Breakthrough season for Eichel

1point21Gigawatts

hell's a gigawatt?
Apr 7, 2010
6,805
3,178
The future
Really don't understand what Eichel did to make so many posters waiting for him to fail. Sure the 'generational' tag might have been put on him a little too soon but was that his doing? Is it the fact he got paid? I really don't get it.
The Bylsma and Murray firing has inexplicably been attributed solely to Eichel and i think that's left a bad taste in people's mouths. Plus he was really immature that first year.

He is growing as a leader and a player. He isn't potting goals, but he makes his linemates better and he doesn't give up on the play.
 

Royal Thunder

Frolunda Mode
Feb 21, 2012
4,406
3,426
Really don't understand what Eichel did to make so many posters waiting for him to fail. Sure the 'generational' tag might have been put on him a little too soon but was that his doing? Is it the fact he got paid? I really don't get it.
Pretty much when he was first coming into the league he really came off as a smarmy cocky Boston kid, and was really cranky with the media which I guess rubbed some folks the wrong way. Jack really has grown up an absolute ton on and off the ice and it's just going to take a while for casual fans to notice I guess. He is such a god damn beast on the ice this year and comes off as a thoughtful mature dude in his interviews these days, even when he's frustrated. He's the franchise and he's taking that responsibility very seriously.
 

NyQuil

Big F$&*in Q
Jan 5, 2005
95,348
59,259
Ottawa, ON
Another hot take: courtesy of HF Boards.

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I'm glad to be right even if it's at my own team's expense. ;)
 

winnipegger

Registered User
Dec 17, 2013
8,093
6,276
If Crosby or McDavid made that pass, their fanboys would be all over this board writing poems about it.

Roses are red, violets are blue, Eichel made a good pass, and is a good player totally underrated and Crosby and McDavid are floaters.
 

sincerity0

Registered User
Dec 23, 2016
1,970
740
Really don't understand what Eichel did to make so many posters waiting for him to fail. Sure the 'generational' tag might have been put on him a little too soon but was that his doing? Is it the fact he got paid? I really don't get it.

tl;dr Buffalo tanked, got Eichel, sucked, Got Byslma/Murray fired, got a massive extension, Buffalo sucked, then got named captain. In prior years, he would often look visibly frustrated.

Personality-wise, it's understandable why outsiders would dislike Eichel -- a lot of the hate was conflated with Buffalo sucking and Matthews / Leafs being good. When Eichel was healthy over his first three years he was nearly a PPG on a putrid offensive team. At times he looked lost in his own zone ("floated"). Jack was literally the only player in Buffalo that could be depended on to generate offensively on a regular basis.

Honestly, the situation is similar to Mackinnon -- lofty expectations, high skill, and a horrible supporting cast. Add a couple capable players around them, next thing you know they're dominating.

The main hfboard was the only place I ever saw prolonged hate on Jack. Nobody in the Buffalo media was worried about his game, nor our Board; the analytics community viewed him favorably. Posters here disliked Buffalo's tank and relished the fact that the team sucked. They clung to that like a fly on shit as the running joke of the board. Yet, they go quiet when Eichel puts up 17 in 14 as a 2W force and Buffalo looks respectable... on-to the next joke.
 

SnuggaRUDE

Registered User
Apr 5, 2013
8,950
6,481
Not happening. Same old Jack. A fresh start, a $10M a year contract, the captaincy and it means nothing. As a lifelong Sabres fan it's not easy to accept but accept we must. Many people here and elsewhere thought he'd break out in a way similar to Nathan Mackinnon, he won't, it's not in his personality though it's not all about his makeup as a person he's also got a fairly pedestrian hockey IQ, it's Year 4, he'll be a point per game or slightly better but the McDavids, Matthews's, Mackinnons have left him in the dust. His wingman Reinhart has 0 goals. The Sabres tanked hard and deliberately for 2 seasons, their fans suffered, and the reward for that suffering was Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel. Hard to criticize the GM's, 31 other GM's would have taken Eichel 2nd overall and probably half of GM's would have taken Reinhart.

Better coaching would help but Sabres fans who cleave to that as some magic key that unlocks his potential are dreaming. Great talent, good player but generational was a fantasy and franchise player is looking to be beyond him as well.

The Sabres are 3-3 on the season, if they had last year's tandem of Lehner and Johnson in goal they'd be 1-5 or 0-6.

Top banter
 

SnuggaRUDE

Registered User
Apr 5, 2013
8,950
6,481
Can we agree on a moratorium on discussing Leafs players in a thread about Eichel, and whether or not he'll "breakout" a term OP couldn't bother setting parameters for?
 

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