Breakthrough season for Eichel

[Peggy]

It is too early, but he's not worth 10m
That's for sure

 

[Halla]

32g/45a/77pts/-33

 

[Halla]

McDavid is the best player on earth by a landslide and even he cannot carry the Oilers to 1st place. I mean he litereally had a point on every single goal the Oilers scored until that OT winner by Nurse last night. He carried them on his shoulders. But if you don't have a decent support group, you're not gonna win. It's a team game. Even if you have McDavid.

So Eichel can pot his 70-75 pts, honestly it's not bad for a 1st line C. What he neeeds is better goaltending (so far, he has it in Hutton), better defense (once Dahlin emerges they'll be fine) and more depth up front (Sobotka, Sheary and Berglund isn't the answer).

I'm not sure about the coach or the system as I havn't seen them enough, but Housley doesn't strike me as the answer. So perhaps a change is required behind the bench.

Probably another bad year in the cards for Buffalo... unfortunately. Next summer they need to acquire a top-6 forward and top-4 D and they'll be competitive.

I mean, even Matthews has Marner, Rielly, Marleau, Tavares.... and MacKinnon plays with Landeskog and Rantanen. Come on!

sabres have skinner, okposo, reinhart, risto, dahlin, mittlestadt. they had ROR and kane
enough excuses. sabres have the talent

 

[Panthaz89]

I still think the Sabres really goofed up by naming Eichel captain. It's just...not who he is. He's always come across to me as more Kane than Toews, in his attitude, demeanor, style of play, etc. Like Kane, he can be a fantastic player, equally crucial to his team's success and a guy who drives a good line and puts up a ton of points...but he's not that same sort of, "do everything the right way", leader of men sort of player as Toews. Eichel is one of those examples i hate, where a team seems to just hands the "C" to their "best player" on the scoresheet...just because, rather than having earned it by leading and captaining and setting the right example on and off the ice.

How do you walk back the "C" though, even if you do find that Toews to complement your Kane? You can't really strip the captaincy from a guy like Eichel making a billion dollars a year for max term, without creating a tsunami in the room that just emphasizes the embarrassment of having the C stripped. So now you're stuck with it...for better, or probably worse. I don't understand why there was such a rush to slap the letter on his chest, before he'd proven a darn thing to earn it. With the right guy, you can always wait it out (like the Leafs are doing with Matthews). He's not complaining about not getting the C yet. But once you slap that C on there...you can't put that back in the box.

We gave a guy who was just mentally ill in Okposo assistant captaincy I really wonder how management can be so ridiculous.

 

[Hockeyholic]

Eichel is 21 years old.

Is there a point here?

 

[K Fleur]

Is there a point here?

Sorry should have been more clear.

The point is: Jack Eichel is 21 years old.

 

[Hockeyholic]

Sorry should have been more clear.

The point is: Jack Eichel is 21 years old.

Ah which means theres still tons of time to breakout. Right.... Look its his fourth season. What you see is likely what you'll get.

 

[K Fleur]

Ah which means theres still tons of time to breakout. Right.... Look its his fourth season. What you see is likely what you'll get.

Sounds exactly like the first player he was unfavorably compared to in the OP.

 

[Hockeyholic]

Sounds exactly like the first player he was unfavorably compared to in the OP.

MacKinnon is more skilled than Eichel. He has a higher hockey IQ.

 

[LongWayDown37]

MacKinnon is more skilled than Eichel. He has a higher hockey IQ.

According to your IQ O’Meter?

 

[Hockeyholic]

According to your IQ O’Meter?

According to my EYES O'METER

 

[Bedards Dad]

According to your IQ O’Meter?

Care to refute the claim?

 

[LongWayDown37]

Care to refute the claim?

No I don’t care to refute some of the ridiculous assertions that people make about things they pretend to be able to judge as if they’re reading the degrees on a thermometer. I don’t care to be just as ridiculous in claiming the opposite. I prefer to call them what they are. Ridiculous.

