Player Discussion Jack Eichel Part 1

[sabrebuild]

First, I'm not defending Icicle. I was more referring to your strawman response. I thought that was rather obvious, but my apologies if it was not. I think we all know Icicle goes overboard on occasion. You doing the same does not help the discussion.

You comment on what you call my whining with... whining.

Yes, I have. In particular, he has looked good with Johnny Gaudreau at times. I do notice in another post that you reference he did work with good NHL talent like Okposo, Reinhart, and Kane. Reinhart I give you. Kane has the hockey IQ of a brick, which is something most everyone knows. Okposo was not playing at a high level last year, and was particularly slow at processing the game. This is also commonly accepted. So, of those 3, only one really applies.

Could Eichel improve in this aspect of his game? Yes, of course he can. Is it as bad as you are making it out to be? No, it isn't, and valid reasons for that have been given.

I watched him with Gaudreau in that tournament. I think we have different standards of what looking good is in reference to this article.

How “bad” do you think I’m making his shortcoming to be? The article is saying it’s something he can work on, im saying it’s something he could work on.

I have repeatedly said I think Eichel will get to Malkin’s level if he continues to improve, so I’m not sure if you can distinguish between real criticism or overblown hyperbole.

 

[enthusiast]

Eichel's wingers are inherent to this discussion about his usage of pass options. I don't think it's a hot take to suggest that those players were subpar.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

I truly believe Rodrigues and Eichel would be great together the way they were in college.

 

[Icicle]

I truly believe Rodrigues and Eichel would be great together the way they were in college.

They scored on one of their two shifts together

 

[BowieSabresFan]

I watched him with Gaudreau in that tournament. I think we have different standards of what looking good is in reference to this article.

How “bad” do you think I’m making his shortcoming to be? The article is saying it’s something he can work on, im saying it’s something he could work on.

I have repeatedly said I think Eichel will get to Malkin’s level if he continues to improve, so I’m not sure if you can distinguish between real criticism or overblown hyperbole.

I think most of what I said went over your head, and you’re changing the goal posts.

I’ll leave it at that.

 

[truthbluth]

IRL Jack Eichel was a shockingly effective penalty killer last year, in a relatively small sample size (RoR led the Sabres with 162 min, vs Jack's 53), but not small enough that it isn't significant. Had as many SHG for as PPG against.

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

IRL Jack Eichel was a shockingly effective penalty killer last year, in a relatively small sample size (RoR led the Sabres with 162 min, vs Jack's 53), but not small enough that it isn't significant. Had as many SHG for as PPG against.View attachment 133883

Throwing him and Kane out at the end of PKs was a good move.

In general, having a 6-8 forward rotation while shorthanded was a vast improvement vs Bylsma, and one of the few upgrades Housley made.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

From Vogl at The Athletic:

Jack Eichel ready to help lead a locker room of new faces...

Jack Eichel has watched with increasing interest as the Sabres have made change after change this offseason.

“I think it needed to happen,” Buffalo’s franchise center told The Athletic this week. “Whenever you have as little success as we did last year, changes are bound to happen, and I think it’s a good thing.”

When Eichel cleaned out his locker following the team’s last-place season, he joined the multitudes in saying something needed to be done. General manager Jason Botterill delivered by adding forwards Jeff Skinner, Conor Sheary, Patrik Berglund, Tage Thompson and Vladimir Sobotka, goaltender Carter Hutton, No. 1 overall draft pick Rasmus Dahlin and several high-end prospects.

“We’ve got a lot of fresh faces that don’t really have the sour taste of last season and the two seasons before with them,” Eichel said by phone.

 

[Dingo44]

From Vogl at The Athletic:

Jack Eichel ready to help lead a locker room of new faces...

Jack Eichel has watched with increasing interest as the Sabres have made change after change this offseason.

“I think it needed to happen,” Buffalo’s franchise center told The Athletic this week. “Whenever you have as little success as we did last year, changes are bound to happen, and I think it’s a good thing.”

When Eichel cleaned out his locker following the team’s last-place season, he joined the multitudes in saying something needed to be done. General manager Jason Botterill delivered by adding forwards Jeff Skinner, Conor Sheary, Patrik Berglund, Tage Thompson and Vladimir Sobotka, goaltender Carter Hutton, No. 1 overall draft pick Rasmus Dahlin and several high-end prospects.

“We’ve got a lot of fresh faces that don’t really have the sour taste of last season and the two seasons before with them,” Eichel said by phone.

GREAT article. The Athletic is so worth it.

