On Wednesday, a report surfaced suggesting that Jack Eichel wasn’t going to sign a contract extension with Buffalo if Dan Bylsma was still the head coach.
Later on in the day, Eichel’s agent, Peter Fish, told the Buffalo News that the report was completely false. Now, it’s Eichel’s turn to give his version of the story.
In a Q&A with the Buffalo News, Eichel denied that he felt the way the original report suggested.
“I think a lot of things have been written today about me and about things that are not true, to be honest with you,” said Eichel. “Reading some of these things, I was a little bit bombarded this morning with a lot of articles that I think are pretty inaccurate. I’m just reading things in the last few days that are a little bit out of whack and not true.”
He admitted that he could have handled his post-season press conference a little better, but he’s still a 20-year-old figuring out life as an NHLer. When your first two seasons end without you making the playoffs, the frustration can definitely get to you.
As frustrating as 2016-17 may have been for him, Eichel wanted to make sure everyone in the hockey world knew that he remains committed to the organization and the city of Buffalo long-term.
“I want to be here for a long time. That’s the way I look at it. I don’t want to go anywhere else. I don’t want anybody to think that I want to be somewhere else. I want to be here, and I want to help this team win in any way that I can do that. I just want all the people there to know that.”