sabrebuild
Registered User
Yes he would. He's effortless. That PK goal Tuesday night where he looks like he's hardly trying yet blows past the defenders who can't catch up sums it up.
That doesn't mean he doesn't need to improve or work harder on his defensive focus. But much of the effort narrative is impacted by his skating style.
I’m totally open to the big guys get unfairly criticized for long strides, and his case excellent posture that looks odd. I am about his height and remember similar criticism as a youth.
But the difference from an actual speed and decisive move when he sees an opportunity to score vs an opportunity to shut someone down is very noticeable.
Let’s take an example from last game, preseason so take it with a grain of salt.
First his goal. At no point does he pump his arms like a maniac, but as soon as he recognizes the loose puck in the neutral zone and the defender in front of him, he immediately takes 3 hard steps to get in front of the Pen and from there easy peasy.
Same game, let’s look at his penalty. Pretty weak call, looks like it might not have even hit the guy, but the cause of it is exactly what some of us mean by his lack of intensity on defense. The puck is in the corner as a pen scoops it up, Eichel is inside the circle about two strides from the pen as they have their back to him. He glides towards his man, and then reaches for a stick lift/poke. Unfortunately misses by a lil bit and gets a call.
Now, the exact same two stride movement that he used in the transition play, applied to the man in the corner, would have allowed him to close the distance, pin his man to the wall avoiding the risk of a stick lift. And then he could move the puck or get help having killed any risk without putting in a huge effort.
Now we can call it preseason, but it strikes me that this is relatively common for him, and is the type of play that irks many of us who know he could do better and get tremendous results do to his ceiling free physical ability.