Why Jack Eichel needs to be the Sabres’ captain

With the Buffalo Sabres going through another tough season, Jack Eichel continues to elevate his game and is deserving of the captaincy.

It’s been an interesting season for the Buffalo Sabres to say the least. To start off the campaign, the Swords named four alternate captains including franchise player Jack Eichel.

Eichel definitely deserved it too. Prior to this campaign, the American featured in 161 games while notching 48 goals and 65 assists for 113 points.

The encouraging part is that Eichel continues to elevate his game this season. In 33 games, the 21-year-old has amassed 11 goals and 17 assists for 28 points. Eich’s is second on the Sabres in scoring behind Evander Kane.

Recently, Eichel delivered one of the most breathtaking hat tricks Sabres fans have ever seen. Although they lost against the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime, Eichel’s heroics were the reason the Sabres had a chance.

There’s no doubt that Eichel performs on the ice. Similar to many other stars in the league that are the face of their respective franchise, Eichel should be named the captain of the Sabres.

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The moment Buffalo selected Eichel second overall in the 2015 draft, everybody knew that number 15 was going to light it up for the foreseeable future. Sabres GM Jason Botterill recently put pen to paper and inked Eichel to an eight-year deal.

You don’t hand that kind of money to an average player, or at least you shouldn’t. Eichel, however, isn’t an average player by any stretch. The Boston-native stands out above the rest of his teammates and is known for his brilliance around the league.

Eichel has been put into a sort of “wonderkid” category. Hence, his potential has no limits, equivalent to some of the top-end stars that shine in the NHL today. Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos were all given the “C” at a relatively young age.

The coaches and management alike trusted the potential of all these players to guide their clubs into the future. Each individual player makes their teammates look a lot better, a quality that Eichel definitely contains.

Cases have been made for Ryan O’Reilly leading the Sabres, but him in the captain role seems a bit odd especially since the Sabres have a billboard type player that doesn’t come around that often.

Eichel’s quiet tone sets the pace for his effective leadership. Jack says the right things to the media and leads by example on the ice. If Eichel can make the Buffalo Sabres an overall better hockey team to watch, there’s absolutely no doubt that he should be captain in Buffalo.

Next: Is there any chance of the Sabres making the playoffs?

Do you think Eichel should be the captain of the Sabres? If not, who should lead the Swords? Let us know in the comments below.