Hall trade a wake-up call for Eichel
TORONTO — As someone who is still waiting to appear in his first playoff game, the news that Taylor Hall had been traded for the second time in his career on Monday hit Jack Eichel harder than most other players.
Call it a cautionary tale. Or maybe it was a wake-up call.
After all, teams don't often trade No. 1 picks — much less Hart Trophy winners — when they're making the playoffs or winning Stanley Cups. No, they trade them when the team is doing so poorly that something drastic needs to change, even if that change includes making them worse.
So the fact that Hall has now been traded twice in three years is an indication that despite all his individual success, he still wasn't able to be the solution.
For Eichel, who watched Ryan O'Reilly leave Buffalo last year and immediately win a championship with St. Louis, it was a reminder of what's really important.
“I think everybody wants to win, right?” said the Buffalo Sabres captain, who was the No. 2 overall pick in 2015. “Hallsy's been in the league for a while, he's won the MVP, he's one of the best players in the world, he obviously wants a chance to play in the playoffs and win a Stanley Cup just like everyone does. Every season, you come into the year and you've got the same goals. I mean it's tough when it's not happening for you and you feel like you need a change of scenery. I'm sure he felt like he needed one. Everybody's competitive. Everyone wants to win.”
Eichel might not need a change of scenery. At least, not yet he doesn't. But the 23-yearold definitely needs to make the playoffs. If not, he knows where this path is leading.
Maybe that is why Eichel, who is amongst the top-5 in scoring with 23 goals and 48 points, has raised his game to MVP-type levels this season. In the process, he's raised the Sabres to playoff contender status.
“He seemed to take a real step,” said Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares. “He's always been ultra-talented. With his skating ability and his puck handling, he's such a dual threat type of player. But he's really using his body and imposing himself on the game. He's one of the best players in the league.”
Heading into Tuesday night's game against the Leafs, Eichel was riding a 16-game point streak, with 15 goals and 29 points. The Sabres, meanwhile, are 7-5-4 during that span. Coincidentally, Hall won the Hart Trophy and led the New Devils into a playoff spot two years ago thanks to a 26-game point streak.
There's plenty of games remaining, but with the Sabres ranked second in the crowded Atlantic Division, you can put Eichel with Edmonton's Connor McDavid, Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon and Boston's David Pastrnak as mid-season Hart candidates.
“It's obviously a huge compliment,” Eichel said of being included in that elite group. “It's a testament to the guys in the room. It's a team effort. You don't have this type of success if the guys in there aren't doing a good job as well. It's a long year, we've got a long season left and a lot of hockey to be played. Just trying to stay as consistent as possible.”
Consistency has been an area where Buffalo has struggled.
The Sabres jumped out of the gates this year with a 9-2-1 record, only to lose nine of their next 10 games. Since then, they've gone 6-2-3. So no one knows what the next three months are going to look like, especially after what happened around this time a year ago.
“We had a good start last year. I don't know what our record was around Christmastime, but if I remember we were in a playoff spot,” said Eichel. “We had a 10-game win streak in November. There were a lot of good things going on.”
And then, just like that, it all went downhill. The team that looked like it had a playoff spot locked up in December finished with the fourth-worst record in the Eastern Conference.
As bad as it seems, it was considered a step forward. Buffalo, which has gone eight years without a playoff appearance, had ranked in the bottom-3 in each of the previous five seasons.
There were fears inside the Sabres organization that the wear-and-tear of losing, combined with a third coaching change in five years, would have an effect on Eichel. It was bad enough that he hadn't make the playoffs. Making it worse was that just down the road his friend — and American rival — Auston Matthews, had never missed the playoffs. Even Connor McDavid, who went one spot ahead of Eichel in the 2015 draft, had reached the second round.
Would Eichel, whose 82 points last season were scored in vain, continue to stick it out? Or would he fall victim to the same emotional fatigue that ultimately led O'Reilly out of Buffalo?
It didn't take long for the coaching staff to get an answer.
“He's having a lot of fun, which I think is an important element to his success,” said head coach Ralph Krueger. “He's maturing. He went through four years in the National Hockey League and I think the pain from last year was a big test to where his career was going to go. He has processed it like a winner. As that adversity grew, he made a lot of decisions over the summer that showed the winner within him.”
In the process, Eichel also realized what type of player he's needed to be if Buffalo is going to take an actual step towards the playoffs. He's always been a point producer, but this year he's moved from a pass-first centre to someone who is using his shot far more often. As a result, he's on pace for 55 goals, having never scored more than 28.
He's also become a more complete player. In his first four years in the league, Eichel had a combined minus-65 rating. This year, he's plus-14. It doesn't tell the whole story, but it does indicate that Eichel is playing just as hard with the puck as he is without it.
“I think we've started to figure out what we're going to be as a team and what's going to make us successful,” said Eichel. “It's about working hard and taking care of your own end … little things that add up over the course of a game that the best teams in the league do.”
Can Buffalo be one of the best teams in the league? With Eichel playing the way he has been so far this season, don't doubt it.