easier said than done.
Next offseason his full NMC kicks in and he can veto a trade anywhere, so he has Buffalo in a vise and he and his agent know it.
True, but he's risking more than the team would be risking. He's risking the remainder of his career earnings. Feels like he has a lot more skin in the game than the team does, even if their 'investment' is significant.
The problem is he isn't going to do what ownership wants. He would rather sit out than have an operation/procedure/therapy different than what he wants. I don't disagree; it's a business and they have to make the best business decision for them. But at some point, you have to set that aside and do what's best for the player. What's better though, an injured Eichel who barely plays half a season, if not less, or an Eichel who had spinal surgery who isn't as good as he once was, but is finally healthy enough to play a full season?
I was wondering the same thing. Maybe it’s just a mercy to allow Blues fans to nurse their delusions just that much longer than everyone else.
I'm very squarely in the camp that is highly skeptical of the claims being made by Eichel's doctor. I don't think the surgery he wants is nearly the no-brainer option that is being pushed and (largely) accepted by fans and the media. His doctor's comments about the difference between hockey hits and football hits making this surgery less risky for a hockey player raised an eyebrow with me. He talked about how hits to the top of the head that compress the neck downward are very risky with this surgery but hits driving the head backward aren't. I agree with him that the majority of hits in hockey drive the head back and not down, but guys get caught with their head down or get shoved into the boards pretty commonly in hockey. I don't think the replacement surgery is the miracle solution it is being presented as.
I don't think this provides him much leverage. If it gets to that point, then we are at the point where he has been suspended without pay for refusing medical treatment, Buffalo is attempting to toll this year of his contract (pushing his NMC out a year), we're almost certainly in the midst of arbitration/litigation and him trying to exercise a NMC would absolutely be used against him in that arbitration/litigation. Good luck convincing an arbitrator that this is all about medical autonomy after you refuse a trade to a team that would allow you to get the surgery you claim to want. I don't think it gets to this point, but if we do get there then exercising his NMC carries massive risk to Eichel.
Also apparently their radio play-by-play guy couldn't make the trip due to being in covid protocol
