

What most people probably wouldn't know is that he ... broke his thumb in a bad way about three or four weeks into his return. It was non-displaced so he didn't have to have surgery, but it was a bad fracture and the guy didn't miss a game. We had to numb him up, and it wasn't easy because when that wore off, he was in a lot of pain. But he toughed it out for six weeks with that. We did as much research as you could do, and boy, there weren't many second thoughts. It just seemed to be a great advancement in modern medicine and as procedures go, it sounded like it was pretty simple, but it's more elaborate than people would know.

Considering all the pressure and injuries along the way, Eichel performed well for the Golden Knights down the stretch. He would finish with 14 goals and 11 assists in 34 games, after missing the better parts of two seasons. 

The 25-year-old is now the face of the franchise and is signed through the 2025-26 season, carrying a hefty $10-million cap hit annually. McPhee and company will have to be creative in order to the fix team's finances as the Golden Knights are currently over the cap. Look for the team to be active this offseason and let's hope Vegas and the rest of the NHL can enjoy a full season of watching Eichel on the ice and not on the IR.

Photo credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports