Eichel's Goal Scoring this Season

[Thorny]

This is Jack Eichel's first goal this season:

 

 

At the time, many commented on how we didn't see that from Jack much. Really, since his first NHL game, we have been used to seeing Eichel score his goals more like this:

 

 

---

 

Now flash forward back to this season. Almost all of Eichel's goals look like the first video I posted. Really, they are nearly all very similar. What one might term "garbage" goals. Even though they are anything but.

 

Why is this the case though? Where are the snipes we are used to seeing? Why aren't we seeing them anymore? Jack does seem to be missing the net a lot lately...

 

His most recent goal was from further out, but it was that drifter of a shot on a shaky Edmonton netmeinder that the goaltender very likely would have wanted back. Not to take anything away from Jack on that particular play. And he had a very similar goal against Vancouver from nearly the same place, with slightly better velocity on the shot after an admittedly nice move to get around the D-man.

 

But by and large at least so far, 5/7 of his goals have been while standing on the doorstep. There is no "right" way to score a goal, but I'm curious as to why his goal scoring trends have changed so significantly.

 

Thoughts?

 

*It should be noted that the sample size is still relatively small, at least in relation to the amount of goals we are talking about (7). But we are 25 games into the season, and don't have any examples this season of a goal similar to the style of his first ever, yet. And I really don't recall many in-close goals from Jack over his first two seasons.

Edited November 29, 2017 by Thorny

[North Buffalo]

This is Jack Eichel's first goal this season:

 

 

At the time, many commented on how we didn't see that from Jack much. Really, since his first NHL game, we have been used to seeing Eichel score his goals more like this:

 

 

---

 

Now flash forward back to this season. Almost all of Eichel's goals look like the first video I posted. Really, they are nearly all very similar. What one might term "garbage" goals. Even though they are anything but.

 

Why is this the case though? Where are the snipes we are used to seeing? Why aren't we seeing them anymore? Jack does seem to be missing the net a lot lately...

 

His most recent goal was from further out, but it was that drifter of a shot on a shaky Edmonton netmeinder that the goaltender very likely would have wanted back. Not to take anything away from Jack on that particular play. And he had a very similar goal against Vancouver from nearly the same place, with slightly better velocity on the shot after an admittedly nice move to get around the D-man.

 

But by and large at least so far, 5/7 of his goals have been while standing on the doorstep. There is no "right" way to score a goal, but I'm curious as to why his goal scoring trends have changed so significantly.

 

Thoughts?

He is gripping the stick too much... got away from shooting early in the season trying to make passes, now he is shooting but just seems off with his accuracy just a bit and is trying too hard... as you say with a backetball shooter... he just needs to keep shooting and it will come.

[Kruppstahl]

Eichel's game is a mess right now; he seems lost.

 

It's pretty clear Housley is not the right guy for this job and hiring a first time HC was a mistake.

I put more blame on the players themselves than Housely, yet Housley should still be replaced.

 

It's important to try and salvage as much of Eichel's early promise as we can before he starts developing really bad habits, some of which are starting to see consistently.

 

It's a mess.

[WildCard]

He needs to shoot more and skate harder. That simple

 

Is a good thread though Thorny. Noticed the same thing a few games in but haven't been watching as much lately

[Winston]

He does seem to be shooting wide a lot. I haven’t paid close enough attention to his stick.. is it possible he switched to a shorter one and it’s throwing him off?

[PASabreFan]

Good post. He's a different player for sure. Did signing the contract change him? Can he just not cope with the mess that this franchise has been and continues to be? To give him the benefit of the doubt, if he's the guy many think he is, someone whose passion to win burns inside him like an inferno, can you imagine the discouragement when he sees a longtime high school coach walk through the doors and take over the team?

[Jacque Richard]

I have a feeling he is going thru the motions. Playing for team like this would drag you level down.

[MattPie]

Maybe someone told him he has a great shot, but needs to be able to score in tight too and he's working on it. True though, he doesn't seem to have a swagger from earlier in his career, I choose to believe he feels the weigh of a Buffalo on his shoulders and is learning to bear it.

[Thorny]

He does seem to be shooting wide a lot. I haven’t paid close enough attention to his stick.. is it possible he switched to a shorter one and it’s throwing him off?

In the "most desireable potential reasons why he's often shooting wide" category, a stick issue is at the top of my list.

 

Sure, players snap and blame their sticks all the time. But Eichel seems to be, often calmly, snapping his sticks after plenty of chances. Maybe there is a slight difference in his equipment and it's throwing him off?

