Is Jack Eichel a lazy superstar?

[Future GOAT]

And his agent claimed he left money on the table.

Bout' tree fiddy.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

pretty lazy play on the PP tonight. Just saw this thread and turned the game on and saw that bad giveaway... didn't see the game leading up to that point though

 

[Frank Drebin]

Guy just seems like such a turd.

 

[meefer]

Thanks for the input, folks.

 

[MisterNoItAll]

Easily one of the most overrated players to come along in a while. He's a 60-70 point player max. That contract is brutal, 10M for a second line centre at best lol

 

[SabresSharks]

The thing is, most top players went through life like this. I'd say McDavid, Matthews, Tavares, MacKinnon, and Stamkos went through this growing up in the NA development system (I chose these guys, as they are probably the most comparable to him in regard to status as a prospect entering the league since the 2004/2005 lockout). Hell, even for Matthews in Switzerland he was probably the best player on the ice almost all the time. I'm sure he was constantly challenged on his defensive game while at the USNTDP, especially when playing up in the college exhibitions.

Now, the thing is, these things are correctable, and he's shown a willingness to do these things when he has wanted to. But, playing in such a frustrating situation has to eat at someone as competitive as Eichel. The big thing is, he has to see that making a consistent effort to be a solid defensivegly is needed to help change the culture of the Sabres now that he is in his 3rd year and about to be paid like an elite NHLer. No one expects him to be perfect, even the best defensive forwards make mistakes in their early 20's, but having the willingness is something in his control. Now, he has the skills to easily be this generations Pierre Turgeon if he just wants to be a scorer, but I assume he and Sabres fans want a hell of a lot more than that, and he has the skill to do it, its just the consistent day to day effort that isn't.

The point is that those players didn't/don't play like they had never been asked to play defensively, and didn't/don't float as often as Eichel does, at the same stage in their careers. If he was challenged to give a consistent effort and be defensively responsible by his NTDP coaches, I see little evidence of it today.

Regarding your last sentence - what I want to see as a Sabres fan is a supremely talented individual develop those aspects of his game that currently prevent him from being the dominant player, and leader, I believe Eichel can be.

 

[Claypool]

This is the organizational risk you take when you give a player everything he wants after 140 career NHL games.

 

[Neutral Hockey Fan]

Is Buffalo waiting until the offseason to officially name him the team captain or will they do it sooner, during this season?

 

[DrJustice]

If Eichel goes on a tear it'll make this thread look even more embarrassing than it already is. Bunch of arm chair-psychologists trying to blame the dysfunction of a historically bad organization on the personality of a 21 year old is almost as bad as the clear attacks on his character with almost no substance behind them. Along with that the flat out lies that he personally tried to get the coach and GM fired. Questioning the "Attitude" "Drive" and "Personality" of a person none of us really know anything about is a joke. It's a thinly veiled way of dumping on a player who for some reason you don't want to see succeed.

Is he having the season that people thought he would? No. But a lot of players don't live up to expectations all 82 games of the season and it's not always because of their personal character.

 

[Petrus]

Disagree. Cup winning teams have one thing in common. Culture. Everyone buys in, everything is for the team, there are no individuals. Eichel very much is an individual, with clear attitude issues. As you mentioned a lot of blame goes to poor leadership in Buffalo giving him everything without him earning it. The issue is now this behavior is implanted in him. He is like Kessel, very skilled player, but you need someone better than him on the team, and he needs 5 or 6 years to grow up.

I don't think GM's are lining up for him due to his contract and attitude.

If we look at Kadri as an example he was painted with same attitude issues in Toronto. The new management team has turned him into a great 2c. That to me is guidance leadership

Great coaches and leaders know how to extract the best from their team. Culture comes from the top.

I don’t see accountability as the issue for Eichel. I think it’s the opposite. He seems to care deeply about the results.

His main issue and others on his team is likely the lack of structured process and or the lack trust in the process. That again points to the guys at the top.

 

[fahad203]

If we look at Kadri as an example he was painted with same attitude issues in Toronto. The new management team has turned him into a great 2c. That to me is guidance leadership

Great coaches and leaders know how to extract the best from their team. Culture comes from the top.

I don’t see accountability as the issue for Eichel. I think it’s the opposite. He seems to care deeply about the results.

His main issue and others on his team is likely the lack of structured process and or the lack trust in the process. That again points to the guys at the top.

First of all, Kadri didn't have attitude issues. He had consistency issues. He wasn't considered a generational superstar who was awarded a 10 million dollar contract and replaced the coach for him.
Kadri always played the game with a chip on his shoulder.

Kadri was always a decent player, he just doesn't know how to control his emotions sometimes on the ice.

Kadri always cared about winning. Ask Emelin and the Canadians. Ask Ottawa. Coaching didn't change Kadri, coaching made him more consistent.

Don't blame Housely or Blysma. This is on Eichel.

 

[BelovedIsles]

In the games I’ve seen him he floats a lot.

He has an effortless stride so that can give the appearance of floating. That said, I don’t see him fight for pucks hard and he seems to rely on pure skill only.

