Jack Eichel deserves better.

And he deserves an apology.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this for the North Chelmsford, Massachusetts native.

Even before his Hobey Baker-winning freshman season at Boston University, Eichel was considered a “generational talent” entering the National Hockey League.

While fellow 2015 draft pick Connor McDavid was widely regarded as the best prospect to enter the league since Sidney Crosby, Eichel was considered McDavid’s peer and a shiny consolation prize to whatever team finished second in the draft lottery that spring.

When Buffalo won that pick, then-general manager Tim Murray famously said he was “disappointed for our fans” that the Sabres didn’t win the lottery.

McDavid was the captain of the Erie Otters and Buffalo even brought that team to then-First Niagara Center in 2014 for an Ontario Hockey League regular-season matchup with the Saginaw Spirit.

It was evident the team and the fan base wanted McDavid and were forced to settle for Eichel.

Since then, the Sabres have wasted the first five seasons of Eichel’s career to the tune of a 156-188-53 record and zero playoff appearances.

Tuesday, owners Kim and Terry Pegula fired general manager Jason Botterill and named Kevyn Adams as his replacement. Adams is already the third GM in Eichel’s short career.

This season, when COVID-19 shortened the regular season and allowed 24 of the league’s 31 teams to qualify for the postseason, Buffalo came up short.

Eichel has done his part, scoring 137 goals to go along with 200 assists despite missing 36 games combined during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.

But the organization has failed to support its star player and captain.

Murray failed to do it after dismantling the team to put it in position to draft Eichel in the first place.

Up until his firing in 2017, the first-time general manager traded away players and prospects like Tyler Myers, Joel Armia, Brendan Lemieux, Nikita Zadorov, J.T. Compher, Mark Pysyk and Brayden McNabb for Evander Kane, Ryan O’Reilly, Dmitry Kulikov and Hudson Fashing.

He also dealt a pair of first-round picks, four second-round picks, four third-round picks and a fifth-round pick in just three years.

One of those picks was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for the right to sign head coach Dan Bylsma, who lasted just two seasons.

Then it was time for Botterill to come on board as general manager. The former Sabres player made Phil Housley his hand-picked choice as head coach.

That didn’t work out too well either.

While Botterill certainly tried to put his stamp on the Sabres roster, the results never matched the effort.

First, Buffalo added a ton of salary when it acquired Jason Pominville, Marco Scandella and a draft pick for Tyler Ennis, Marcus Foligno and a draft pick.

Minor trades like Nic Deslauriers for Zach Redmond and Scott Wilson for a fifth-round pick did little to affect results.

Then Botterill undid what he felt was a mistake by Murray when he unloaded Kane for Eichel’s former BU teammate Danny O’Regan and what turned out to be a first-round pick and a fourth-round pick. The hope was Eichel could reunite with his college linemates O’Regan and Evan Rodrigues to re-create some Terriers magic. It didn’t happen. Neither O’Regan or Rodrigues are part of the organization now.

Botterill also got rid of Fasching before adding Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick for a draft pick.

He thought he had a major trade chip left over from Murray in the form of O’Reilly. He turned that into Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, Tage Thompson, a first-round pick and a second-round pick.

Next, he added Jeff Skinner for prospect Cliff Pu and a pair of draft picks. Skinner was re-signed to an eight-year extension last offseason and it seems like he needs to be a part of the solution in Buffalo.

Other additions like Brandon Montour, Colin Miller, Jimmy Vesey, Henri Jokiharju, Michael Frolik, Wayne Simmonds and Dominik Kahun will also mark Botterill’s time at the helm in Buffalo.

But on Tuesday, the Pegulas decided his time was up, firing Botterill along with his assistant general managers Randy Sexton and Steve Greeley. Later in the day, it was announced that the entire coaching staff of the Rochester Americans — the Sabres’ American Hockey League affiliate with a winning record this past season — was fired as well as a large portion of the organization’s scouting staff.

Instead they turn to Adams, who won a Stanley Cup against Buffalo back in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes, but has been a Sabres commodity for the past nine years.

Despite laying off several Pegula Sports & Entertainment employees during the coronavirus pandemic, ownership insists finances aren’t an issue right now. The fact they are now paying three general managers at one time is evidence of that.

But they have also declined to hire a president of hockey operations since a falling out with Pat LaFontaine ended his tenure just months after his hiring in 2014. Many teams in the league employ somebody in that position and it seems with their third first-time general manager in a row now under their employ, it might be a good option for the Pegulas.

So on his third general manager and now third head coach with Ralph Krueger, Eichel is left hoping ownership has finally figured out how to turn this mess around. With his eight-year, $80 million extension kicking in before the 2018-19 season, there are still six seasons of Eichel control remaining for Buffalo to take advantage of his supreme talents.

Eichel has gotten better during every season that he has worn a Sabres uniform.

Now it’s up to the team to return the favor.