Eichel 'fed up' with losing after Sabres miss playoffs again

Jack Eichel, who has yet to appear in a Stanley Cup Playoff game in his five NHL seasons, said he is sick and tired of losing.

"Listen, I'm fed up with [it]," the Buffalo Sabres captain said Thursday. "I'm fed up and I'm frustrated … I'd be lying if I said I'm not getting frustrated with the way things are going."

Eichel, 23, has played in 354 NHL games for Buffalo since the Sabres selected him No. 2 in the 2015 NHL Draft. The Sabres (30-31-8) finished 13th in the Eastern Conference and did not make the Eastern Conference Qualifying Round as part of the NHL Return to Play Plan announced Tuesday, extending their League-leading playoff drought to nine seasons.

"It's definitely not an easy pill to swallow right now," the center said. "It's been a tough couple of months, it's been a tough five years with where things have went.

"I'm a competitor. I want to win every time I step on the ice. I want to win the Stanley Cup every time I start a season. I've already started to prepare for next season. I'm already back on the ice, I've already started training to try to better myself for next season, whenever that is."

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Sabres coach Ralph Krueger on Friday said that he had no problem with Eichel's comments.

"That there's pain and anger and that Jack's at the lead of that, that's a really good sign and it's very healthy," Krueger said. "It also shows that our core has a youth that they're willing to reach for higher standards, they're willing to reach. And now we need to do the work that backs that up because all this talk. … It will not be given to us and it's going to be a tough grind coming up here, and I know that the players know that. I like the anger."

Making his situation even more bittersweet is seeing friends, former teammates, even rivals, get a taste of the postseason.

Connor McDavid, the center drafted one spot ahead of him by the Edmonton Oilers five years ago, has tasted the playoffs before (2017). So too has Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (2017-19), who played with Eichel for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.

Unlike Eichel, McDavid and Matthews will play in the 2020 qualifying round. The Oilers will face the Chicago Blackhawks in the West; the Maple Leafs will play the Columbus Blue Jackets in the East.

"It's real difficult [to see that]," he said. "Like I said, I'm a real competitive guy. I want to win at everything I do. It's been five years here, I haven't played in the playoffs, so it's difficult. It's tough."

So is being on one of the seven teams who have been eliminated, Eichel said.

"Some of these teams who are going to keep playing, they thought they were completely out of it and now they have an opportunity to play more games," he said. "They're gaining valuable experience to the group. And we're not one of them. So it does add to the frustration a lot."

Though the Sabres' play has been disappointing during Eichel's time in Buffalo, his own play has not.

Sabres Hall of Fame center Gilbert Perreault told NHL.com earlier this season that Eichel, who has scored 337 points (137 goals, 200 assists), could break many, if not all, of Buffalo's scoring records if he remains with the Sabres for the majority of his NHL career. This season, Eichel scored 78 points (36 goals, 42 assists) in 68 games, making him the pick of Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele to win the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP.

Eichel said he would gladly trade those personal accolades for team success. He also said he believes Krueger, who completed his first season with the Sabres, might be the man to lead them in that direction.

"I will say it's been a pleasure working with Ralph," Eichel said. "He does so much for our group every day. There are tough times, but he does an amazing job of bringing us back in, getting our focus back mentally where it needs to be. Just a few times I've spoken with him throughout this whole quarantine, it's been good.

"Still, I'm definitely not in the greatest place with where the last little bit has went. It's definitely worn on me."

NHL.com independent correspondent Heather Engel contributed to this report