Daily Faceoff Live: Jack Eichel’s hat trick against Sabres
On today’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live, Matt Larkin and Steven Ellis discussed Jack Eichel’s return to Buffalo and what it was like watching him register a hat trick against his former club.
Matt Larkin: Let’s head to Buffalo and talk about Mr. Jack Eichel. That was about as dramatic as you could draw it up, he gets a hat trick, the boo birds are raining down and he’s taunting the crowd. It was amazing to watch, I think. So, I’m curious for you, I want to ask you this Steven, look at the trade that happened roughly a year ago, Jack Eichel goes to the Golden Knights, Peyton Krebs to the Sabres, Alex Tuch, the first-round pick. Would either of these teams want a do-over if they could have this trade back?
Steven Ellis: See, I don’t think Buffalo had a choice. They kinda had to trade Eichel, he wasn’t going to play there, there was a lot of drama going on and I think that put them in a spot where maybe they thought they weren’t going to get the max return. Obviously, we have seen some good hockey out of Alex Tuch, still want to see some more from Peyton Krebs. But for Vegas, it’s really working out. This is a guy who I picked very high in fantasy this year because last year he spent so much time on the sidelines and he was hurt the year before that too, he missed so much that we knew that this year he was probably going to progress up. Now he’s back in the star territory again.
In a perfect world Buffalo wouldn’t have traded away Jack Eichel but it seemed like that was the direction it was going to go regardless. They had to do what they had to do, I’d say neither team could really regret that trade given the circumstances. But, I know Vegas is pretty happy right now, and watching how he taunted the crowd, that was pretty funny, a good villain story. You don’t get too much of that, you have Tavares going up against the Islanders and seeing that crowd reaction but watching Eichel versus the Sabres, a very passionate fan base, that was pretty funny.
Matt Larkin: I agree and I think last night proved that everyone is right where they need to be right now. Jack Eichel’s time was up in Buffalo regardless of the injury, I think his attitude started to leak into his dealings with the press there and I think he even indicated when we spoke in the summer that it can be sort of a smothering experience being in that market and maybe it just didn’t suit his personality. He’s right where he needs to be.
Buffalo is a young team with Don Granato shaping that young core – by bringing in someone like Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs I think it’s better to roll with the next generation. You got Rasmus Dahlin, and Owen Power, of course, and Tuch has that great chemistry with Tage Thompson as well. I think they’re happier as well and the Sabres have improved too, so it just seems everyone has landed where they need to be. I just love seeing the storyline like you said Steven, give me villains, give me personality in the NHL, I just want it.
You can watch the full episode here…