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Eich9er

July 6, 2018, 6:17 PM ET [24 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
July 2, 2018 at 8:59 am.

It was the morning after the Ryan O'Reilly blockbuster trade to the St. Louis Blues.

It was three days after the completion of one of the best Sabres prospects developments camps that I have had the pleasure of covering in the past 15 years Hockeybuzz.com.

I was trying to find the proper words to say goodbye to the past Buffalo Sabres failures while opening the door to the bright, luminous future of Jack Eichel's team.


The O'Reilly and Evander Kane trades symbolized closing of the books on the Tim Murray Era.


The only two things Murray did correctly was to tank two entire seasons down the tubes. His rewards for doing so were selecting Samson Reinhart with the second overall pick in 2014, and, grabbing Jack Eichel with the second overall pick at the 2015 NHL Draft. When the Edmonton Oilers won the 2015 NHL Draft Lottery, it's front office brass decided to grab McDavid with the first overall pick in that draft. Murray lost the NHL Draft Lottery for the second season in a row. Don't you ever call Eichel the "consolation prize" of the 2015 NHL Draft.

I'm not here to kick Murray in the ass. I'm here to say good riddance to the past and hello to the future. Murray was a great scout and a terrible GM.

The Sabres are in better hands now with Jason Botterill at the wheel. In the past six months, Botterill seemingly took a steel wool pad to the Murray Era. Goodbye O'Reilly. Goodbye Kane (although he left at the trade deadline). See ya Robin Lehner. Later, Matt Moulson (loaned to teh Ontario Reign of AHL).

By trading veteran leaders away, Botterill cleansed the filth and stench off Buffalo's 31st place finish and in so doing, handed the team to his new leader Jack Eichel.


I've been walking around for a few months with Eichel on my mind. The Sabres have been his team since he arrived in Buffalo in June 2015. However, the team never really felt like it was his to guide. Murray wasn't giving the car key to the Lamborghini to an 18-year old generational hockey player. He was going to have to earn it while learning from veterans Josh Gorges, Brian Gionta, Jamie McGinn, Robin Lehner, Evander Kane and Ryan O'Reilly.

All due respect to the aforementioned veteran leaders, but all Eichel learned to do was lose. Eichel is now 21 years old. Admittedly, the Sabres wasted the first three seasons of Eichel's NHL experience. Jack is a winner. It's long overdue for the Boston University legend to take his teammates by the collective sweater collar and drag them into the battle.

To be fair to Murray, I didn't feel like Eichel was ready to be the leader of a veteran heavy Sabres team in his rookie season. Not even the sophomore season. I thought he deserved the "C" last summer. I thought for sure at last summer's presser to announce Eichel's new 8-year, $80 million contract extension that Botterill would have handed the kid a check and a Sabres sweater with a "C" sewn over the heart. It didn't happen.


Last season's 31st place finish can be easily attributed to a lack of a clear cut, defined team leader. The leadership by committee approach hasn't worked in Buffalo since Eichel arrived here. He's an alpha, not a beta. He should have been given the leadership role on day one of training camp last season by Phil Housley.

Hindsight is 20/20. The Sabres struggled all season long and were in the gutter from pole to pole. The reward for their ineptitude was winning the 2018 NHL Draft Lottery and selecting Rasmus Dahlin first overall two weeks ago at the NHL Draft in Dallas.

Looking back, its better that Eichel wasn't named captain last summer. Perhaps if he had been awarded the captaincy he would have motivated his teammates to a middle of the pack, miss the playoffs finish.


We will never know. Will we?


Back to July 2, 2018 at 8:59 am.

I composed this tweet and hit send.





I was still feeling the positive vibes after watching Rasmus Dahlin, Casey Mittelstadt, Brendan Guhle, Rasmus Asplund, Lawrence Pilut, Victor Olofsson, Mattias Samuelsson and other hot prospects dazzle at development camp.

It’s official. 😍💙💛

A post shared by Buffalo Sabres (@buffalosabres) on



❄️ showers in June #onlyinbuffalo

A post shared by Buffalo Sabres (@buffalosabres) on








Couple that experience with Botterill scoring a hugely profitable haul in the O'Reilly trade with St. Louis getting former first round scoring forward Tage Thompson, veterans Patrik Berglund and Vlad Sobotka, a 2019 first rounder and a 2021 second rounder.

