Eiserman looked great last night no doubt about it, he outclassed Celebrini last night for sure. I also think something is just flat out broken with that BU team right now
When it comes to the WJC team, it’s tough because he’s in a tough spot. He’s a very gifted player but he’s also not very versatile. He basically had to earn a top 6 spot on the wing. He’s not a penalty killer and not a matchup guy. So he basically had to beat out Leonard, McGroaty, Snuggerud, and Gauthier. I also don’t see him beating out guys like Brinkley or Howard. He had a really tough WJC camp so one of those guys would have to have a really tough first half for him to get in the conversation and all of those guys have started well. If we was more versatile, could kill penalties and was better in his own end, it’d be a different conversation
There will be some tough calls. If I were picking the team, he's making it hard for me to leave him off.
I don't think it has to be top 6 vs bottom 6 with this team. There's enough depth/talent where you can run 3 scoring lines. Gauthier should center one of the lines which opens up a LW spot. I see only McGroarty as a lock at LW. It could come down to two spots in the top 9 for Howard/Perreault/Eiserman. Howard is the '04, had the best summer camp, and has good chemistry with Nazar. He probably makes. I really like Perreault, but he never seemed to be in a position during the summer games that made it seem like he was a serious contender to make the team. I could be off base there and perhaps it was simply that they knew what they had with Perreault-Smith and wanted to see other combinations.
I could also see Eiserman as the 13th forward that you mix in to the lineup along with pp2 time. Similar to MacKinnon's usage in his draft year. It's not traditionally how it's done, but I don't think Eiserman hurts you in that role, and the potential payoff is high. They could opt for someone more versatile though as you suggest.
When the game are tight in the semis or the finals and you need a play, Eiserman can deliver the way some of the older guys simply can't. He had a fairly meh U18's, but at the end of the day, they don't win without his game tying goal.