Is the Golden Knights' problem Jack Eichel?

[tsujimoto74]

And incompetent teams hold onto the pick until Murphy’s Law intervenes.

I get it man; I get the Taro Tsujimoto reference and I can respect that you’ll defend your team.

The fact remains that the Sabres front office had a plethora of other options they could have taken and picked from the worst ones on a streak back then. If they were making good decisions, they wouldn’t have been in the position to tank in the first place. I’m glad that they’re trending upward, but I’m not going to act like a player is more to blame than the FO if the player isn’t generational.

The Pegulas & Co. screwed up. They were execs. Eichel isn’t blameless, but one player doesn’t swing the weight of a FO. That’s just sane logic.

I'm not sure what we're apportioning blame for here? The Sabres sucking? Lots of people had a hand in that. Eichel was certainly one of them, but he obviously wasn't the guy hiring the coaches or making the draft picks or trades. The relationship between the Sabres, the team's fans, and Eichel getting ugly? Eichel is due plenty of credit there.

 

[WhataKnight]

I'm not sure what we're apportioning blame for here? The Sabres sucking? Lots of people had a hand in that. Eichel was certainly one of them, but he wasn't the guy hiring the coaches or making the draft picks or trades. The relationship between the Sabres, the team's fans, and Eichel getting ugly? Eichel is due plenty of credit there.

As is the team that mismanaged that whole fiasco from the minute Edmonton won the lottery and Murray shat the bed on television. Like…..before Eichel could have done anything.

Are we defending those execs to the death? Tim Murray who hasn’t worked as an NHL GM since? Not a good sword to fall on.

Like I said before about the narrative of which 95% only really comes from Buffalo. Masking poor mismanagement as a kid’s character flaws before turning it into a “boogeyman of epic proportions.” That’s what I’m reading here, full-stop.

 

[tsujimoto74]

As is the team that mismanaged that whole fiasco from the minute Edmonton won the lottery and Murray shat the bed on television. Like…..before Eichel could have done anything.

Are we defending those execs to the death? Tim Murray who hasn’t worked as an NHL GM since? Not a good sword to fall on.

Like I said before about the narrative of which 95% only really comes from Buffalo. Masking poor mismanagement as a kid’s character flaws before turning it into a “boogeyman of epic proportions.” That’s what I’m reading here, full-stop.

Huh. Hmph. Really.


(Which is my shorthand way of saying "No, I will not be pretending Eichel is blameless.")

 

[WhataKnight]

Huh. Hmph. Really.


(Which is my shorthand way of saying "No, I will not be pretending Eichel is blameless.")

Never said Eichel is blameless - that is searchable; I only have 2 dozen posts.

Just said that executives have more control. Executives operating there at the time were wicked unstable while Jack still tried to do his job - put up points. Which he did…..through a Ska band’s worth of coaches/GMs.

 

[Zach716]

If I were Jack or Bob Eichel, I’d have other stuff to do…lol

Maybe, maybe not, but it’s certainly weird that a brand new account seems to be so interested and in the know of the Jack Buffalo situation

Most Buffalo fans have moved on. I think it’s a win-win for both teams and Tage would’ve never been given the opportunity to succeed without the hole left.

 

[WhataKnight]

Maybe, maybe not, but it’s certainly weird that a brand new account seems to be so interested and in the know of the Jack Buffalo situation

Most Buffalo fans have moved on. I think it’s a win-win for both teams and Tage would’ve never been given the opportunity to succeed without the hole left.

That new account belongs to a Knights fan from a tick further south on Lake Erie that grew up on Hašek, Peca and Šatan before moving west 2 decades ago.

I think it’s a win-win as well; I hope it works for both franchises. I just get my nose dirty occasionally when I grow tired of posts that suggest a single “employee” brought about the failure of a “business” rather than those that owned it and whom they hired to operate it.

 

[ItWasJustified]

The surgery Eichel got has essentially never been performed on an athlete in a contact sport before

Wrong.

but your criticism of the Sabres for not cutting ties with all of their doctors because they couldn't recommend what Eichel wanted is way off-base.

I never criticized Sabres decision, DJN21 just wrote that their hands were tied. I just argued against that point and that they could've gone against the medical team's advice and fired them.

 

[WhataKnight]

And yet at the end of it all, there’s still a hell of a lot more things experienced front office execs could have done on a number of steps here than the draftee kid - the kid that went ~PPG before getting tired of the then chaotic direction set by ownership.

Ownership that spent much of five seasons self-indicting through coaching/managerial musical chairs. I don’t even need to argue that; personnel changes they made within that duration prove it for me.

No defense of the FO reverses that from the wide angle view. It’s just what it is. Less a Caligula situation than an emperor mismanaging new clothes - in the form of the consolation prize in their shot at the McLottery (which I understand. Look at what teams are doing for a shot at Bedard. Just means they should have either canned Murray 48 hours later to clear odour before taking Eichel 2OA, or they should have forced him to trade down, given he was the voice of prospect strategy at the time.)

 

[Genny Screamer]

Eichel’s stat line over the last 4 games is 1 goal and a minus 9. Jack has never been a +/- champion, but what are his latest issues? Is he combating the lingering effects of his last injury? To be fair he had a good game 5 games ago against Pitt with 1 goal and 2 assists. It’s hard to win when your top line center is struggling. Are the Knights’ current problems due to Jack?

 

[zenthusiast]

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Are the Knights’ current problems due to Jack?

