Is the Golden Knights' problem Jack Eichel?

[Macbanan]

To me he seems like a guy who struggles with his moody and frustrated personality. I remember a few times when Dahlin fumbled very simple passes on the PP when Eichel had his one-timer ready, Eichel just looked at the ceiling and threw his arms out. You could tell he had been trying to rein in the frustration before that, but the outburst really stuck out.

Back on the bench he'd be visibly comforting rookies after mistakes and he never said a bad word about anyone's game to the media, so he's trying, but you can't really hide that kind of angry frustration and blame from teammates. Everyone notices.

But he seems to blame himself even more harshly than others, when he has a bad game he becomes frustrated and tries to "fix it" by scoring all by himself. The thing is, he's so skilled that he often succeeds, and when he gives away the puck he backchecks like crazy to make amends.

Problem is, he doesn't try to fix others' mistakes with the same intensity, that's their fault so they should fix it. Every player backchecks harder when they personally make a mistake but it seems to be more pronounced with Eichel.

 

[LongWayDown37]

In hindsight Buffalo absolutely fleeced Vegas on this one. Tuch + Krebs alone were a phenomenal haul, add a 1st+ to that. Beautiful trade for Buffalo.

At the time of the deal, most people completely overlooked Tuch. But holy cow what a player that guy is - Kevin Adams looks like a genius targeting him. Now the pick is about to become a really valuable one and Krebs has shown plenty to get excited about.

 

[Rockomax]

The Golden Knights biggest problem is the Golden Knights. That is a bunch of guys who play with the same colored Jerseys and not a team.

That being said, there is a world where they can still make the playoffs.

Not this world though with Dallas and Nashville both playing Arizonaand only needing 1 point to clinch.

 

[kirby11]

The current iteration of Vegas reminds me a lot of the Tim Murray Sabres. Both squads wanted to accelerate their timeline for more success and acquired a bunch of talented pieces without any real thought to team-building.

From an outsider's perspective who's watched a fair bit of their games recently, here's how I'd rank some of Vegas' major moves.

Acquiring Stone: Pretty reasonable, they needed more top end forward talent at the time.
Max Pac: Starting to hurt for futures a little bit, but still, fairly understandable.
Signing Pietrangelo: That contract is gonna be a poison pill for a while.
Trading for Eichel: As of now, sorta incomplete. Obviously they'd want more from him in the current playoff push, but I'm curious how he looks after an offseason of being able to train and having more familiarity with the team.

As others have mentioned, the real problem is how they've basically ignored the cap and now rent's coming due. It feels like they've potentially shortened their window more than they needed to, with the Pietro signing being the big one that they should've passed on.

 

[ffh]

GMJE needs to surround him with better players.

 

[hangman005]

In hindsight Buffalo absolutely fleeced Vegas on this one. Tuch + Krebs alone were a phenomenal haul, add a 1st+ to that. Beautiful trade for Buffalo.

Jokes on you, we all know Gary is winning Vegas the draft lottery... and we all know Vegas will trade that draft pick for what ever shiny toy comes along next.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Eichel was the first one to go to Thompson and support him after the San Jose loss after Thompson looked devastated.

So he rolled his eyes after his team choked again. Just like all the Vegas fans are doing right now.

I do have concerns about his character but this one isn’t a big deal IMO.

I don't even think he was rolling his eyes. To me, he was looking up at the jumbotron

 

[McShogun99]

The current iteration of Vegas reminds me a lot of the Tim Murray Sabres. Both squads wanted to accelerate their timeline for more success and acquired a bunch of talented pieces without any real thought to team-building.

From an outsider's perspective who's watched a fair bit of their games recently, here's how I'd rank some of Vegas' major moves.

Acquiring Stone: Pretty reasonable, they needed more top end forward talent at the time.
Max Pac: Starting to hurt for futures a little bit, but still, fairly understandable.
Signing Pietrangelo: That contract is gonna be a poison pill for a while.
Trading for Eichel: As of now, sorta incomplete. Obviously they'd want more from him in the current playoff push, but I'm curious how he looks after an offseason of being able to train and having more familiarity with the team.

As others have mentioned, the real problem is how they've basically ignored the cap and now rent's coming due. It feels like they've potentially shortened their window more than they needed to, with the Pietro signing being the big one that they should've passed on.

Getting Stone, Eichel and Pietrangelo were great moves. They didn't need Patches or Lehner.

 

[Melrose Munch]

I think @McShogun99 said it a few years ago but they should have drafted Marner instead.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

I think the bigger problem is going to those gold jerseys full-time.

 

[Kranix]

So if they win out and Dallas loses out, they're in?

 

[McShogun99]

I think @McShogun99 said it a few years ago but they should have drafted Marner instead.

I did. I was saying that he'll end up as the second best career from that draft class. I wanted the Oilers to draft him if they didn't win the lottery.

 

[Dirty Dog]

So if they win out and Dallas loses out, they're in?

Dallas has to lose out in regulation

 

[Dr Pepper]

So if they win out and Dallas loses out, they're in?

If Dallas picks up a single point in either of their final two games, they're in, no matter what Vegas does.

 

[glovesave_35]

Without reading a single response, no.

 

[Chainshot]

Jokes on you, we all know Gary is winning Vegas the draft lottery... and we all know Vegas will trade that draft pick for what ever shiny toy comes along next.

I would think Brisson is wondering where he winds up this summer.

 

[Voight]

Funny thing is he wanted out before surgerygate.

 

[LongWayDown37]

Funny thing is he wanted out before surgerygate.

This is what is always lost in the discussion. This is a guy (who ownership gave an $80M contract and named captain at a young age) who already told ownership he didn't want to play for the Sabres long before the neck injury ever came into play.

 

[sepHF]

just like Buffalo was all Halls fault

Look at what happens when he went to a real team. Give Eichel some time, Vegas' season has been hectic

 

[Breakers]

That eye roll from Eichel that is making the rounds after they lost and the team was comforting Thompson I think his name is…… is Jack Eichel in a nutshell.

 

[Diaspora]

If you guys are better than Vegas in a year or two and Eichel is playing bad then, that would be the time.

As a note, when that day comes we won't be thinking about Jack even a little.

 

[Montag DP]

That eye roll from Eichel that is making the rounds after they lost and the team was comforting Thompson I think his name is…… is Jack Eichel in a nutshell.

Jack Eyeroll.

 

[kingsfanman]

Bad Luck Jack

 

[Aurinko]

When you get a perfect team and perfect playerpool and it turns to this...

I feel so bad for the owner Foley more than anything else.

 

[HanSolo]

They spent too much money on unproven players like Karlsson and Lehner who have been unable to reproduce past success. Pietrangelo was a luxury signing that they could not afford on the long term and then they decide to get Eichel and his huge contract on top of that. Too much doubling down because they made the final on their very first year and it is now costing them.

Yeah Karlsson in particular is a massive let down. He's paid too much to play like a defensively solid third line center. I'd still want him on the team but making at least 2m less the way he's playing.