Who is/was a more talented player? Drury or Eichel?

[PerreaultForever]

Eichel's obviously more talented, but the real question should be which one would win you the hockey game? That's a far trickier argument. 

In the case of the modern Sabres the question might also be who was/is the more valuable hockey player Eichel or ROR? 

[nfreeman]

@dudacek is usually right, but not this time IMHO.

Drury was a great hockey player and a great Sabre.  He was ready to re-sign here until OSP jerked him around, which was the original sin that led the Sabres to a generation in the dungeon.  He didn't steal anything from the Rangers.  He was good there until he suffered a career-ending injury.  And none of us knows why he hasn't re-connected with the organization.

What is indisputable is that he and Briere came here unwillingly but still conducted themselves like professionals and leaders, and they lifted a sad-sack team out of the ditch after an extremely tumultuous period that saw the prior owner imprisoned, the league take over the team and a new owner buy it for pennies on the dollar and run it on a shoestring budget. 

What is also indisputable is that Drury and Briere were the most clutch players the franchise has ever seen.  Drury had 17 goals and 31 points in 34 playoff games as a Sabre.  And Briere is something like #2 or #3 in playoff scoring in the last 20 years.

Swap Eichel in for Drury and the Sabres aren't beating Ottawa in the 2006 playoffs, or the Rangers in 2007.

It's not fair to Eichel, because Drury had Briere, plus Lindy, Ryan Miller, Tim Connolly, Soupy, scoring depth and a lot of other important components that Eichel doesn't have to support him.

And if we are interpreting "talent" as skills -- speed, puckhandling, shooting, etc -- there is no question that Eichel is on a different level than Drury was.

But I guaran-damn-tee that if the Sabres had Drury and Briere instead of Eichel and Reino, they would be nowhere near as downtrodden as they are.

 

[Pimlach]

My answer is Eichel is more talented.  
 

Drury is a leader, a very good player who does things that don’t get on the score sheets but help you win.  
 

Totally different players. I would compare Drury more to Gare.  

[dudacek]

23 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

@dudacek is usually right, but not this time IMHO.

Drury was a great hockey player and a great Sabre.  He was ready to re-sign here until OSP jerked him around, which was the original sin that led the Sabres to a generation in the dungeon.  He didn't steal anything from the Rangers.  He was good there until he suffered a career-ending injury.  And none of us knows why he hasn't re-connected with the organization.

What is indisputable is that he and Briere came here unwillingly but still conducted themselves like professionals and leaders, and they lifted a sad-sack team out of the ditch after an extremely tumultuous period that saw the prior owner imprisoned, the league take over the team and a new owner buy it for pennies on the dollar and run it on a shoestring budget. 

What is also indisputable is that Drury and Briere were the most clutch players the franchise has ever seen.  Drury had 17 goals and 31 points in 34 playoff games as a Sabre.  And Briere is something like #2 or #3 in playoff scoring in the last 20 years.

Swap Eichel in for Drury and the Sabres aren't beating Ottawa in the 2006 playoffs, or the Rangers in 2007.

It's not fair to Eichel, because Drury had Briere, plus Lindy, Ryan Miller, Tim Connolly, Soupy, scoring depth and a lot of other important components that Eichel doesn't have to support him.

And if we are interpreting "talent" as skills -- speed, puckhandling, shooting, etc -- there is no question that Eichel is on a different level than Drury was.

But I guaran-damn-tee that if the Sabres had Drury and Briere instead of Eichel and Reino, they would be nowhere near as downtrodden as they are.

 

This is a pretty good post, but it mostly falls apart when you remove Danny from the equation.

This thread is Eichel vs Drury.

[matter2003]

How does anyone even have a conversation about this?

Eichel is an elite NHL talent. Drury for all the great things he was, never even in the same area code from that standpoint as Eichel.

Edited April 27, 2021 by matter2003

[Zamboni]

6 hours ago, matter2003 said:

How does anyone even have a conversation about this?

Eichel is an elite NHL talent. Drury for all the great things he was, never even in the same area code from that standpoint as Eichel.

Although they are in the vast vast minority, believe it or not, there are 2 or 3 posters on this forum who think Drury in his prime was better/had more talent. But I noticed they didn’t participate In the poll 😂

Edited April 27, 2021 by Zamboni

[Kristian]

More talented, or better player?

Jack is by far the more gifted hockey player. Bigger, longer reach, stronger on his feet, great hands, vision etc.

Drury in his prime was a much more complete player than Jack is now, as there’s nothing he couldn’t do, except throw bone jarring checks, or play goal.

Jack is better in the other teams end than Drury, hands down.

Edited April 27, 2021 by Kristian

[carpandean]

Jack is definitely more talented, but as the old saying goes, "Hard work beats talent when ..."  (you know the rest)

[lost in dc]

Greater talent = Eichel 

Greater heart and grit = Drury

Major mistake by management = Not bringing  him into the team’s management 

[inkman]

1 minute ago, lost in dc said:

Greater talent = Eichel 

Greater heart and grit = Drury

Major mistake by management = Not bringing  him into the team’s management 

He doesn’t want anything to do with Buffalo.  The city, the team, anything.  He’s a NYC prick.  He can suck Aaron Judge’s Dick.   ***** Chris Drury.  

[Zamboni]

And there you have it ... poll speaks for itself ...