I had a lot of questions and this answered a lot of them. Didn't know Jack was in Buffalo and met with Dahlin before the Prospects camp but I imagine that's when he did the photoshoot of himself in the new #9 sweater.

Someone in the comments made mention it didn't sound like Jack is going to miss ROR personally, and I'm inclined to agree with that observation. I'm not trying to read to much into it, but I get the feeling he's at the minimum fine Ryan is gone and maybe is even happy that he got moved.

Cannot WAIT until the season.

 

[GellMann]

Any chance we can get more details of what's in that article, for those of us who haven't subscribed to the Athletic? Understandable if not. I'll subscribe when I'm not a broke grad student anymore

 

[sabrebuild]

L

Any chance we can get more details of what's in that article, for those of us who haven't subscribed to the Athletic? Understandable if not. I'll subscribe when I'm not a broke grad student anymore

To be honest it’s the typical fluff piece. Jack is ready to take over and be the Man.

When the team doesn’t have success it’s not surprising trades happen, looking forward to the new guys.

Met Dahlin, said he was a nice kid with tons of skill.

Honestly, a piece that reminds me why I hardly ever read Vogl in the news.

Dingo loved it, so to each his/her own.

 

[Baccus]

Yeah I'd agree with sabrebuild, Vogl's articles have been more of the fluffy side, which is fine, but nothing special, and a bit disappointing for the Athletic.

Eichel was pretty white bread with his answers which to me is why I rarely bother with the athletes interviews, they generally aren't willing to say anything noteworthy.

Vogl's Pegula interview was good, but I personally chuckled when he lead off the article with how their teams were "crushing the offseason" or whatever.

I'm sure I'll be labeled a debbie downer or whatever now. So go the HFboards culture wars.

Anyways, hopefully Eichel does take some leadership moving forward.

 

[Dingo44]

Yeah I'd agree with sabrebuild, Vogl's articles have been more of the fluffy side, which is fine, but nothing special, and a bit disappointing for the Athletic.

Eichel was pretty white bread with his answers which to me is why I rarely bother with the athletes interviews, they generally aren't willing to say anything noteworthy.

Vogl's Pegula interview was good, but I personally chuckled when he lead off the article with how their teams were "crushing the offseason" or whatever.

I'm sure I'll be labeled a debbie downer or whatever now. So go the HFboards culture wars.

Anyways, hopefully Eichel does take some leadership moving forward.

Well, I'm not going to try to defend Vogl, but I always though he was at least factual instead of a jerk like some of the Buffalo News hockey writers.

In both the Kim Pegula and Jack Eichel pieces, he asked questions about which I was curious, and he can't control the answers. And I found out things I didn't know before, which takes them above a fluff piece for me.

In the Kim piece, I found out that the Sabres including Jack have already been utilizing the Bills training and recovery facilities, and that that new facility they are building in Orchard Park will also be used to heal both Sabres and Bills players, as well as hopefully extend their careers. To have one of the best NFL facilities available for NHL players is a coup and is a big selling point to potential free agents.

In the Jack piece, I found out that he was here in Buffalo and met with Dahlin and spent some time with him in person. He also got quotes on Jack's thoughts on the trades and moves, ROR leaving, Sheary and Skinner arriving, and his hope to be a leader.

It's not up to Vogl to speculate why Jack didn't say anything about missing Ryan or anything like that. He leaves it up to the reader to make his own decisions.

And The Athletic is $2.50 a month. I don't mind sharing quotes but considering they don't have any ads at all then I'm going to support their business model.

Here are a couple of quotes I liked:

Jack Eichel has watched with increasing interest as the Sabres have made change after change this offseason.

“I think it needed to happen,” Buffalo’s franchise center told The Athletic this week. “Whenever you have as little success as we did last year, changes are bound to happen, and I think it’s a good thing.”

“We’ve got a lot of fresh faces that don’t really have the sour taste of last season and the two seasons before with them,” Eichel said by phone.

On the O'Reilly trade:

“You kind of have to expect anything in this business, and obviously like we talked about, changes needed to happen,” Eichel said. “That was one of the changes. But in terms of trades and things like that, obviously that’s out of my hands and it’s something that our management team takes care of. My job is to perform on the ice.

“Ryan was a big part of our team the last few years, and obviously as an organization we thought we could make a trade and benefit our team, so that’s what we did.”

 

[GellMann]

Thanks very much to everyone.

