Eichel sounds off on calls for him to rest ankle in lost season

The Buffalo Sabres' season is long gone, but Jack Eichel isn't ready to hang up his skates.

After he returned last week from a high ankle sprain that cost him 15 games, some wondered why Eichel would risk further injury with nothing on the line. The Sabres All-Star effectively put that narrative to rest.

"It's a bit frustrating for myself to get that question from people because it's a pretty simple answer, to be honest with you: I'm playing because I'm a hockey player," Eichel told John Vogl of The Buffalo News. "It's kind of ridiculous for somebody to think the fact that we're out of the playoffs and we don't have an opportunity to really do anything with our season that I would just pack my year in. It's not who I am as a person. It's not who I've ever been and not who I am as a hockey player."

"I think there should be a lot more questions asked if I decided I did want to pack it in and end my season because I had an ankle injury," he continued.

Despite missing a considerable chunk of the season, the 21-year-old leads the last-place Sabres with 54 points in 57 games.