Morning Skate: Apparently the Sabres can still thrive without Jack Eichel

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Lace 'em up. Time for the Morning Skate.

#THANKYOUFONTS

Before we hop into the news info dump, I wanted to throw a shout-out to departing Raw Charge editor-in-chief John Fontana.

John stepped away from the blog yesterday, wrapping up an astounding 12(!!!) years at the helm of one of our original SB Nation hockey blogs. A ton of writers, managers and editors across the network have come and gone since then, but John was always there and happy to help out and advise when we needed it.

He’ll be missed. Make sure you drop in to Raw Charge today and let him know that, as well as wish new editor Achariya and her new staff luck!

NOW, THE NEWS FROM LAST NIGHT

The Sabres beat up on the Oilers last night, which could mean one of two things (or maybe both!):

• They’re going to be just fine without Jack Eichel.
• They’re going to be just fine without Eichel as long as they play the Oilers.

Without diminishing Eichel’s greatness, let’s go ahead and praise the new-look Sabres. In Eichel’s absence, Sam Reinhart and Johan Larsson have stepped up smoothly into playmaking roles. Larsson terrorized the Oilers with creative zone entries on Sunday, and Eichel fed Kyle Okposo his first Sabres goal with a pretty pass in front of the net. And that’s not even mentioning Ryan O’Reilly’s four-point night.

A year ago, losing Jack Eichel for months would’ve meant months of offensive struggles. Now it appears the Sabres have depth up front to not only cope with his loss, but compete on most nights.

• Kyle Okposo is as good as advertised.
• And the Oilers crashed back to reality.
• Josh Bailey saved the Islanders in overtime.
• Carolina suffered another collapse.
• Vancouver keeps impressing.

THE NIGHT AHEAD

• The Avalanche are coming off a high-scoring opening night win, but their opponent tonight has a slightly better defensive pedigree.
• Detroit already needs a win tonight to right the ship.
• San Jose continues their east coast swing with the first game of a back-to-back New York dance. They’ll face a Rangers team already dealing with injuries; Dan Girardi and Pavel Buchnevich won’t play.
• Meanwhile, the Bruins continue their western swing with a date against the Jets.

ELSEWHERE IN HOCKEY LAND

• The Coyotes are going all-in with youth this season.
• Your buddy Kyle knows how to fix the Red Wings’ defense.
• This Auston Matthews shirt is all kinds of awesome.
• CAREY PRICE BACK
• The Brad Marchand contract will affect the Bruins’ cap situation for years.
• Great story from our Senators blog on Ottawa prospect Filip Chlapik.
• Minnesota’s power play needs some work.
• Don’t be fooled by the high-scoring exploits of the Stars’ forwards.
• The Predators are the hot pick to win the Stanley Cup. They love that.
• When the spotlight shines, so does Marc-Andre Fleury.