"That's what you miss the most when you're hurt, right?" Eichel said. "You obviously miss playing, you miss your time out there with the guys and being in the locker room at the same time as them and just being around them, so it's tough when you're not on the same schedule as them but it's nice to be back in the swing of things."
The good news doesn't stop there. While Eichel hasn't yet made the progress necessary to rejoin the Sabres for a game, it appears that Ryan O'Reilly has. O'Reilly has missed six of Buffalo's last seven games with an oblique injury, but was a full participant in the morning skate and expects to play on the Sabres' top line tonight against the Detroit Red Wings.
"I've felt great the last two days, so yeah, back to 100 percent," O'Reilly said. "It'll be nice to get back out there, I feel like it's been forever."
O'Reilly participated in battle drills and took faceoffs in practice on Tuesday, which he said was the final test that deemed him game-ready. Eichel, meanwhile, has skated for over a week and said he's already felt comfortable with physical tests. Bylsma said that Eichel's last couple of skating sessions were held at a higher intensity than the one he had with teammates this morning.
"For the most part I really have progressed through everything," Eichel said. "I think prior to skating with the team you go through everything. I've had a little bit of physical contact, soft starts, pivots, crossovers … I think I felt pretty comfortable and when you're out there you pretty much forget about the ankle, and that's a good thing."
The next step, Eichel said, is readjusting to the pace of play so that he can make a seamless transition back into the lineup.
