eichelhurt.jpg
Jack Eichel went down during Wednesday's practice. USATSI

The Buffalo Sabres are set to begin their season Thursday night, but there's a good chance they'll be doing it without rising star Jack Eichel. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft went down awkwardly in practice Thursday and needed to be helped off the ice.

Based on the video, this does not look good for the 20-year-old Massachusetts native. He let out a loud scream as his left leg bent back.

Teammates helped Eichel off the ice as he was unable to put weight on that left leg.

After practice, coach Dan Bylsma said that it is an ankle injury for Eichel, but it is too early to know the severity.

Eichel was second on the team in scoring as a rookie last season. He put up 24 goals and 56 points while appearing in all but one game for Buffalo. He was named to the all-rookie team and finished fourth in Calder Trophy voting.

The Sabres have been dealing with a number of other injuries already with last season's top scorer, Ryan O'Reilly is questionable for the opener, while top summer free agent signing Kyle Okposo has been ruled out for Thursday's game against the Montreal Canadiens.

This is about the worst possible way to enter a season where the Sabres feel they should be taking another big step forward. Once an update comes for Eichel, we'll learn just how bad things really are, but you can bet there is a lot of anxiety in Buffalo right now.

We'll have more updates on Eichel as they become available.