It was announced on Wednesday that Jack Eichel will undergo surgery on his injury and will miss the rest of the 2020-21 season. He is expected to make a full recovery and be back for training camp of the 2021-22 season. The official word was that it was a herniated disk, which, I mean, I've had them before and I can't imagine playing hockey with one. No wonder his numbers took a hit. Here was the announcement:

Expecting an update today on Jack Eichel. Word is BUF captain needs surgery and will get it done soon, so he can begin training in preparation for next season. He'll miss the remainder of this year.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 14, 2021

It kind of makes sense now that he was shooting 3.3 percent through 21 games, right? And why his line couldn't really find their game after a strong January. It seems obvious he was never really healthy after the early parts of the season, and when you sprinkle in a little COVID, well, we see the results.

It does make me wonder about his value for next year. In my eyes, he's still a first-round fantasy pick, but will other people see him that way? Taylor Hall is gone and that was a big reason for the Eichel excitement in the first place, up and above normal excitation levels. But, Hall is gone, and the team looks almost set for another rebuild.

What do we do with Eichel? There is probably enough talent still around for him to do well – he did have 78 points in 68 games in 2019-20 without Hall, after all. I still think he'll be a first-round value for me but obviously I haven't done projections for next year yet.  

If Eichel were to fall to the second round of 12-team drafts next season, I would consider that a gift. He is 25 years old and doesn't need superstars around him to produce. He will be just fine.

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The Chicago Blackhawks have welcomed some new faces into the fold, and have revealed some new PP units as a result:

Blackhawks PP1 in practice: Kane-DeBrincat-Kubalik-Dach-Strome

PK1: Kampf, Carpenter, Zadorov, Stillman

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 14, 2021

For those keeping score at home, I do believe this is the first time this year that Dominik Kubalik finds himself on the top PP unit for a, hopefully, extended amount of time. It is worth noting that the guy would be on pace for 27 goals and 55 points in an 82-game season, doing so playing very few minutes with Kane/DeBrincat at either 5-on-5 or on the power play. Now that the lines are spread out a bit more, he's still not with either of them at 5-on-5, but at least he's getting his chance on the power play. I am excited to see what he can do.

Chicago has started to fall a bit out of the playoff race, trailing the Preds by four points in the standings for the final spot. This is a team that desperately wants to get to playoffs, so expect mucho line changes over the final few weeks. All I'm hoping for is these line changes directly benefit me and Dominik Kubalik. Is that too much to ask?

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I was going through some league stats and was pretty surprised to find this: we're at 2.93 goals per game per team this year, down from 3.02 last year. I have discussed season stats at different points this year but a few notes:

• Early in the season, we were at nearly four power plays per game per team (I believe it was around 3.8 through the first few weeks). At this point, we're under three per team per game. The whistles, they have been swallowed. (Not that this is a new phenomenon, but it has been a drastic drop over the last two months.)
• We have a 20.5 percent conversion rate on the PP. Earlier in the season, it was well over 21 percent.
• Save percentage is up to .908 league-wide, up from the low-.900s earlier in the year.

As the season has worn on, we've gotten fewer power plays, fewer goals, and better goaltending. I would like to say those things are related somehow.

It is also frustrating. I see hockey players ask for consistency in officiating, which makes sense. They don't care what the rules are; they can adjust. They just want consistency. How does the NHL justify constantly putting the whistles away every year as the season wears on? Are we to believe every team magically commits one fewer penalty every game every year in the final month compared to the first month? Because that would take a huge leap of faith.

It is just frustrating. The hockey that is called in the NHL for the first 20 games is not the same as the final 20 games, and it's nowhere in the same stratosphere as the playoffs. We all want consistency, players included. How about we start with just calling the same penalties all year long, and then we can worry about what penalties are being called. Just a thought.

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The Sabres didn't give an update on Linus Ullmark, which is both good and bad. If it were a terrible injury, with less than a month left in the season and the Sabres at the bottom of the league, they probably would have announced it. On the other hand, if it were nothing, they would probably tell us that as well.

It has just been a tough year for Ullmark and injuries. He has been one of the extremely few bright spots when he's been able to stay healthy, and could be a big part of this team as they rebuild over the next few years.