 

[Moskau]

In the Kim piece, I found out that the Sabres including Jack have already been utilizing the Bills training and recovery facilities, and that that new facility they are building in Orchard Park will also be used to heal both Sabres and Bills players, as well as hopefully extend their careers. To have one of the best NFL facilities available for NHL players is a coup and is a big selling point to potential free agents.

If I had the chance to prolong my career but be required to drive all the way out to Orchard Park... I'd strongly consider retiring early.

 

[jcbeze]

Any chance we can get more details of what's in that article, for those of us who haven't subscribed to the Athletic? Understandable if not. I'll subscribe when I'm not a broke grad student anymore

It's $50 for the year.....

 

[GellMann]

It's $50 for the year.....

Sure, when you put it that way lots of things you don't really need but would be nice to have seem harmless, but on principle one has to be careful in financial situations typical of graduate students.

 

[Dingo44]

Sure, when you put it that way lots of things you don't really need but would be nice to have seem harmless, but on principle one has to be careful in financial situations typical of graduate students.

I get ya but it's less than one double shot caffeinated grande latte or one decent beer - a month.

And you get a shirt!

 

[GellMann]

I get ya but it's less than one double shot caffeinated grande latte or one decent beer - a month.

And you get a shirt!

I don't buy or drink either of those things for the same reason!

I choose to spend my money flying back to western new york as often as I can.

My credit card bill this month will be, for about 3 days, larger than my bank account balance because of it.

That's why I don't buy coffee, beer, or The Athletic.

I think most posters understand that being able to visit WNY is well worth the sacrifice.

 

[sabrebuild]

It's $50 for the year.....

To be honest, it’s worth it. Best online sports site I have seen in the 15 years of me reading online sports related articles.

Recycle cans for the monthly subscription. It’d take a couple hours.

 

[jcbeze]

To be honest, it’s worth it. Best online sports site I have seen in the 15 years of me reading online sports related articles.

Recycle cans for the monthly subscription. It’d take a couple hours.

I know right...

 

[sabrebuild]

I know right...

I see my post could come off kinda jerky, but yeah, I’ve been broke before and came up with that kinda money for Mountain Dew. I would totally do it for The Athletic.

 

[sabrebuild]

Well, I'm not going to try to defend Vogl, but I always though he was at least factual instead of a jerk like some of the Buffalo News hockey writers.

In both the Kim Pegula and Jack Eichel pieces, he asked questions about which I was curious, and he can't control the answers. And I found out things I didn't know before, which takes them above a fluff piece for me.

In the Kim piece, I found out that the Sabres including Jack have already been utilizing the Bills training and recovery facilities, and that that new facility they are building in Orchard Park will also be used to heal both Sabres and Bills players, as well as hopefully extend their careers. To have one of the best NFL facilities available for NHL players is a coup and is a big selling point to potential free agents.

In the Jack piece, I found out that he was here in Buffalo and met with Dahlin and spent some time with him in person. He also got quotes on Jack's thoughts on the trades and moves, ROR leaving, Sheary and Skinner arriving, and his hope to be a leader.

It's not up to Vogl to speculate why Jack didn't say anything about missing Ryan or anything like that. He leaves it up to the reader to make his own decisions.

And The Athletic is $2.50 a month. I don't mind sharing quotes but considering they don't have any ads at all then I'm going to support their business model.

Here are a couple of quotes I liked:







On the O'Reilly trade:

I think that’s all fair.

I just look at a fluff piece as being more of a human interest story and a fan pump up, rather than a calculated analysis like you get in The Athletic a lot.

It certainly isn’t poorly written, just more personality stuff than hockey stuff.

 

[Sabre the Win]

Jeez I hope the Athletic is paying some of you commission. I bought it and Sabrebuild was right, that Eichel article was a fluff peice, I rather have my coffee for that day rather than an article that really said nothing other than confirmed what most of us knew that Eichel called Dahlin when he got drafted.

When asked about Sheary and Skinner he gave the generic hockey player quote on their speed and how we need that.

Nice insight Eichel. We all know what we need and they both bring more than just skating. What we really need is you to live up to your 10 million price tag this year.

 

[jBuds]

Jeez I hope the Athletic is paying some of you commission. I bought it and Sabrebuild was right, that Eichel article was a fluff peice, I rather have my coffee for that day rather than an article that really said nothing other than confirmed what most of us knew that Eichel called Dahlin when he got drafted.

When asked about Sheary and Skinner he gave the generic hockey player quote on their speed and how we need that.

Nice insight Eichel. We all know what we need and they both bring more than just skating. What we really need is you to live up to your 10 million price tag this year.

Did he live up to his 900k salary this past season?