Bjork-Eakin-Hayden 2nd Worst Line in NHL (now 437 out of 438)

[inkman]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Eakin line was constantly hemmed in their own zone. At one point it took Dahlin saying f it, and willing the puck up ice to get a change because Eakin was inept at winning a single battle. It's amazing how many plays die on his stick,  even simple ones. Hinostroza was so fortunate to get away from him and poor Hayden, just dragging an anchor around all night. 

Every time Eakin is near the puck post faceoff, terrible things happen for the Sabres.  He can’t pass, shoot, clear the zone, or do anything required of an NHL hockey player.  If he somehow is on the team next season, I will have no hope for this team as they have brought in an all star team of statisticians. 

[LGR4GM]

59 minutes ago, inkman said:

Every time Eakin is near the puck post faceoff, terrible things happen for the Sabres.  He can’t pass, shoot, clear the zone, or do anything required of an NHL hockey player.  If he somehow is on the team next season, I will have no hope for this team as they have brought in an all star team of statisticians. 

If he's is re signed, it's clear the analytics department isn't part of anything. 

[French Collection]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

Every time Eakin is near the puck post faceoff, terrible things happen for the Sabres.  He can’t pass, shoot, clear the zone, or do anything required of an NHL hockey player.  If he somehow is on the team next season, I will have no hope for this team as they have brought in an all star team of statisticians. 

Yeah, he wins a few draws but he struggles with basic tasks as you say. Even on the PK, he gets in lanes but he lacks quickness to pressure opponents and he cannot win a puck battle. He makes me wonder if he is capable of icing the puck let alone clearing the zone.

He is one of the worst players I have seen that gets a regular shift. I don’t know what DG sees. Jankowski brings more in my opinion.

We have had whipping boys in the past like Stafford, but he produced a lot more than Eakin.

Edited March 11, 2022 by French Collection

[woods-racer]

Didn't one of the ESPN announcers call him an *established face off guy* ? They went on about the Sabres center spin is so young and it takes years to become proficient at face offs that the Sabres rely on him heavily.

Which is all fine and dandy, but I want my young guys taking faceoffs this year when wins don't matter. 

Edited March 11, 2022 by woods-racer

[TheAud]

I view this line as a positive. Once the unofficial Tank is done (next season) it will be an immediate upgrade to replace these turds with replacement level players or better. Guys like Okposo and Asplund will be taking their ice time as they are bumped down by Quinn and Peterka. 

[bob_sauve28]

 

[woods-racer]

Glad he is doing good. Has to be the most depressing thing in the world being locked up like that.

[Eleven]

33 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

 

I had no idea this was going on, for some reason.  Glad he's well.

19 minutes ago, woods-racer said:

Glad he is doing good. Has to be the most depressing thing in the world being locked up like that.

I had to do it three times for five days each and I was clawing at the walls.  I can't imagine doing it for weeks on end.

[JoeSchmoe]

It's been a while since I looked at this since Bjork has been benched, and I was unaware of Hayden being quarantined, but with a bunch more line combos playing together for 100min or more they're now 412 of 412 in expected goal % for.

[dudacek]

54 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

It's been a while since I looked at this since Bjork has been benched, and I was unaware of Hayden being quarantined, but with a bunch more line combos playing together for 100min or more they're now 412 of 412 in expected goal % for.

How about Eakin Girgs Okposo?

May not have reached 100

[JoeSchmoe]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

How about Eakin Girgs Okposo?

May not have reached 100

They're 312. 

[Marvin]

10 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

They're 312. 

Wow.  Eakin drops the two most defencively sound forwards the Sabres have that far.  He's this season's Vladimir Sobotka.

[JoeSchmoe]

1 hour ago, Marvin, Sabres Fan said:

Wow.  Eakin drops the two most defencively sound forwards the Sabres have that far.  He's this season's Vladimir Sobotka.

Even if you're defensively sound, you still have to get more scoring opportunities that your opposition. Girgs usually fails in this department.

[GASabresIUFAN]

How is the KO, Z and Eakin line ranked.

