Eichel's Season So Far

[WildCard]

He's at 16 gp, 4-15-19 pts, for a pace of 98 points this season.

He has 15 assists already, his previous career high was 39 in 67 gp, so .58 / game. Right now he's at .94 / game.

So, how do you feel about him? Is he finally come around to what we can expect; the playmaker instead of the scorer? Is it Jeff Skinner, is it Eichel, or is it the team as a whole? How do you feel about the C so far, and his effort on and off the ice?

[GASabresIUFAN]

Just now, WildCard said:

He's at 16 gp, 4-15-19 pts, for a pace of 98 points this season.

He has 15 assists already, his previous career high was 39 in 67 gp, so .58 / game. Right now he's at .94 / game.

So, how do you feel about him? Is he finally come around to what we can expect; the playmaker instead of the scorer? Is it Jeff Skinner, is it Eichel, or is it the team as a whole? How do you feel about the C so far, and his effort on and off the ice?

He is everything we thought he was.  His 10% career shooting % has always been a problem.  I think over time that % goes up as he learns to better pick his spots.  He'll still pot his 25-30.  I think he enjoys creating scoring chances for his linemates.  I'm thrilled that he finally has someone that can convert his passes.  I'm perfectly OK if his stat line is 25 goals and 75 assists every year.  

[mjd1001]

I'm happy so far this year obviously. I want to see him take another step though.  So far in his career, I see Eichel as an all-star caliber player..not an elite player.  He needs to take a step up for me to consider him Elite.  If he continues at this pace and finishes in the top 5 or 6 in the league in scoring, then I'll start to entertain that 'elite' status again.   I do like that he has shown the ability to be able to seemingly "switch on-off" between a scorer and a playmaker.

[sabills]

I really think he felt like he needed to score all the goals in the past, which to be fair, he wasn't that wrong about. Having a guy who can pot them for him frees him up a bit.

1 minute ago, mjd1001 said:

I'm happy so far this year obviously. I want to see him take another step though.  So far in his career, I see Eichel as an all-star caliber player..not an elite player.  He needs to take a step up for me to consider him Elite.  If he continues at this pace and finishes in the top 5 or 6 in the league in scoring, then I'll start to entertain that 'elite' status again.   I do like that he has shown the ability to be able to seemingly "switch on-off" between a scorer and a playmaker.

This is fair and right.

[WildCard]

4 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

He is everything we thought he was.  His 10% career shooting % has always been a problem.  I think over time that % goes up as he learns to better pick his spots.  He'll still pot his 25-30.  I think he enjoys creating scoring chances for his linemates.  I'm thrilled that he finally has someone that can convert his passes.  I'm perfectly OK if his stat line is 25 goals and 75 assists every year.  

 

2 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

I'm happy so far this year obviously. I want to see him take another step though.  So far in his career, I see Eichel as an all-star caliber player..not an elite player.  He needs to take a step up for me to consider him Elite.  If he continues at this pace and finishes in the top 5 or 6 in the league in scoring, then I'll start to entertain that 'elite' status again.   I do like that he has shown the ability to be able to seemingly "switch on-off" between a scorer and a playmaker.

I agree with mjd1001 in regards to your bold above GA

[Sabres Fan in NS]

As his career progresses it is becoming more and more apparent, at least to me, is that he will be very similar to Hawerchuck, which I think is awesome.

[sabills]

8 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

He is everything we thought he was.  His 10% career shooting % has always been a problem.  I think over time that % goes up as he learns to better pick his spots.  He'll still pot his 25-30.  I think he enjoys creating scoring chances for his linemates.  I'm thrilled that he finally has someone that can convert his passes.  I'm perfectly OK if his stat line is 25 goals and 75 assists every year.  

He's actually shooting at about 6% this year, too. Its early so that really would only be worth 2 more goals at this point, but its worth noting. Hist Shots Per game is just about what its been over his career (3.8spg this year, around 4spg the previous two years, 3spg his rookie season.)

[darksabre]

1 minute ago, sabills said:

He's actually shooting at about 6% this year, too. Its early so that really would only be worth 2 more goals at this point, but its worth noting. Hist Shots Per game is just about what its been over his career (3.8spg this year, around 4spg the previous two years, 3spg his rookie season.)

Frankly, I don't need his shooting percent to be super high anyway. But I do need him to shoot it. That goal where he rang it off the post and Skinner put in the rebound was exactly the kind of good stuff that comes from Jack shooting more.

The puck got through traffic and was dangerous, and a lot of times that's enough. 

[sabills]

1 minute ago, darksabre said:

Frankly, I don't need his shooting percent to be super high anyway. But I do need him to shoot it. That goal where he rang it off the post and Skinner put in the rebound was exactly the kind of good stuff that comes from Jack shooting more.

The puck got through traffic and was dangerous, and a lot of times that's enough. 

There were seriously like 3-4 Canadiens in the way on that shot and he still got pipe some how.

[dudacek]

I am very pleased with Jack.