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News on the prospect front for the Predators:

Philip Tomasino has been recalled to the Predators' taxi squad.

— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) April 14, 2021

Tomasino has been electric in the AHL so far this year with 20 points in 18 games. The Predators have been making a surge over the last few weeks and are now primed for a playoff push. We will see if this is temporary for Tomasino or if he figures into their plans for the rest of the season.

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Antti Raanta returned for the Coyotes, having missed the last three weeks due to injury. They are in a tight playoff race with the Blues so every game that Raanta is able to start is a positive sign for the team.

That game was a matinée, by the way, because of the issues in Minnesota right now.

Mats Zuccarello had a pair of tallies while Nick Bonino had a goal and two assists as the Wild beat the Coyotes 5-2. For Zucc, that makes 24 points in 28 games, which works out to roughly a 70-point pace. He is a really fun player to watch so it sucked seeing him land in Minnesota but only having the injuries pile up. He seems to be healthy, and he looks like the guy of five years ago. It is really cool to see.

Jared Spurgeon also scored in this one. He was a guy I talked about in the DFS world about having a slow start and then likely turning his season around. Well, after just five points and zero goals in his first 25 games, he has five goals and 11 points in his last 15 games. Of course, he has a high shooting percentage, but he's a guy that usually has high shooting percentages for a defenceman. After a slow start, he's found his production again. Just in time to make a push for the Team Canada roster.  

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The Jets took a 3-2 win from Ottawa in Matt Murray's return. Murray played well himself, saving 32 of 35 in the loss. This isn't a game that can be pinned on him, and that's a step in the right direction for him.

Mark Scheifele scored Winnipeg's first goal in this game, giving him 16 goals and 49 points in 43 games. I know it can seem like some Jets players aren't having the season you want them to have, but Scheifele is definitely not one of them. The shots are down a bit, but I think fantasy owners will take this point pace over and extra 20 or so shots.

A solid game from Laurent Brossoit, stopping 27 of 29 in the win. He should get a chance as a starter somewhere at some point.

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Calgary won what was a must-win for them against Montreal 4-1. As you can expect, captain Mark Giordano stepped up with a monster game: 1 goal, 1 assist, plus-2, 1 shot, 5 blocks, 1 hit. Fantasy owners will be more than satisfied with that.

Noah Hanifin scored a goal in this one and played over 24 minutes. Might be time to check the waiver wire here. He is getting PP minutes again and this is three straight games with at least 22 minutes.

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At his first practice with Detroit, Jakub Vrana was on the second line. Let me take a minute to scream into a pillow until I pass out and regain consciousness in a few minutes.

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Ok all better.

Now, I wish I could say this is a shock but it's not. This is what Blashill is known for: never putting his best players together. It is one way to sneak-tank a season, which is working out because by points percentage, they're a bottom-5 team right now.

This is kind of expected, and not something I'm worried about right now. There is a chance Blashill isn't back next year, and seeing what they have in Evgeny Svechnikov isn't a bad thing. I just hope we get a handful of Vrana/Larkin games at some point this year.

Though, that may only drive up their draft-day price, so maybe Blashill is doing season-long fantasy owners a favour here.

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The Colorado Avalanche have their own COVID problem:

No morning skate today. pic.twitter.com/lqJHbSAiMj

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 14, 2021

This time it is Grubauer. Devan Dubnyk started last night instead. He won, by the way, as the Avs took a 4-3 win.

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Both Alexander Radulov and Ben Bishop are done for the season:

GM Jim Nill offered the following updates on the health status of goaltender Ben Bishop and forward Alexander Radulov: pic.twitter.com/bbK5IT2heH

— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) April 14, 2021

It is obvious the team was holding out hope that these guys would return but they aren't getting there. It is a shame, too, as Radulov had 12 points in 11 games to start the season while Bishop never even got to return.

Radulov has one year left on his deal with Bishop has two. Most of the gang will be back for another run at the Cup, and hopefully with a healthy Tyler Seguin.

I think this team still has what it takes to make a run. The breakouts of Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson, along with Denis Gurianov, gives this team two true scoring lines with a great checking line when they're healthy. Combine that with Heiskanen/Klingberg and there is still something here. They just need to stay healthy.

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