No, the VGK's problems pre-date Eichel and is that they are a very lazy team that doesn't mentally show up until deep into the 3rd period, if at all. Here's Max Pacioretty on the subject:

Pacioretty believes Golden Knights organization lacks accountability

When his request to be moved out of Montreal was granted by a trade to the Vegas Golden Knights, there was some relief for Pacioretty. What he didn't expect was how vastly different the environment was, especially for a team that was contending right from its first season as an expansion club.

www.sportsnet.ca

 

[Osakahaus]

Jack Eichel has to be a bad locker room influence at this rate

 

[HanSolo]

Eichel’s stat line over the last 4 games is 1 goal and a minus 9. Jack has never been a +/- champion, but what are his latest issues? Is he combating the lingering effects of his last injury? To be fair he had a good game 5 games ago against Pitt with 1 goal and 2 assists. It’s hard to win when your top line center is struggling. Are the Knights’ current problems due to Jack?

No the current problem is our best players once again can't stay healthy and the team looks shaken up. No one looked good against Dallas. Literally no one. Logan Thompson for most of it was okay.

 

[Colt.45Orr]

Jack Eichel has to be a bad locker room influence at this rate

Same was said aboutTaylor Hall...

 

[DickSmehlik]

Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy: Jack Eichel 'not meeting expectations' lately

Bruce Cassidy is expecting more from star forward Jack Eichel, especially as the Golden Knights battle a number of injuries.

www.yahoo.com

Jack getting subtely called out by his coach:

"Jack just hasn't been the same driving force for us as he was at the start of the year on both ends of the ice," Cassidy told reporters after Thursday's loss to the Detroit Red Wings. "The expectations are not being met from Jack. He needs to be better for us especially as we're down a few guys that create offense for us. He needs to be one of the drivers."

I wonder if they're wishing they invested their $10 million dollars in something more reliable.

 

[LevelingSolo]

Well I guess DeBoer and Gallant were no the issues

 

[PunchImlach is Alive]

It's still early but this Eichel kid may be a generational talent at ruining professional hockey teams.

 

[stokes84]

Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy: Jack Eichel 'not meeting expectations' lately

Bruce Cassidy is expecting more from star forward Jack Eichel, especially as the Golden Knights battle a number of injuries.

www.yahoo.com

Jack getting subtely called out by his coach:

"Jack just hasn't been the same driving force for us as he was at the start of the year on both ends of the ice," Cassidy told reporters after Thursday's loss to the Detroit Red Wings. "The expectations are not being met from Jack. He needs to be better for us especially as we're down a few guys that create offense for us. He needs to be one of the drivers."

I wonder if they're wishing they invested their $10 million dollars in something more reliable.

That’s about as harsh as a coach will ever be publicly about his own player. Ouch.

 

[Zach716]

That’s about as harsh as a coach will ever be publicly about his own player. Ouch.

Jack is not the type that gets motivated this way, might need to heat up some popcorn soon.

 

[Rengorlex]

Golden Knights have ruined Eichel, only a matter of time before he asks a trade. Pathetic organization.

 

[Satanphonehome]

You guys can keep finger-pointing and rehashing old ground if it makes you happy.

What’s most interesting to me is that, since the trade we’ve seen this:

Eichel 29/30/59 +14 .88 P/G

Tuch 34/52/86 +7 .91 P/G

Since the trade Tuch has significantly better actual numbers and slightly better /game numbers.

The Sabres also added Krebs and Ostlund, upgraded a 3rd into a 2nd and pay Tuch $4.75 million instead of Eichel $10 million.

Pretty hard to say Kevyn Adams didn’t do a heck of a job here, never mind the fact he did it while he had a gun to his head.

 

[Stony Curtis]

Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy: Jack Eichel 'not meeting expectations' lately

Bruce Cassidy is expecting more from star forward Jack Eichel, especially as the Golden Knights battle a number of injuries.

www.yahoo.com

Jack getting subtely called out by his coach:

"Jack just hasn't been the same driving force for us as he was at the start of the year on both ends of the ice," Cassidy told reporters after Thursday's loss to the Detroit Red Wings. "The expectations are not being met from Jack. He needs to be better for us especially as we're down a few guys that create offense for us. He needs to be one of the drivers."

I wonder if they're wishing they invested their $10 million dollars in something more reliable.

Or hired a different coach lol.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Or hired a different coach lol.

One might point out that for all his faults, DeBoer had a much more injury-ridden VGK playing much better than the current one over the last several weeks. I'm willing to give Cassidy time to see what happens after the All Star break when things get really serious, but certainly Cassidy is very much a giant question mark right now for VGK fans.

One thing about the VGK organization is that they have a very low tolerance for failure. Gallant stumbled, and was gone. DeBoer didn't make the playoffs, and was gone. Ditto with problem players, best example being drama queen Fleury (kept throwing fits about sharing time with Lehner) who was sent packing. Other fans may say that they are cold-blooded or mercenary, and they may be right, but tuna that begins to stink gets chucked into the garbage pretty quickly. Really, no different than how managers or performers are treated at any other show on the Strip: You'll be treated fantastically while your act sells, but when it doesn't the hook will come in a millisecond without apologies, remorse or even a thought about a second chance.

 

[Dr Black]

As I said pages ago, blaming a guy in his 20’s for taking 4-6 years to get frustrated enough to act out on it is one thing. Nothing changes the fact that the timeline of sourness for this fiasco begins with the person the FO hired to manage the team at the lottery, so yes - the front office and management is due blame for mismanaging both pick and player. The minute Tim Murray groused about losing the lottery on camera is when that relationship started on the wrong foot.

I

When Tim Murray openly complained about losing the draft lottery, the message he sent to Eichel, albeit inadvertently was.
"You're ok, you're alright, BUT we really and truly wanted the other guy!! ie McDavid"
So right from day 1 Eichel and the Sabres were on shaky grounds. I understand Tim Murray was just being honest. If I was Murray in that situation, I would have been thinking the exact same thing. In hindsight, maybe Murray was being a little too honest.

 

[Sheppy]

Hahahaha, classic Bruce Cassidy.