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Jack Eichel leaves BU, signs entry-level deal with Sabres

Buffalo Sabres

Another piece of Tim Murray’s plan is falling into place for the Buffalo Sabres.

As Scott McLoughlin of WEEI and Shawn Stepner of Buffalo’s WKBW reported Wednesday morning, Jack Eichel has left Boston University following his freshman year and has signed with the Sabres.

Eichel was the nation’s leading scorer with 71 points, guiding the Terriers to the NCAA title game and taking home the 2015 Hobey Baker Award. The 6-foot-2 forward was the first freshman to win the award since Paul Kariya in 1993.

“Even though I hadn’t been selected until today, it seems like I’ve been a part of the Buffalo Sabres for a while now,” Eichel said during Draft weekend.

The No. 2 overall pick in last weekend’s NHL Draft wouldn’t say at the time whether he’d be leaving BU, but all signs indicated he would be with the Sabres for the 2015-16 season.

“As a city and the Sabres as a team, it’s heading in the right direction,” said Eichel. “When you look at some of the moves that they’ve made, the guys they’ve acquired, some of the guys on the team, there are a lot of positives.

“I just want to be a piece of the puzzle, because Buffalo wants success and wants success soon.”

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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