Quote:
Originally Posted by Dienasty
He is essentially a point per game player, on a historically bad franchise. Off the top of my head I think his wingers have been reinhart, okposo, skinner, kane. Yikes.
Last year he was a top 5 player in the league. If you combine counting stats 78 points in 68 games and was +5, with possession stats (dominated corsi, fenwick his whole career) and his zone entries last year were at the very top, as well as a one man break out.
I know you are anti advanced stats... but watch him play he passes the eye test too.
I would argue the biggest concern is maybe faceoffs.
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And I would argue that Eichel is not the sum of his parts. Those wingers you listed have all been quality players elsewhere (with the exception of Reinhart) but haven't done much with Eichel. Is that on them, or also on Eichel? Every time I watch him I don't come away impressed, especially when he's being paid $10M a season. He should be elevating the talent around him for that kind of coin, and he does not elevate the talent that plays with him. Yes, he's skilled with the puck, but he is not good at making his line or team better. And yes, he is brutal in the faceoff dot. I would not be inclined to believe he lives up to the hype and become McEichel here, which is what the fans really hope for. They want someone flashy like McHobo and don't give a #### about the outcome.
TBH, this whole scenario reminds me of the days when the Oilers had Gretzky and the Flames had a rag-tag bunch of no bodies. The fans had such a hard on for finding a center that was as flashy and productive as Gretzky, not recognizing that we had the better "team." I like the talent on the roster right now and think they just need to be managed right. I don't think they need a McHobo as the cost of that player and the escalation of contracts of anyone who plays with him pretty well makes the rest of the team terrible. If this team is focused we know it can be one of the top teams in the NHL. It is unfortunate we've wasted years of good contracts while going with inexperienced or bargain bin coaches.