$80,000,000 Golden Knights forward links his ugly exit from Sabres to Mitch Marner's departure from Toronto

Former Buffalo Sabres star Jack Eichel sees similarities between his controversial exit from Buffalo and Mitch Marner's departure from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Eichel, now a $80 million forward for the Vegas Golden Knights, had a bitter separation from Buffalo after a disagreement over how to treat his on-ice injury. The Sabres traded Eichel to Vegas in November 2021.

Meanwhile, Marner's time in Toronto ended last week. He was dealt to Vegas in a sign-and-trade after the team’s disappointing playoff performances. Despite ranking 5th in Leafs history with 741 points in 657 games, Marner faced criticism for his play in the playoffs.

Speaking about Marner joining the Knights, Eichel said he can relate to the forward's situation.

"Having gone through the situation of leaving an organization in the city and having a fresh start in Vegas, I think I can relate, to a point, to some of the things he's going through," Eichel said. (via phone call on Tuesday to The Hockey News)

"I think he's obviously had his own situation, and however that ended, I'm sure he's super excited to have a fresh start and be in a place like Vegas,and I know he'll excel."

Eichel added that he's looking forward to getting to know Marner better and eventually being his teammate in Vegas.

Vegas HC Bruce Cassidy on playing Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel on the same line

Vegas Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said that it's too early to definitively say if the two offensive stars will skate together but he is intrigued by their potential chemistry.

"There needs to be chemistry, first of all," Cassidy said on the Leaf Morning Take podcast. "And there might be some automatically, and there might be none, you never know."

Cassidy pointed out that both Eichel and Marner are distributors first. So, it’ll be interesting to see if one of them shifts into more of a goal-scoring role when on the same line.

With quality center options like Mark Stone, Tomas Hertl and William Karlsson, Cassidy will have options in constructing his line combinations. But the talent of Eichel and Mitch Marner will likely warrant them spending at least some time together over the course of the season, noted Cassidy.