For me, the most alarming aspect in Eiserman’s case is that I don’t consider his on-ice intelligence to be very high. I don’t see a player able to create offense for himself, nor for his teammates.
Let’s talk about his playmaking. The American goal-scorer remains a young player with a lot of talent, so, of course, in a certain sample of games, we will be able to find some good passes. On the other hand, the biggest constant in this facet is, for me, that he attempts a lot of ‘Hope Plays’. Risky plays where he just sends the puck into a dangerous area and hopes for the best. In his case, a lot of behind the back passes.
He also makes a lot of mistakes when making drop passes. This is explained by three things; his inability to correctly read the trajectory of his teammates as well as the position of his opponents, a timing fault as well as a problem with execution.
Limitations in the playmaking department of a scorer can be excused if, on the other hand, the player can create golden opportunities for himself. Alas, this is not the case for Eiserman. I kept these arguments in reserve when I talked about the quality of his shooting. But for my part, I did not see Eiserman gain the dangerous zones by himself in possession of the puck. The majority of shots that follow a puck possession on his part correspond of shots coming from very far from the outside. No matter how good his shot is, he won’t be able to beat NHL goalies from these places.
Additionally, Eiserman tries to force a lot of pucks through, when there simply is no opening.
For me, he is a goal scorer who is dependent on his teammates and who must be fed by them. On the one hand, it is normal for the player to play within his strengths and to simply park himself in an advantageous position to take advantage of his greatest quality, especially during powerplays. On the other hand, I will take the criticism a little further by saying that at equal strength, Eiserman does not present himself sufficiently in dangerous locations, remaining rather inside one of the face-off circles. I wonder what he will do when the game gets tighter in the playoffs. He is capable of jumping on loose pucks, he just doesn’t do it regularly.
He was one of the players with the highest turnover rate in my viewing this season. This can be explained by his inability to properly read the play in front of him as discussed previously.
However, the bigger problem lies in a lack of intelligence within Eiserman’s finesse game. This may sound odd, but to me, a proper display of puck handling is supposed to also demonstrates intelligence: the player eliminates a variable in order to open up a passing or a shooting lane, the player buys time to wait for teammate reinforcement, etc. More importantly, the player who wants to showcase his talent must be able to read his opponents; their body alignments, their angle of approach, their eyes, etc. In Eiserman’s case, every time he attempts a finesse play, his eyes are glued straight to the puck, not taking any information from his opponent in the process. In Eiserman’s case, there is no purpose and intention intentions behind stickhandling, other than trying to be flashy. As with his shots and passes, the American player does not seem to be able to properly detect openings (or lack thereof). It’s a bit the same thing when he tries to make his way to the net when we observe him leaning on his shoulder prematurely. Also, among junior players, I always like to watch the defender’s play when a dangle was executed. Sometimes a spectacular play is just the result of a defenseman who is not of caliber and the translatability of these plays is simply not possible for the NHL. In Eiserman’s case, every time he tries a dangle and it doesn’t work, I watch the defenders play and it’s astonishing to see how easy it looks for them. There is no manipulation beforehand so they just have to extend their stick to pokechek him.
One aspect that I find to have been overestimated in Eiserman, especially at the start of the season since the criticism against him had not yet started, is his play in the corners and along the boards. The player was presented to us as a scorer who could himself take possession of the disc and who could almost display a certain identity as a power forward. For my part, I have difficulty seeing such an outcome in his case since I do not see a player who wins the majority of his one-on-one battles in the USHL. It is therefore very difficult for me to extrapolate frequent success in the NHL. Also, although Eiserman is a relatively ‘young’ player for his draft, being only two weeks away from being in the 2025 draft, he is already listed at 196 lbs at 6’0. He won’t really be able to add more weight to his frame.