To say nothing of Botterill trading for 25-plus goal scorer Conor Sheary.

Say what you want about Botterill. The man speaks softly but carries a big stick. He's a soft spoken man who plays a heavy GM game. He's made some very difficult decisions in his two years as GM of the Sabres. Trading stars like Evander Kane and Ryan O'Reilly takes stones of steel to execute. Botterill did it masterfully by achieving a total of eight premium pieces for teh two veteran A-listers. Botterill now owns San Jose's 2019 first and fourth rounders, plus Danny O'Regan. He also forced Doug Armstrong to hand over Blues prized prospect Tage Thompson, his 2019 first rounder, 20121 second rounder, Patrik Berglund and Vladdy Sobotka.


That is A+ return for two cornerstone veteran players.

Botterill is a leader, not a follower. He doesn't shoot from the hip nor does he throw hands full of spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. He plans his work and he works his plan. He learned how to be an NHL GM by serving as the confidant to two successful Pittsburgh Penguins executives in Ray Shero and Jim Rutherford.

Botterill has three Stanley Cup rings for his time spent in Pittsburgh.

I have all the faith in the world in him that the Sabres will be a winning franchise this season. Laugh. Go ahead. Shero took his Devils from the gutter to the playoffs last season. The Devils improved 27 points last season (from 70 points to 97 points). Joe Sakic did the same thing in Colorado. The Avalanche transformed from a 48 point team to a 95 point team in one season's time.

Are the Buffalo Sabres capable of a 47-point improvement this season?

YES!

The Buffalo Sabres squad will be the phoenix that will rise from the dead.



Mark my words.



Monday morning July 2 was my time to turn the page to the future and stop living in the past.


I was feeling like the time had finally come to bid adieu to the past. Murray's plan didn't work and Botterill blew it up.



When Eichel arrived in Buffalo, he was summoned to the equipment manager's office on his first day in the organization and was promptly handed the unassuming sweater #41. Eichel wore his #41 proudly during development camp where he performed in front of 14,000 adoring fans on a 90 degree temperature day at the Blue & Gold scrimmage. Eichel was told by Murray to earn his NHL sweater. The kid delivered. He handed in his infamous #41 for a crooked number 15 sweater.


All starts tomorrow!

A post shared by Jack Eichel (@jackeichel11) on





Eichel didn't have a say in the matter. The rookie didn't get to tell the GM what number he wanted to wear. Not that Eichel would have done so anyway. However, it would have been cool to give the kid a shot of adrfenaline by allowing him to select his owner number. Fans didn't care that Eichel was given #15. They would have bought his sweater if it had a "716" numerology on the back of it.

The number doesn't make the player.


The player makes the number.



Excited to be back playing hockey!

A post shared by Jack Eichel (@jackeichel11) on






So, on Friday July 6 at 3:00 pm EDT, John Jack Eichel heard me knocking.


Eichel took to his personal Instagram account to post this eye delicious celly photo of himself rocking the #9 that he made so famous at Boston University and for Team USA.

When was the last time you saw Eichel in public? Its been months since he has spoken publicly in Buffalo.

It's been by design. Why Dahli-Mania and Mittelstadt Madness has been sweeping across Western New York, Eichel has been at the rink and in the gym. He's doing the work that will help propel to his next level of star level production.


The change it had to come. We knew it all along.

Good bye Evander Kane. Goodbye Ryan O'Reilly and Robin Lehner. Sayonara, wretched losing seasons.

The Buffalo Sabtres needed a jolt of adrenaline and an infusion of positivity.



Hello to Buffalo Sabres captain, #9 Jack Eichel.

New season, old number.

A post shared by Jack Eichel (@jackeichel11) on




Eichel no longer has to play second fiddle to the veterans. He is a respected veteran in his own room.

Houlsey and Botterill now must do the right thing and sew the "C" on Eichel's #9 sweater.


What you know about them Terriers

A post shared by Jack Eichel (@jackeichel11) on






Schedule the presser now, Botts.



