BUFFALO – Expect Sabres center Jack Eichel, who just finished a three-game stint at the World Cup, to join his teammates at training camp this weekend.
Eichel, 19, will return to Buffalo today. The second-year star scored one goal and two points before Team North America was eliminated.
“We’ll see him back at the rink the next couple of days and have a conversation about when he’ll get back on the ice,” Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said this afternoon.
Eichel won’t play in the Sabres’ first two exhibition games Monday and Tuesday.
Some other quick notes from the first day of camp:
– Bylsma said more roster spots are open this camp “than I’m probably accustomed to.”
“It’s not often you go into camp with a flat-out open spot,” he said. “At the 13th forward position and at the seventh defenseman is flat-out open spot, a competition there. That doesn’t mean there’s not competition (among the) 12 that are on there and the six that are on there. We have quite a bit of competition within our roster, whether it’s two or three or four possibilities.”
– Bylsma said while he hasn’t had a formal sit-down chat with winger Evander Kane, they will have one soon. Bylsma spoke to Kane, who was charged following a June incident at a downtown bar, last week.
“Yes, there will be a conversation about the expectations for Evander both on and off the ice,” he said. “But I think Evander’s eager to get here and put it behind him.”
– Taylor Fedun, a defenseman likely ticketed for the AHL, recently returned from an undisclosed injury and started skating. He could join his teammates in about a week, Bylsma said.