With the regular season technically starting but also still some preseason games left to be played, that leaves a few interesting storylines in training camp as rosters start to be decided.
Frank Seravalli and Matt Larkin were on Daily Faceoff Live to talk about some big storylines as preseason comes to an end.
Matt Larkin: “There’s one in particular. I tend to be a bit of a preseason snob. I’m not a big fan of it. I wish it didn’t exist, and I don’t put stock into every storyline, but I am looking closely at Jack Eichel in Vegas. Eight points in three games, that’s tied with Marco Rossi for the scoring lead in the preseason. To me it’s important, because it tells us Jack Eichel is healthy.
And I did talk to him at the Player Media Tour last month, and he did say that with every game that passed after his disc replacement surgery, he felt a little bit more like himself. But now we’re seeing him dominate in the preseason, and I’m wondering if there’s a sleeper season coming from Jack Eichel. This is a guy that was on a 94-point pace in his last healthy season. He’s only 25 years old, so there’s still superstar potential there in Jack Eichel.”
Frank Seravalli: “I think that’s the thing that stand out with me about Jack Eichel. We actually talked about this on the DFO Rundown today that’ll drop later; it’s our Pacific Division preview there, and we’ll have Jonathan Huberdeau on. I asked the question to Jason Gregor: Is Jack Eichel overrated? I mean, we think of Jack Eichel as a sniper, but his career high in goals is 36 to this point. He’s struggled at varying points to stay healthy, and frankly the Vegas Golden Knights are going to need a 94-point season out of Jack Eichel. He’s accounting for that much of their salary cap at $10 million.
His acquisition in some ways has forced the departure of others, including someone like a Max Pacioretty this offseason, a guy who averaged 37 goals a year in his four years in Vegas, one more than Eichel’s career high. He’s gone for nothing, and that’s actually another storyline that I’d like to watch as the season goes on: How do the Golden Knights do in general? What kind of chaos might erupt there? Because it seems like it’s always lurking around the corner. Not only that, but there’s real pressure from an organizational standpoint, even with a first-year head coach in Bruce Cassidy, to get back into the playoffs. If they’re not making the playoffs this year, heads will be rolling. Agree or disagree?
Matt Larkin: “I do agree, and we know that that’s the precedent this franchise has set. And even Mark Stone has said that to us when I asked them how he navigates his troops through this constant change, and he said that this is the way they like it, it’s a high standard. And I do think there’s pressure on Jack Eichel for sure, but as Stone put it to me last month, there’s not the same pressure that there was in Buffalo when he was the only guy. He came in last year, everyone was hurt, there was a lot of pressure on Jack Eichel last year. Now there’s a relatively healthy lineup, he has a bit more support, I’m excited to see what he can do.”
You can watch the full episode here…
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