Who is/was a more talented player? Drury or Eichel?

[Zamboni]

A comment made in another thread sparked this thread....

I was a huge huge huge Drury fan. WAAAAAY more than a Briere fan back when both were Sabres. I would rather have a team full of Drury types than a team full of Briere types. With that being said, i liked Briere a lot too.

But Drury in his prime, was not more talented than prime Eichel now.

What say you?

[inkman]

1 minute ago, Zamboni said:

A comment made in another thread sparked this thread....

I was a huge huge huge Drury fan. WAAAAAY more than a Briere fan back when both were Sabres. I would rather have a team full of Drury types than a team full of Briere types. With that being said, i liked Briere a lot too.

But Drury in his prime, was not more talented than prime Eichel now.

What say you?

This shouldn’t even be a conversation. 

[Marvin]

Much as I loved Drury, IMHO, this is obvious when it comes to talent -- Eichel hands down.

[Cal Naughton Jr]

I love Drury but it’s not even close

[LabattBlue]

I say Eichel, Briere & Mary Ann!  😂

[Eric in Akron]

Eichel is way more talented and it's not even close.  However, Drury was better at being the soul of a team (leadership, will, and determination).  Jack is the talent but someone else needs to be the captain.

 

[PASabreFan]

Define talent. What hockey talent is most valuable?

[Gabrielor]

Athletic talent? Eichel, by country mile.

Complete hockey ability? Eichel still wins probably

Accomplishments? Drury's currently ahead by a fair bit

[Radar]

Eichel all the way. And I loved Chris Drury. He probably trumps Eichel in every category except talent.

[Kruppstahl]

The guy with a greater talent base is Eichel.

The better hockey player is Drury, at least when he was in his prime.

His positives outweigh how fast he can skate or how long his reach is and stuff like that.

He was a total gamer and proved that over and over on a consistent level.

Eichel has struggled from the beginning with consistency; from period to period and game to game.

He really rose to a new level last year with all that, and looked set to blossom.

Then he crapped the bed this year consistently, presumably with a bad neck.

He still has not proven much.  Dude hasn't played a playoff game for God's sake, let alone dominated one and emerged as the MVP in the game.  Drury did that routinely.

 

 

 

 

[Thorny]

1 hour ago, Gabrielor said:

Athletic talent? Eichel, by country mile.

Complete hockey ability? Eichel still wins probably

Accomplishments? Drury's currently ahead by a fair bit

Yep. Let's see what happens with the rest of his still young career

[dudacek]

Drury was the what, the sixth-best player on the Avs?

Pouted his way out of Calgary?

Finished 4th, 2nd and 3rd in scoring in his three seasons in Buffalo, playing on arguably the deepest teams in franchise history?

Left an agreed-upon deal on the table in Buffalo for greener pastures?

Stole UFA money from the Rangers?

Has snubbed the Sabres and Buffalo on multiple occasions since he left?

This isn't close on any level. Plug Chris in for Eichel during the Eichel years and you get — at best — a repeat of ROR on the ice and a trade demand off it. Plug Eichel in for Drury in the Drury years and you get Jack hoisting the Stanley Cup.

Edited April 26, 2021 by dudacek

[thewookie1]

5 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Drury was the what, the sixth-best player on the Avs?

Pouted his way out of Calgary?

Finished 4th, 2nd and 3rd in scoring in his three seasons in Buffalo, playing on arguably the deepest teams in franchise history?

Left an agreed-upon deal on the table in Buffalo for greener pastures?

Stole UFA money from the Rangers?

Has snubbed the Sabres and Buffalo on multiple occasions since he left?

This isn't close on any level. Plug Chris in for Eichel during the Eichel years and you get — at best — a repeat of ROR on the ice and a trade demand off it. Plug Eichel in for Drury in the Drury years and you get Jack hoisting the Stanley Cup.

I have difficulty getting over that to be honest. Almost every 05-06 player not still playing made an appearance during the whole 50th Anniversary celebration aside from him. He outright refused to interview for the GM position and he was the one who stood us up July 1st; not the other way around.

I kind of hope that his nephew ends up here at some point just to see if he continues his snobbish approach.

[mphs mike]

2 hours ago, Gabrielor said:

Athletic talent? Eichel, by country mile.

Complete hockey ability? Eichel still wins probably

Accomplishments? Drury's currently ahead by a fair bit

Drury is a winner, going back to Little League baseball.

Starting with college, Eichel hasn't won

[Gabrielor]

56 minutes ago, mphs mike said:

Drury is a winner, going back to Little League baseball.