First and foremost, he is realistically going to challenge for a spot in the season-ending top 10 scorers list, a place he will perennially have to be in order for us to be the team we want to be.

But in addition to the points, his overall game and leadership have improved. He comes back hard on the backcheck, the eye rolls and slumped shoulders have disappeared, he expresses joy for the accomplishments of his teammates, he speaks like a veteran.

The thing I have really been impressed with (and am surprised I haven’t seen talked about more) is the way he has been using his strength. He has been an absolute bull along the boards; he wins virtually every puck battle and shrugs off checkers while carrying the puck like he’s Jagr or Malkin.

He really seems to have taken the step we have expected since he was drafted

[pi2000]

I think he's doing fine, but watching him play it just looks like he should be doing more. 

The goals will come, but just need to see more consistentency shift to shift.   

His first couple seasons he would score a bunch by attacking the middle of the ice off the wall and letting a shot go, and shooting off the rush.   We haven't seen that the past couple seasons.

Edited November 9, 2018 by pi2000

[sabills]

I haven't been dilligently watching the games (mostly listening while I do work on my house), but I feel like he's been much better in his own end this year.

[WildCard]

14 minutes ago, darksabre said:

Frankly, I don't need his shooting percent to be super high anyway. But I do need him to shoot it. That goal where he rang it off the post and Skinner put in the rebound was exactly the kind of good stuff that comes from Jack shooting more.

The puck got through traffic and was dangerous, and a lot of times that's enough. 

Thing is, he's shooting more. He needs to shoot from better locations; he used to drive to the middle of the ice and shoot from the slot. Seems like most of his shots these days are coming from the circles 

*calls on Flagg for a heat map*

[That Aud Smell]

He's coming on, I tell ya. 

Where's that thread where he was chirped for being a poor man's Thomas Vanek?

[sabills]

32 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Thing is, he's shooting more. He needs to shoot from better locations; he used to drive to the middle of the ice and shoot from the slot. Seems like most of his shots these days are coming from the circles 

*calls on Flagg for a heat map*

He's not though. If anything he's a little under his usual rate. He's been over 4 shots per game the previous two seasons, this year he's a little under.

I do agree on the rest of your point, however.

[Randall Flagg]

39 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Thing is, he's shooting more. He needs to shoot from better locations; he used to drive to the middle of the ice and shoot from the slot. Seems like most of his shots these days are coming from the circles 

*calls on Flagg for a heat map*

[Randall Flagg]

And Jack has been outstanding this year. He's really picked up his two-way play. He's doing the "elevation of linemates" everyone calls for - what did Jeff and Jason have between them in the 5 games before moving to his wing? Maybe 2 goals and 2 points in 10 combined games? 

His goal totals will start going up as they always do. He's been the best player on the ice for either team in almost every game we've played. And most importantly - he has finally passed Vincent Trocheck. ??

But yeah. He's a leader, he's continuing to grow and mature, he loves when his teammates do good things (the camera that finds him when things happen, whether he's on the ice or not, has been so fun to watch this year) and he just wants to win. The Sabres have finally given him and his teammates a situation where they can expect to win games. 

[WildCard]

18 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Seems like a wide variety of shots. Is that the norm for him?

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

He is everything we thought he was.  His 10% career shooting % has always been a problem.  I think over time that % goes up as he learns to better pick his spots.  He'll still pot his 25-30.  I think he enjoys creating scoring chances for his linemates.  I'm thrilled that he finally has someone that can convert his passes.  I'm perfectly OK if his stat line is 25 goals and 75 assists every year.  

A 10% sh% is higher than league average. I don't think it's a problem. The true issue is he's shooting at 6.6% this season. That's an issue. 

[Randall Flagg]

9 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Seems like a wide variety of shots. Is that the norm for him?

Here's last year.

[WildCard]

Just now, Randall Flagg said:

Here's last year.

So about the same. Interesting

Maybe he should go back to a longer stick...

5 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

A 10% sh% is higher than league average. I don't think it's a problem. The true issue is he's shooting at 6.6% this season. That's an issue. 

See -> Stick

[darksabre]

2 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Here's last year.

Looks to me like he's trying to shoot from the outside a little less. Hard to tell for sure though. 

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, WildCard said:

So about the same. Interesting

Maybe he should go back to a longer stick...

See -> Stick

The issue is his short stick I think is helping him with his assist total 

[WildCard]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

The issue is his short stick I think is helping him with his assist total 

It might be. He's better in close, that's for sure. He's also finally moving his feet, and has Jeff Skinner, so that helps

I find it interesting he trained with Adam Oates over the summer, and Oates is very outspoken in saying the biggest thing an NHL player can improve on, and what can be a career changer, is your hands. Shorter stick -> better hands

Edited November 9, 2018 by WildCard

[Randall Flagg]

His short stick is important to him being better on the boards. It's not why he's hitting goal posts instead of not scoring - he can still shoot just fine (see Calgary). 

He also paced for about 20 goals through like December last year before turning it on. Stuff like goal paces and shooting percentages need more than 15 games to settle down. Sometimes they don't even settle down throughout the whole season.