Jack Eichel sheds the non-contact red at practice; could he be preparing to make his season debut?
The city of Las Vegas is buzzing after an exciting and star-studded All-Star weekend, which saw the Metropolitan All-Star team walk away with the big victory on Saturday. While Mark Stone, Alex Pietrangelo, Jonathan Marchessault and the Pacific Division All-Stars were eliminated early, there is still cause for excitement in Vegas on Monday, and it relates to franchise center Jack Eichel.
As reported by The Athletic's Jesse Granger, Eichel took to the ice on Monday, and while that on its own is not exactly noteworthy news, there is another detail that amplifies the level of excitement. Eichel has officially shed the non-contact red jersey and was sporting an extras green jersey on Monday, skating on a line with Michael Amadio and Nolan Patrick.
Eichel appears to be well on his way to becoming the first NHL player ever to undergo artificial disc replacement surgery and to return to playing professional hockey, which is actually pretty incredible considering the fact that it was not too long ago when he went under the knife. Eichel was acquired by the Golden Knights back in November and was approved for his preferred surgery in the days following.
There was no real news as to when Eichel would be officially cleared to return to action and when he might make his Golden Knights debut, but just seeing him ramping up the activities at practice is a good sign that he is getting close. His original timeline for recovery was in the 3-4 month range, so he appears to be on schedule to return to the lineup fairly soon.
The Golden Knights are not in action on Monday, but will play in Edmonton on Tuesday and Calgary on Wednesday in a back-to-back in Alberta.
