The Buffalo Sabres are a mess.
Their star player, Jack Eichel, has demanded a trade. This originated from many things – including years of losing – but the team’s treatment of the 24-year-old’s neck injury headlines the list.
Former Sabres’ goalie Robin Lehner knows how Eichel is feeling.
“I had a high ankle sprain, I tear everything in my foot and go through that and there was a bunch of problems,” Lehner said on The Cam & Strick Podcast. “They hired like 12, 13 new people on that team that year that never played, never been around hockey.
“The medical guys and [physiotherapists] and all that stuff. They took them in from all over the world and none of them had ever seen a puck in their life and I ended up getting a lot worse and ended up getting surgery at the end of that season because they just kept screwing it up.”
Lehner suffered a lower-body injury in his first game of the 2015-16 NHL season and missed more than three months as a result. In his first season with the Sabres after being acquired in a trade from the Senators, Lehner played 20 more games after initially returning from the injury, but it ended his season early.
Lehner senses Eichel’s health is not being put first – similar to his experience with the Sabres.
“It’s another medical problem there too,” Lehner said. “I mean the shit they did to some of the players when I was there – and especially to me regarding my ankle – I mean it was crazy, man. I had a high ankle sprain they had me on the bike one week after.
“One week after I had my fully torn everything, worst-grade ankle sprain, one week after they put me on the bike in a special boot. I should’ve been walking on it maybe six to eight weeks after [surgery]. They had me doing leg presses with 300 pounds three weeks into [rehab] and I re-sprained everything and I had to have surgery.”
Since his time in Buffalo, Lehner has embarked on a successful career.
He signed with the Islanders on July 3, 2018, and in his first season, he was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy – given to the top goalie in hockey – after going 25-13-5 with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. He won the Masterton Trophy for perseverance and dedication after publicizing his battles with addiction and mental health issues.
Also on the podcast, the 30-year-old shared why his time with the team lasted only one season. Islanders’ general manager Lou Lamoriello was busy with free agents Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Jordan Eberle after the 2018-19 season, and an extension with Lehner never materialized.
Nonetheless, Lehner is doing just fine.
He signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Blackhawks that offseason, before getting traded to the Golden Knights. Since then, he agreed to a five-year, $25 million contract through 2024-25, and will take over the starting job in Vegas after 2021 Vezina winner Marc-Andre Fleury was traded to the Blackhawks.