Mr. Eichel, is he captain material?

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, Kruppstahl said:

Because of the hype and duration of the Eichel/McDavid race to the bottom, and the way in which we threw away a season to get one or the othe, and in fact did get one, Sabres fans tend to view Eichel as some type of franchise defining Messiah.

I think people assume he should automatically be another Mark Messier. 

The problem is he's not Mark Messier.  He's not even Sidney Crosby or Auston Matthews.

He's more of a Jason Spezza.  Maybe Jamie Benn.  Hell of a nice player, but he's not going to put a franchise on his back and carry it to multiple Cup victories.  He is just not that guy.

For that reason, if we could find a trade partner willing to give us the world for him, I'd do the deal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You're right, he's not McDavid, he's not Crosby, he's definitely not Gretzky or Lemieux. heck he's not even Lindros (before the concussions). He's not "generational." But he is good.

I thought last year he might develop into a Getzlaf but he doesn't seem to want to beef up his physicality and he does not seem to have a competitive mean streak so now I'm hoping he becomes Giroux. I see some similarities there and as I said before, Giroux took a lot of these same criticisms when he was first made captain.

[North Buffalo]

5 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

You're right, he's not McDavid, he's not Crosby, he's definitely not Gretzky or Lemieux. heck he's not even Lindros (before the concussions). He's not "generational." But he is good.

I thought last year he might develop into a Getzlaf but he doesn't seem to want to beef up his physicality and he does not seem to have a competitive mean streak so now I'm hoping he becomes Giroux. I see some similarities there and as I said before, Giroux took a lot of these same criticisms when he was first made captain.

What's disappointing is that from the folks I have talked to up in Massachusetts who saw him play, played against him or knew him say that he had a real nasty streak including the kid I bought my last pair of skates from who told me Jack broke said kid's jaw in a fight.  Jack fought?? He threw punches?  Where is this Jack?  I haven't seen this Jack?

[Carmel Corn]

23 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

What's disappointing is that from the folks I have talked to up in Massachusetts who saw him play, played against him or knew him say that he had a real nasty streak including the kid I bought my last pair of skates from who told me Jack broke said kid's jaw in a fight.  Jack fought?? He threw punches?  Where is this Jack?  I haven't seen this Jack?

I would LOVE to see this version of Jack!  Did you catch the Blackhawks game when Risto checked P. Kane and then J. Toews attacked Risto?  I cannot recall if Jack was on the ice....which is a bad thing, because nothing else happened worth remembering.  If the version of Jack you described was there, I would definitely not forget him going after another player.  If nothing else, I'd like to see Jack respond like Toews did to Risto.

Edited February 18, 2019 by Carmel Corn

[OhMyDahlin]

He's already run Bylsma and O'Reilly out of town...who's next, Housley and Botterill?

Better hope Dahlin doesn't take too much spotlight away from Eichel in the next couple years, Eichel will have him run out of town too.

[Scottysabres]

18 minutes ago, Dank Dangleson said:

He's already run Bylsma and O'Reilly out of town...who's next, Housley and Botterill?

Better hope Dahlin doesn't take too much spotlight away from Eichel in the next couple years, Eichel will have him run out of town too.

While we really don't know what happened in the locker room last season, Dahlin shouldn't even give Jack a thought, after all, there's enough in his game problematic wise to keep him busy well in to his early 20's. 

[Kruppstahl]

10 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

You're right, he's not McDavid, he's not Crosby, he's definitely not Gretzky or Lemieux. heck he's not even Lindros (before the concussions). He's not "generational." But he is good.

I thought last year he might develop into a Getzlaf but he doesn't seem to want to beef up his physicality and he does not seem to have a competitive mean streak so now I'm hoping he becomes Giroux. I see some similarities there and as I said before, Giroux took a lot of these same criticisms when he was first made captain.

Claude Giroux is a pretty good comparable.  I mentioned Benn or Spezza.  

My point is that he is not a generational talent.  He is not even on the "ultra elite superstar" list IMO.

He is in the next group down, the "super good players".

I was thinking of this last night.  Let's say this was an Olympics year and the NHL players were going to the Olympics.

Let's further pretend that Jack is a nice Canadian boy from say, St. Catherine's, Ontario, born and bred.

Question: Is that Jack Eichel an automatic selection to the Canadian Olympic hockey team?

Everything else about Jack (his height, weight, attitude, talent level, shot velocity, stats, everything) is exactly the same as it really is or has been...

Does he make the Olympic squad?

I would argue he does not.  That puts it in perspective, doesn't it?

We are looking for a franchise saving Messiah in a guy who, though a hell of a nice player, isn't Canadian Olympic team material.  

At least not yet.

Expectations need to be checked.

 

[Carmel Corn]

I think the main question from the OP is whether Jack is captain material or not.  Where he grades out from a player standpoint (scoring, generational, etc.) maybe somewhat related, but is not the main point.  Teams can have great players or scorers who are not their captains.  Is Jonathan Toews more talented than Patrick Kane?  I would argue not, but I think he is a better CAPTAIN than Kane would be. 

Jack is a great player, but I am also in the camp that questions whether or not he has the right stuff to be a great captain.  Yes he is still young, but I also think natural leadership shows at any age.  My concern is that I cannot name somebody that is obvious to me as being a natural leader on this team.

[mjd1001]

18 hours ago, Kruppstahl said:

Because of the hype and duration of the Eichel/McDavid race to the bottom, and the way in which we threw away a season to get one or the othe, and in fact did get one, Sabres fans tend to view Eichel as some type of franchise defining Messiah.

I think people assume he should automatically be another Mark Messier. 

The problem is he's not Mark Messier.  He's not even Sidney Crosby or Auston Matthews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with that. 

When we drafted Eichel, I viewed his as the '1b' to McDavid who was '1a'.  Like a Malkin was at #2 to Ovechkin. Or the Doughty at #2 to Stamkos.  I thought McDavid would be the Generational player, while Eichel would be the borderline generational, Top 10 in the league player.

He's not.  Eichel is probably a 'top 25' player..and by that he is about as good as the whole bunch of players in that 12-30 range.  Is that bad? Of course not. If he stays that good for his career, you have a bona-fide star, who has the ability to take over games AT TIMES.  He is just not the type of player that is going to carry a team to win after win after win and dominate entire playoff rounds.

What you do have is a true #1 center, an all-star player.  Just realize he is a piece to build around, not someone to carry the load all the time.