Great time in Buffalo at #AAPG. 🍗

A post shared by Jack Eichel (@jackeichel11) on







Sabres fans have already said their goodbyes to seven players from last season's last place roster: Ryan O'Reilly, Evander Kane, Benoit Pouliot, Victor Antipin, Jordan Nolan, Jacob Josefson, Robin Lehner. There will be more departures in the weeks to come.

The mass exodus from past failures will allow new, exciting blood to flow through the organization's arteries in Brendan Guhle, Rasmus Dahlin, Casey Mittelstadt, Rasmus Asplund, Tage Thompson, Conor Sheary, Patrik Berglund, Vlad Sobotka, and Matt Hunwick. And others.

This team needs a strong, intense leafder. Eichel is the right man for the job.

“For a long time, the number nine has always been a part of my identity as both a person and as a player,” Eichel said in a statement issued by the Sabres. “The opportunity opened up to switch and I felt it was the right time to make the change as I begin the next phase of my career as a Sabre.”

Full disclosure:

I've worn #9 my whole life. I was born on October 9. John Lennon and I share a birthday. I grew up loving a few great Number 9's. I adored the late great Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings. I idollized NBA All Star Randy Smith of the Buffalo Braves. I revered Craig Nettles, third baseman of the New York Yankees.

I appreciate Eichel's passion for the number nine.

For fans that currently own an official-licensed Eichel jersey with the #15, the Sabres Store will offer a $49 credit toward the purchase of a new adult Eichel #9 sweater or $29 toward the purchase of a youth jersey. Starting Monday, July 9, jerseys can be exchanged exclusively at the Sabres Store..

Eichel has worn the #15 since joining the Sabres when he made his NHL debut in 2015-16. During his three-year NHL career, Eichel has scored 73 goals and 104 assists in 209 career games. He was an NHL All Star last season.

In 2017-18, Eichel became the ninth unique player in Sabres franchise history to lead the team or tie for the team lead in goals, assists and points. He was the first to do so since 2012-13 (Thomas Vanek) and at 21 years of age, he was the youngest player to do so since Pierre Turgeon in 1989-90.

Four players have led (or tied to lead) the Sabres in all three categories twice in their careers: Gilbert Perreault (1976-77 and 1977-78), Pierre Turgeon (1988-89 and 1989-90), Miroslav Satan (2001-02 and 2002-03) and Thomas Vanek (2010-11 and 2012-13).


With his 25th goal of the season on March 29 against the Red Wings, Eichel became the first Sabre aged 21 or younger to reach the 25-goal mark since Pierre Turgeon did so in the 1990-91 season.

Eichel became just the fourth player in franchise history to score 20 or more goals in each of his first three NHL seasons, joining Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and Thomas Vanek.

Eichel joined Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, Phil Housley and Christian Ruuttu as the only Sabres to record at least 50 points in each of their first three NHL seasons.

Eichel set a new career high with .96 points per game this season. It was the team’s highest points-per-game mark among players with at least 10 games played since Thomas Vanek logged 1.08 points per game in 38 games in 2012-13.

His .58 assist per game game ranked as the team’s best rate (min. 10 games) since Derek Roy had .71 assists per game in 35 games in 2010-11.

Eichel finished the season ranked ninth in the league with 1.09 points per game on the road (38 points in 35 games). It was the highest road scoring rate by a Sabre since Thomas Vanek recorded 23 points in 20 road games (1.15) in 2012-13 and the highest in a full season since Daniel Briere recorded 48 points in 39 road games (1.23) in 2006-07.

Of Eichel’s 64 points last season, 27 were goals or primary assists recorded during 5-on-5 play (excludes 6-on-5 situations). This topped his previous career-best total from his 81-game rookie season (24) by three in 14 fewer games.

Eichel’s five assists on March 31 at Nashville tied the Sabres’ franchise record for most assists in a game. Eichel joined Gilbert Perreault (3x), Pat LaFontaine (3x) and Dale Hawerchuk as the only players in Sabres history to accomplish this feat.

Despite missing 15 games with a high-ankle sprain, Eichel has topped his previous personal bests in goals (24), assists (33) and points (57) on the strength of improved production at even strength.
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