 

[Nico Hischier]

Jeff seems pretty good to me

 

[MacDonald4MVP]

Him and Nolan Patrick are most overhyped players in a long time.

 

[BM14]

Is Buffalo waiting until the offseason to officially name him the team captain or will they do it sooner, during this season?

GM Eichel has been busy yelling at Coach Eichel who's too afraid to coach Player Eichel.

 

[SabresSharks]

If Eichel goes on a tear it'll make this thread look even more embarrassing than it already is. Bunch of arm chair-psychologists trying to blame the dysfunction of a historically bad organization on the personality of a 21 year old is almost as bad as the clear attacks on his character with almost no substance behind them. Along with that the flat out lies that he personally tried to get the coach and GM fired. Questioning the "Attitude" "Drive" and "Personality" of a person none of us really know anything about is a joke. It's a thinly veiled way of dumping on a player who for some reason you don't want to see succeed.

Is he having the season that people thought he would? No. But a lot of players don't live up to expectations all 82 games of the season and it's not always because of their personal character.

His on-ice personality is transparent to those who watch him regularly. It doesn't come close to matching his equally obvious superb hockey talent.

Sabres fans want Eichel to succeed, obviously. We're getting impatient with his on-again/off-again effort and poor decisions.

Shouldn't we have lofty expectations and anticipate full value for the $80 million the Sabres have committed to him? (I concede that most of us would charitably describe that contract as "premature".)

 

[howkie]

Should get Jeff Eichel asap....

 

[MisterNoItAll]

If Eichel goes on a tear it'll make this thread look even more embarrassing than it already is. Bunch of arm chair-psychologists trying to blame the dysfunction of a historically bad organization on the personality of a 21 year old is almost as bad as the clear attacks on his character with almost no substance behind them. Along with that the flat out lies that he personally tried to get the coach and GM fired. Questioning the "Attitude" "Drive" and "Personality" of a person none of us really know anything about is a joke. It's a thinly veiled way of dumping on a player who for some reason you don't want to see succeed.

Is he having the season that people thought he would? No. But a lot of players don't live up to expectations all 82 games of the season and it's not always because of their personal character.

It’s evident in his play and the way he carries himself, that he lacks the drive and determination to be a superstar. He doesn’t have that hunger. He’s overrated, and will notch about 60-70 points on average. Definitely not worth his contract.

 

[Kimota]

That giveaway on the Byron goal was just horrible. Even pee-wees don't do this.

 

[Petrus]

First of all, Kadri didn't have attitude issues. He had consistency issues. He wasn't considered a generational superstar who was awarded a 10 million dollar contract and replaced the coach for him.
Kadri always played the game with a chip on his shoulder.

Kadri was always a decent player, he just doesn't know how to control his emotions sometimes on the ice.

Kadri always cared about winning. Ask Emelin and the Canadians. Ask Ottawa. Coaching didn't change Kadri, coaching made him more consistent.

Don't blame Housely or Blysma. This is on Eichel.

If you recall in 2015 Kadri was suspended by Brendan Shanahan. It marked the beginning of Kadri’s turnaround. From what I recall there were “attitude” issues. At the time, Shanahan made it clear that there is a culture change that needs to take place.

 

[Stephen]

Eichel has always had very beautiful mechanics to his game which suggests boundless potential and capability. But it seems like his whole approach has always left something to be desired. He always seems so sour when compared to McDavid and Matthews.

 

[ImpartialNHLfan]

He needs to be bumped down to the 4th line.

 

[DapperCam]

Eichel had 0.39 power play points per game last year and 0.54 non-power play points per game.

This year he has 0.75 non-power play points per game and a paltry 1 power play point all year.

If Housley could have left the #1 power play alone, and not messed with the zone entry strategy maybe Eichel scores at the same PP rate as last year. If that were the case, he’d have 1.14 points per game, and he’d be hovering around top ten in scoring.

Kind of crazy how badly broken the Sabres PP is. They went from #1 to #30 with all the same personnel available to run the first unit. They also have 7 short handed goals against! I don’t know how you can lay the ineptitude of the entire unit on one player. It’s gotta be coaching at that point.

 

[Neutral Hockey Fan]

GM Eichel has been busy yelling at Coach Eichel who's too afraid to coach Player Eichel.

No, seriously. You don't sign a guy to the largest contract in franchise history if he isn't the undisputed emotional leader of your entire franchise. What's taking the coach and GM (who we were told were fantastic additions and will turn the team around for sure) so long to make Eichel the official captain and leader of the Sabres?

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Eichel had 0.39 power play points per game last year and 0.54 non-power play points per game.

This year he has 0.75 non-power play points per game and a paltry 1 power play point all year.

If Housley could have left the #1 power play alone, and not messed with the zone entry strategy maybe Eichel scores at the same PP rate as last year. If that were the case, he’d have 1.14 points per game, and he’d be hovering around top ten in scoring.

Kind of crazy how badly broken the Sabres PP is. They went from #1 to #30 with all the same personnel available to run the first unit. They also have 7 short handed goals against! I don’t know how you can lay the ineptitude of the entire unit on one player. It’s gotta be coaching at that point.

I don't think anyone thinks the problem with Eichel is his offense. We all know he's good at it