Buffalo Sabres Top 25 Under 25, #1: Jack Eichel

The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Die By The Blade community. It was a combination of six staff writers and over 500 readers that ranked players under the age of 25 by September 1st, 2019. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production to rank each player.

After setting new highs for goals, assist and points last season, which were his first as captain for The Sabres, there is no surprise to see Jack Eichel being voted as the best player under 25 for the club. Last season was the first time Eichel were over a point per game in NHL and there’s no doubt the captain is also the face of the franchise, altough Rasmus Dahlin is making a good case to atleast stand beside Eichel.

Eichel continued to be the main threat offensively for Buffalo and after getting Jeff Skinner on his wing he did not have to pass the puck to himself and then score, now he could just pass it to Skinner who had no troubles scoring goals and there was no doubt the two found playing with each other was something funny. However, despite Eichel setting a new personal record for goals his shooting percentage dropped from 10.2 to 9.2 which is his lowest number yet as a Sabre. On the other hand, he took 57 more shots than the season before were he had 249 shots in 67 games – an increase with 5,7 shots per game. More goals, more volume from Eichel. He also posted career numbers for Corsi (51.4%) than before and logged more time on the ice (20:26).

If Eichel is staying healthy there’s no reason not to expect him setting new personal records in the upcoming season offensively, maybe he can have more games like the one against Boston where he scored two goals and had as many assists in a 4-2 win on December 16.

Questions about his commitment and defensive part of the games have been a common topic for discussion in some parts of the Sabres community. Wheter they are legitimate concerns or not, there is parts of his game that could be developed. Perhaps he does that with a new head coach and system in what will be his fifth season in the NHL after playing under both Dan Bylsma and Phil Housley in earlier seasons.

#25 Miska Kukkonen

#24 Linus Weissbach

#23 Andrew Oglevie

#22 Jacob Bryson

#21 Casey Fitzgerald

#20 Marcus Davidsson

#19 Matej Pekar

#18 Ryan Johnson

#17 Mattias Samuelsson

#16 Oskari Laaksonen

#15 Arttu Ruotsalainen

#14 Will Borgen