 

It may only mean the difference of an inch or two, but players are trying to pick corners, so it could throw things off.

 

Maybe opposing defenders just aren't giving Jack the space to shoot anymore. They are wise to his shot. He'll have to learn to create more space for himself in that case.

[Marvelo]

Near the time of his trade from the Sabres to the Canucks, Alexander the Great (Mogilny) kept going on breakaways and missing them. Must have gone on at least 20-30 when I started realizing maybe he's doing it on purpose to force a trade...and he did. 

 

Seems like Jack is scoring the greasier style goals this year instead of the fancy ones. And he's not the focus of getting passes on his line anymore so he's not scoring as many.

Edited November 30, 2017 by Marvelo

[LGR4GM]

No one feeds Jack the puck because they are too busy feeding Kane.  That and it is clear to me certain players on this team have been asked to work on certain things. Reinhart didn't just magically become more physical on the puck. Eichel didn't just suddenly start becoming more responsible in his own zone.  Almost like there is a development plan in place. 

[ubkev]

No one feeds Jack the puck because they are too busy feeding Kane. That and it is clear to me certain players on this team have been asked to work on certain things. Reinhart didn't just magically become more physical on the puck. Eichel didn't just suddenly start becoming more responsible in his own zone. Almost like there is a development plan in place.

Work on certain things, yes. But let everything else go to hell? I don't want to give them a pass on underperforming in a ton of aspects of their jobs just because they are improving marginally on others.

[Thorny]

No one feeds Jack the puck because they are too busy feeding Kane.  That and it is clear to me certain players on this team have been asked to work on certain things. Reinhart didn't just magically become more physical on the puck. Eichel didn't just suddenly start becoming more responsible in his own zone.  Almost like there is a development plan in place.

 

Doesn't really address the original question, though. Eichel playing a better defensive game shouldn't really, as far as I can tell, have an impact on the type of goals he's scoring.

 

I didn't intend to put a microscope on the amount of goals Jack is scoring with the OP. It's more about the way his goal scoring habits are apparently changing, at least over a quarter through the season.

 

Work on certain things, yes. But let everything else go to hell? I don't want to give them a pass on underperforming in a ton of aspects of their jobs just because they are improving marginally on others.

I agree with this though. Eichel is on pace for 62 points, and he had 57 last year in only 61 games. He's dangerously close to finding himself on a pace for LESS points than in a season where he missed over 20 games. That's odd.

[carpandean]

I agree with this though. Eichel is on pace for 62 points, and he had 57 last year in only 61 games. He's dangerously close to finding himself on a pace for LESS points than in a season where he missed over 20 games. That's odd.

 

Hmmmm ...

 

2017-18 - ES: 0.280 / 0.360 / 0.640, PP: 0.000 / 0.040 / 0.040

2016-17 - ES: 0.230 / 0.311 / 0.541, PP: 0.164 / 0.230 / 0.393

2015-16 - ES: 0.198 / 0.235 / 0.423, PP: 0.099 / 0.160 / 0.259

(all sets are GPG / APG / PPG)

 

Style/type aside, at even strength, he's actually producing more.  On the power play, he's waaaaaay down.

 

So, chicken or the egg?  Is Jack producing less because the power play changed or does the power play suck because Jack changed?

[LGR4GM]

Hmmmm ...

 

2017-18 - ES: 0.280 / 0.360 / 0.640, PP: 0.000 / 0.040 / 0.040

2016-17 - ES: 0.230 / 0.311 / 0.541, PP: 0.164 / 0.230 / 0.393

2015-16 - ES: 0.198 / 0.235 / 0.423, PP: 0.099 / 0.160 / 0.259

(all sets are GPG / APG / PPG)

 

Style/type aside, at even strength, he's actually producing more.  On the power play, he's waaaaaay down.

 

So, chicken or the egg?  Is Jack producing less because the power play changed or does the power play suck because Jack changed?

This is probably one of the best posts I have read on here in awhile. 

[WildCard]

Hmmmm ...

 

2017-18 - ES: 0.280 / 0.360 / 0.640, PP: 0.000 / 0.040 / 0.040

2016-17 - ES: 0.230 / 0.311 / 0.541, PP: 0.164 / 0.230 / 0.393

2015-16 - ES: 0.198 / 0.235 / 0.423, PP: 0.099 / 0.160 / 0.259

(all sets are GPG / APG / PPG)

 

Style/type aside, at even strength, he's actually producing more. On the power play, he's waaaaaay down.

