Quote:
Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube
I've been pleased -- there's been ups and downs like any rookie season, but overall he's adjusted well. All the games I've watched he's routinely been the best player on the ice for either team, dominant posession player, fast, smart... he's got the whole package. And would have at least 10 more points if his linemates could put pucks in the net on any kind of consistent basis (Kane...). I'd say his point totals might be a little under expectations (I was thinking around 60 for the year) but he's progressed very well.
Going forward it's about just growing on defense and maybe getting a useful winger in there. O'Reilly, Eichel, and Reinhart have been our best offensive players by a mile and they're all centers. Getting a kid like Laine or Tkachuk would be excellent. And if not them, keep working on defense and grab Chychrun. Fortunately, Lehner looks like the real deal in net, which is a big weight off the shoulders going forward. A full season of him next year (hopefully) will give a better indication where the team is at.
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Cheers.
I ask because I haven't seen him grab the headlines all that much. We've seen a lot of stuff about McJesus, Larkin, Domi, Ghost Bear etc, but Eichel hasn't really taken much attention. Was surprised when I saw he'd put up 41 points, pretty good considering his line mates. You say you expected 60, well with just under 20 games to go, he should hit 50, which is surely more than acceptable for him given the state of the team at the moment.
I think you might be in the position the Islanders were 2 years ago. Took Dal Colle at the draft then added 2 good defencemen via trade in Leddy and Boychuk and it really helped them. Pick up someone like Yandle via free agency and maybe target a defenceman from a cap crunched team and you could really take off, a lot of the pieces are there.