Starting with college, Eichel hasn't won

It's a tad disingenuous to go back to Little League with Drury, but cleverly skip to college for Eichel.

He won the U18 Gold as 1C. 

[mphs mike]

43 minutes ago, Gabrielor said:

It's a tad disingenuous to go back to Little League with Drury, but cleverly skip to college for Eichel.

He won the U18 Gold as 1C. 

Agreed - and I'm not blaming Eichel. As a freshman he helped get his team to the championship game, they simply lost to Providence. A U18 gold is an impressive achievement, and says alot about what he can accomplish with adequate teammates.

Drury is simply a winner, an intangible many athletes don't have. Eichel may well have it, he just hasn't had the opportunity to put it on display   

[Drag0nDan]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

Drury was the what, the sixth-best player on the Avs?

Pouted his way out of Calgary?

Finished 4th, 2nd and 3rd in scoring in his three seasons in Buffalo, playing on arguably the deepest teams in franchise history?

Left an agreed-upon deal on the table in Buffalo for greener pastures?

Stole UFA money from the Rangers?

Has snubbed the Sabres and Buffalo on multiple occasions since he left?

This isn't close on any level. Plug Chris in for Eichel during the Eichel years and you get — at best — a repeat of ROR on the ice and a trade demand off it. Plug Eichel in for Drury in the Drury years and you get Jack hoisting the Stanley Cup.

His numbers in buffalo are also propped up quite a bit from time on the #1 PP unit.  Guy was clutch in the playoffs and a better player than numbers on paper will say - but I feel like Eichel scores like 100+ points per season on the same 05-07 sabres 

[SDS]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

Drury was the what, the sixth-best player on the Avs?

Pouted his way out of Calgary?

Finished 4th, 2nd and 3rd in scoring in his three seasons in Buffalo, playing on arguably the deepest teams in franchise history?

Left an agreed-upon deal on the table in Buffalo for greener pastures?

Stole UFA money from the Rangers?

Has snubbed the Sabres and Buffalo on multiple occasions since he left?

This isn't close on any level. Plug Chris in for Eichel during the Eichel years and you get — at best — a repeat of ROR on the ice and a trade demand off it. Plug Eichel in for Drury in the Drury years and you get Jack hoisting the Stanley Cup.

My source who worked for the Sabres at that time said that Drury signed the contract and it sat on Golisano’s desk for three weeks. After that he got pissed off and withdrew it. And that was the end of his time with the Sabres.

as for the original question. LOL it’s not even close.

[Scottysabres]

54 minutes ago, SDS said:

 

as for the original question. LOL it’s not even close.

Your right LOL, because it isn't even close. While Drury was plastering a Stanley Cup poster outside of the dressing room setting the team goal expectation bar high, he also actually went out on the ice and fully backed that up with his on ice play, willing the team to the playoffs and playing pivotal, franchise history making moments in deep playoff runs.

Eichel, to date, not so much.

Talent? There's more to talent than a season statistical score sheet, imho.

[inkman]

3 hours ago, mphs mike said:

Drury is a winner, going back to Little League baseball.

Starting with college, Eichel hasn't won

[Weave]

Yeah, not even close.  Strange anyone would think Drury approaches Eichel's talent level.  Drury had an intangible about him that Eichel lacks, but I can't really define it so I can't say it isn't bull ***** either.

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, SDS said:

My source who worked for the Sabres at that time said that Drury signed the contract and it sat on Golisano’s desk for three weeks. After that he got pissed off and withdrew it. And that was the end of his time with the Sabres.

as for the original question. LOL it’s not even close.

That's the way the story was relayed to me as well.

People blame Quinn (deservedly so) for a lot of items, but this is one that falls literally on Golisano's desk.

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, mphs mike said:

Agreed - and I'm not blaming Eichel. As a freshman he helped get his team to the championship game, they simply lost to Providence. A U18 gold is an impressive achievement, and says alot about what he can accomplish with adequate teammates.

Drury is simply a winner, an intangible many athletes don't have. Eichel may well have it, he just hasn't had the opportunity to put it on display   

But yet, in Game 7 in Raleigh with an open net in the 1st and the score tied 0-0, Captain Clutch shot it wide.  (From a difficult angle, but still it was wide open.)

[Huckleberry]

Jesus guys, if these threads pop up now already, what will we talk about during the offseason ? 

[Zamboni]

1 minute ago, Huckleberry said:

Jesus guys, if these threads pop up now already, what will we talk about during the offseason ? 

For all intents and purposes ... it kinda already is 😂