Quoting: drewjenks
You can't use "poor defense" and "poor goaltending" in your argument....because all were talking about is point production.
Yeah....Buffalo is bad....so I would expect his +/- to be bad on that team. But he should have been racking up the points while playing with Eichel (who had more point/game than anyone on SJS).
But can you be expected to put up big points when your defensemen constantly turn the puck over in your own zone? Can you be expected to put up big points when the other team's best players, best shut-down players, play against you every night?
The point is the Sabres were Eichel and Kane and Ristolainen. The Sharks are a better team not because they have a great player like Eichel, but because they have a collection of good players in Thornton, Pavelski, Hertl, Couture, Burns, Vlasic, etc.
And goaltending is a big deal here, because Evander Kane has NEVER had a #1 goalie behind him. Did he have a good goalie in Winnipeg? Ondrej Pavolec? Nah... How about Buffalo? Robin Lehner? No thanks.
You say it's not a part of the conversation, but it totally is. Look at the Alex Ovechkin era. The guy didn't play defense until this spring, and they couldn't beat good teams in the playoffs because of it. He blocks three huge shots in the SCF and they win the Cup. It's a TEAM game, and if one are of the team (goaltending) is bad, the WHOLE team suffers.
Look, I'm not going to argue with you saying Kane couldn't have had better numbers before, because he certainly could have. And he is likely never going to be better than 30 goals and 60 points. But all that is fine when you consider he has good chemistry with the Sharks, he actually WANTS to be there, unlike Winnipeg and Buffalo, and the Sharks have a good team around him.
Honestly, you could put Kane with any two forwards on the Sharks roster and that could be a dangerous line. Put him with Marcus Sorensen and Barclay Goodrow. That line with would be quick, physical, and could hem a team in their own end for a shift. Would that line score 100 goals on the season? No, but it would be effective.
Could you say that in Buffalo? No. If I'm playing against Buffalo, I have to limit Eichel's line to less than two goals and I win most nights because the rest of the team stinks. You can shut down the Sharks "top" line, and the rest of the team could still beat you.
THAT is my point. And THAT is why Evander Kane will have a career year with the Sharks in 2018-19.