Sabres strip Jack Eichel of captaincy after failed physical: 'The captain is the heartbeat of your team'

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Buffalo Sabres star center Jack Eichel has been stripped of his captaincy after failing his physical prior to the start of training camp, the team announced Thursday.

General manager Kevyn Adams told reporters on Thursday that Eichel failed his physical after failing to get the recommended treatment to repair a herniated disk in his neck he sustained during a game against the New York Islanders back in March. 

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"To this point, Jack is not willing to move forward with the fusion surgery that our doctors are suggesting. So we're going to continue to work towards solutions," Adams said. "I spoke to Jack two days ago, I spoke to the team yesterday and addressed this, Jack Eichel is no longer the captain of the Buffalo Sabres.

"From our perspective, the captain is the heartbeat of your team, and we are in a situation where we felt we needed to make that decision."

The rift between the Sabres organization and Eichel began after his injury. The 24-year-old is opting for artificial disk replacement surgery, but the team is against it because it has never been performed on an NHL player. Instead, the Sabres want him to have the disk fused.

In this Feb. 15, 2021, file photo, Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Eichel skates during the second period of the team's NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders in Buffalo, N.Y. Eichel will travel to Buffalo for his pre-training camp physical this week amid questions of whether he'll be cleared to play, and his future with the team in limbo, a person with direct knowledge of the player's plans told The Associated Press on Saturday, Sept. 18. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes, File)

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Under the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement reached last year, teams now have the final say on how players can treat injuries.

"If there was an easy solution, we would have acted on it," Adams said. "So, we're going to have to continue to look at this on a daily basis. As of now, we are in a situation where we have a player that is resistant to what our experts are saying, and we are going to continue to trust what our medical doctors tell us, which is in the best interest of Jack as a human being and as a hockey player."

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Eichel has five years left on an eight-year, $80 million contract that features a no-trade clause, which kicks in next summer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.