Buffalo Sabres: Jack Eichel is Not the Saviour

The Buffalo Sabres completed a two-win homestand against the playoff chasing Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers. During which the Sabres pulled off two impressive victories, despite having little to play for.

Buffalo Sabres’ Jack Eichel had two goals and an assist against the Toronto Maple Leafs, including the game winner. He then contributed two assists against the Florida Panthers.

If you pursued through Twitter you’d be forgiven if you mistook the Eichel hyperbole as absolute truth.

So here is the truth: Eichel missed the first 21 games of the season. Since then he is sixth in NHL scoring with only notable Hart trophy hopefuls Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Brad Marchand, Nicklas Backstrom and Patrick Kane ahead of him.

More from Tip of the Tower

• Cam Phillips making his mark on Toronto Argonauts offence
• Toronto Argonauts: 4 storylines ahead of matchup against Redblacks
• Federico Bernardeschi ready for new challenge with Toronto FC
• Toronto Argonauts overcome Roughriders in entertaining Touchdown Atlantic
• Buffalo Bills: Von Miller drawing inspiration from Bruce Smith

The centreman also has 24 power play points, behind only Backstrom and Victor Hedman, since coming back Nov 24. The 20-year-old is also a dual threat with 23 goals and 32 assists for a grand total of 55 points in 55 games*.

Since February 1st, only Nikita Kucherov has gotten more points than Eichel. Yet crucially during that time the Sabres went 12-12-2 and fell out of the playoff race. This is where the hyperbole fails and the reality hits: Eichel is elite, but he is no saviour.

For the first 21 games of the season, Buffalo had the third-worst record in the NHL going 7-9-5 with a win percentage of 45.2 percent. With Eichel in the lineup, the Sabres over the next 54 games went 24-23-7, improving their record and win percentage to 50.9 percent. This improvement is not indicative of Eichel’s individual play during that period.

Buffalo’s league-leading power play can be attributed to Eichel’s individual play, an outstanding 26.7 percent with him. Still, the Sabres had a strong 20 percent throughout the first 21 games without the 20-year-old.

There is no doubt that the Sabres are a better team with the youngster, but when compared to Eichel’s individual play it is hard to argue that is representative of the Sabres overall.

Next: Buffalo Sabres Sophomore Report

There is much appreciation to be laid upon the young centreman, as well as lots of reason for the Sabres’ fans to be excited, but Eichel’s stellar play has not drastically affected the Sabres this year.

*All stats are as of Monday, March 27th, 2017.