Edited April 2, 2022 by GASabresIUFAN

[Broken Ankles]

12 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

How is the VO, Z and Eakin line ranked.

I assume you mean KO?  According to Money Puck, using 150 minutes as the minimum minutes played, that line ranks 31st best in Expected goals against per 60 minutes out of 89 qualifying lines with 2.23.  So top third. Unfortunately their Expected GF/60 ranking is 86 out of 89.  I wouldn’t have guessed that bad.  They have had good possession numbers the last 8 games but maybe not out chancing the opponent according to the fancy stats. 

 

[woods-racer]

I know exactly what it's going to take for that line to be good.

What Eakin did at the end of the RJ game earns him a WHOLE lot of slack from me.

There is no fancy stat for great teammate.

[sabresparaavida]

8 hours ago, Broken Ankles said:

I assume you mean KO?  According to Money Puck, using 150 minutes as the minimum minutes played, that line ranks 31st best in Expected goals against per 60 minutes out of 89 qualifying lines with 2.23.  So top third. Unfortunately their Expected GF/60 ranking is 86 out of 89.  I wouldn’t have guessed that bad.  They have had good possession numbers the last 8 games but maybe not out chancing the opponent according to the fancy stats. 

 

This also probably has a good bit to do with matchups, that line matches up against the other team’s top 6 pretty frequently.

[dudacek]

I thought it back in October as well: Eakin looks like an NHL player with KO and Z. Not “good” but not “why is he dressed?”, like he does with Bjork and Hayden.

[GASabresIUFAN]

5 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I thought it back in October as well: Eakin looks like an NHL player with KO and Z. Not “good” but not “why is he dressed?”, like he does with Bjork and Hayden.

He still needs to go.

[JoeSchmoe]

22 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

How is the KO, Z and Eakin line ranked.

Using the same 100 minute scale as used with the steaming garbage line, they're 369 out of 438. Not good.

However... The bigger news is the steaming garbage line is out of the cellar!!!! They are now a respectable 437 out of 438.

Crouse-Galchenyuk-Kessel now hold down last spot. By a fair margin too. They're 25% vs 30.8% for Bjork and friends.

[PerreaultForever]

15 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

He still needs to go.

Nobody needs to go unless they have an upgrade ready. Team chemistry might seem like a new thing around here but it's important. idk if Eakin has any role in that but if he does I don't get rid of him just to get rid of him. If you can sign Andrew Copp or somebody for reasonable money sure, ditch him, but we need to retain leadership and chemistry. Again, not sure he brings any of that, but the RJ thing makes me think maybe he does. and he did help us win an OT 🙂

[JoeSchmoe]

4 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Nobody needs to go unless they have an upgrade ready.

Krebs, Cozens, Mittelstadt,  Thompson, Girgensens, and a moist towelette are all upgrades at C over Eakin. I think we're good. 

[PerreaultForever]

4 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Krebs, Cozens, Mittelstadt,  Thompson, Girgensens, and a moist towelette are all upgrades at C over Eakin. I think we're good. 

Disagree. Krebs and Girgs are both wingers in this line up and nobody on the team can win a face off. An upgrade would be a role player with a similar (but better) skill set. 

[Doohicksie]

7 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

but the RJ thing makes me think maybe he does. and he did help us win an OT 🙂

He also came up with the Flint Tropics thing.  I think he's a "leader" in the room much the same way John Scott was.  You need your serious leaders (Follow me, boys!!) but you also need people in the room to keep things light.  I think Eakin falls in the second category.

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

22 hours ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

He also came up with the Flint Tropics thing.  I think he's a "leader" in the room much the same way John Scott was.  You need your serious leaders (Follow me, boys!!) but you also need people in the room to keep things light.  I think Eakin falls in the second category.

There are a lot of "good guys" out there.  We need one that is better at faceoffs and doesn't need Girgs and KO flanking him every night to be effective. 

The major issue with signing a new JAG over an old JAG is how they do in the teams system, and this is why we might see another year of Eakin.  I'm hoping they are able to bring in a 30-something center with some battle wounds that can play up and down the lineup.