 

So, chicken or the egg? Is Jack producing less because the power play changed or does the power play suck because Jack changed?

Great post.

 

Well, this explains a lot. Gotta believe the PP is letting him down, not the other way around

[Thorny]

Hmmmm ...

 

2017-18 - ES: 0.280 / 0.360 / 0.640, PP: 0.000 / 0.040 / 0.040

2016-17 - ES: 0.230 / 0.311 / 0.541, PP: 0.164 / 0.230 / 0.393

2015-16 - ES: 0.198 / 0.235 / 0.423, PP: 0.099 / 0.160 / 0.259

(all sets are GPG / APG / PPG)

 

Style/type aside, at even strength, he's actually producing more. On the power play, he's waaaaaay down.

 

So, chicken or the egg? Is Jack producing less because the power play changed or does the power play suck because Jack changed?

Great post.

Well, this explains a lot. Gotta believe the PP is letting him down, not the other way around

I'm inclined to believe it's both. Linemates have just as much of a chance to be detrimental, or a positive impact, at even strength - if Jack's ES numbers were down, we'd probably be looking to Jack.

 

His PP numbers are down, so I'll look to Jack. Even just from memory he's firing wide, on the PP, quite often. There's no doubt his PP teammates are affecting his numbers as well. Same as they would at Even Strength.

 

Just because his lack of scoring is on the powerplay doesn't mean he should be absolved of his sizeable part in that PP. I can't think of a player who has more impact on our powerplay than him.

 

To be be honest, I'm fairly certain his points are going to start picking up, once he and his teammates start finding more success as a group. I'm more interested to see if his latest style trends stay as they are, or revert back to something more similar to prior to this season. That I could see going either way.

Edited December 1, 2017 by Thorny

[dudacek]

Two things about the PP that have been underdiscussed:

1) Kyle Okposo was hugely effective from the high slot last year. He was terrible the first month of the season and got shifted out of his role.

2) Risto got a ton of points last year; this year he started slow and got hurt.

 

We were so good last year because every guy excelled in his role. You couldn’t concentrate on any one guy.

Housley couldn’t resist tweaking. He wrongly encouraged them to shoot at every opportunity, when last year was based on crisp puck movement and well-selected shots. And he has basically tried to shoehorn Kane, Beaulieau and other pet projects into a group that didn’t need it.

 

He blamed the system and the lineup when he should have realized it was more about O’Reilly and Okposo starting so slowly, with a touch of Risto issues thrown in.

 

If he puts last year’s group back together, let’s them play they way they want to play and leaves them alone to regain their confidence, Jack Eichel’s goal scoring will be fine.

Edited December 1, 2017 by dudacek

[darksabre]

Two things about the PP that have been underdiscussed:

1) Kyle Okposo was hugely effective from the high slot last year. He was terrible the first month of the season and got shifted out of his role.

2) Risto got a ton of points last year; this year he started slow and got hurt.

 

We were so good last year because every guy excelled in his role. You couldn’t concentrate on any one guy.

Housley couldn’t resist tweaking. He wrongly encouraged them to shoot at every opportunity, when last year was based on crisp puck movement and well-selected shots. And he has basically tried to shoehorn Kane, Beaulieau and other pet projects into a group that didn’t need it.

 

He blamed the system and the lineup when he should have realized it was more about O’Reilly and Okposo starting so slowly, with a touch of Risto issues thrown in.

 

If he puts last year’s group back together, let’s them play they way they want to play and leaves them alone to regain their confidence, Jack Eichel’s goal scoring will be fine.

I agree.

 

Housley mentioned somewhere that he didn't look at anything the team did last season. I took that to mean that he wanted to try the power play out his way (along with everything else). 

 

But yes, Okposo was super effective feeding Jack on the PP last year, and that needs to start happening again. If it does, the PP will resurrect itself. 

[Thorny]

I agree.

Housley mentioned somewhere that he didn't look at anything the team did last season. I took that to mean that he wanted to try the power play out his way (along with everything else).

But yes, Okposo was super effective feeding Jack on the PP last year, and that needs to start happening again. If it does, the PP will resurrect itself.

 

It's weird it's taken Housley this long (and counting) to get the band back together.

 

---

 

I didn't even intend it to necessarily be a "What's wrong with Eichel?" thread, but if changing who he plays with on the PP is the solution to all of Jack's scoring issues this year, that's a best case scenario to me that I'll gladly take.

 

Good stuff.

Edited December 1, 2017 by Thorny