 

[Tage2Tuch]

It’s so awesome watching eichel as the best skater in the entire period versus the sharks of either team, and have them down 2-0z

I have a new found respect for Sidney Crosby for helping Sheary get 51 prs in 65ish games.


Sheary fans on his 8th open net tap in from eichel of the season. This is getting ridiculous now. It’s things like this that are of the norm, one day jacks just gonna go postal in the dressing room. Maybe it’s what they need.

 

[Royal Thunder]

Yeah Jack really is a man on an island. He's a f***ing beast without enough help around him. Teams literally only have to game plan for him, and no one else on the roster.

 

[Tage2Tuch]

MacKinnon is more skilled than Eichel. He has a higher hockey IQ.

You mean the guy eichel outscored in his second year on one good leg and missed two months doing it while Mack played the whole year? Of the guy who apparently avs fans say is being carried by rantanen this season.

Or the guy eichel is absolutely killing in point production at the same age? Eichs never had a linemate of rantanens skill either. Tonights first period so far in San Jose is a prime example why eichel will never get credit form those who don’t watch him. Dominates period, no results, inept teammates. Jones is a great goalie though.

 

[Isaac Nootin]

It’s so awesome watching eichel as the best skater in the entire period versus the sharks of either team, and have them down 2-0z

I have a new found respect for Sidney Crosby for helping Sheary get 51 prs in 65ish games.


Sheary fans on his 8th open net tap in from eichel of the season. This is getting ridiculous now. It’s things like this that are of the norm, one day jacks just gonna go postal in the dressing room. Maybe it’s what they need.

Got video of those 8 open net tap ins?

 

[Hockeyholic]

It is too early, but he's not worth 10m
That's for sure

Im perplexed they gave him $10 million. What other players could Eichel have used in his negotiation tactics?

 

[Isaac Nootin]

Im perplexed they gave him $10 million. What other players could Eichel have used in his negotiation tactics?

Bobby Holik

 

[Royal Thunder]

Im perplexed they gave him $10 million. What other players could Eichel have used in his negotiation tactics?

The contract will be a good deal in a couple of years.

 

[Brownies]

MacKinnon is more skilled than Eichel. He has a higher hockey IQ.

People were saying that same low IQ thing about Mackinnon 2 years ago. I don’t see a problem with Eichel in that department. I expect him to have a 90-100 points season soon enough.

 

[PensandCaps]

sabres have skinner, okposo, reinhart, risto, dahlin, mittlestadt. they had ROR and kane
enough excuses. sabres have the talent

Lol.

 

[PensandCaps]

It’s so awesome watching eichel as the best skater in the entire period versus the sharks of either team, and have them down 2-0z

I have a new found respect for Sidney Crosby for helping Sheary get 51 prs in 65ish games.


Sheary fans on his 8th open net tap in from eichel of the season. This is getting ridiculous now. It’s things like this that are of the norm, one day jacks just gonna go postal in the dressing room. Maybe it’s what they need.

Lol good ole Sheary.

Cost Sid atleast 15 Assists last season. Never seen a player miss wide open nets as much as he does.

 

[North Cole]

Care to refute the claim?

"Hockey IQ" is not a measured stat in the NHL, so the claim cant refuted. It's a buzzword like "toolkit", "intangibles", x player is so "raw".

More importantly, that's not at all how the burden of proof works. You cant make wild claims and then say, well if you cant refute it, I win. The guy making the claim needs to provide evidence, if he cant then the claim doesnt need to be refuted.

That's how all the religious people get by, "well you cant prove god doesnt exist!!"

And no, MacKinnon having more points last year does not in fact prove he has a higher hockey IQ.

 

[Panthaz89]

sabres have skinner, okposo, reinhart, risto, dahlin, mittlestadt. they had ROR and kane
enough excuses. sabres have the talent

I must have missed something....Okposo is total crap and literally kills our PP1 unit by himself.