Captain Jack (Sabres)

The best kept secret just went public.

Jack Eichel is the new captain of the Buffalo Sabres, who have not had a man with a “C… on his sweater since Brian Gionta was the leader in 2016-17.

Eichel is the 28th captain in the 48 year history of the Sabres.

Eichel is entering the first season of his eight year, $80 million contract.

Eichel’s assistant captains will be Zach Bogosian and Kyle Okposo.

Eichel was the number two overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Last season, Eichel became the ninth unique player in franchise history to lead the team or tie for the team lead in goals, assists and points. He was the first to do so since 2012-13 (Thomas Vanek) and at 21 years of age, he was the youngest player to do so since Pierre Turgeon in 1989-90.

Four players have led (or tied to lead) the Sabres in all three categories twice in their careers: Gilbert Perreault (1976-77 and 1977-78), Pierre Turgeon (1988-89 and 1989-90), Miroslav Satan (2001-02 and 2002-03) and Thomas Vanek (2010-11 and 2012-13).

With his 25th goal of the season on March 29 vs. Detroit, Eichel became the first Sabre aged 21 or younger to reach the 25-goal mark since Pierre Turgeon did so in the 1990-91 season. Eichel became just the fourth player in franchise history to score 20 or more goals in each of his first three NHL seasons, joining Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and Thomas Vanek.

Eichel joined Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, Phil Housley and Christian Ruuttu as the only Sabres to record at least 50 points in each of their first three NHL seasons.

Eichel set a new career high with .96 points per game this season. It was the team’s highest points-per-game mark among players with at least 10 games played since Thomas Vanek logged 1.08 points per game in 38 games in 2012-13.

His .58 assist per game game ranked as the team’s best rate (min. 10 games) since Derek Roy had .71 assists per game in 35 games in 2010-11.

Eichel finished the season ranked ninth in the league with 1.09 points per game on the road (38 points in 35 games). It was the highest road scoring rate by a Sabre since Thomas Vanek recorded 23 points in 20 road games (1.15) in 2012-13 and the highest in a full season since Daniel Briere recorded 48 points in 39 road games (1.23) in 2006-07.

Of Eichel’s 64 points this season, 27 were goals or primary assists recorded during 5-on-5 play (excludes 6-on-5 situations). This topped his previous career-best total from his 81-game rookie season (24) by three in 14 fewer games.

Eichel’s five assists on March 31 at Nashville tied the Sabres’ franchise record for most assists in a game. Eichel joined Gilbert Perreault (3x), Pat LaFontaine (3x) and Dale Hawerchuk as the only players in Sabres history to accomplish this feat.

Despite missing 15 games with a high-ankle sprain, Eichel has topped his previous personal bests in goals (24), assists (33) and points (57) on the strength of improved production at even strength.

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