Making The Grade – Jordan Eberle

Yesterday Jeremy Thompson opened up the “Making the Grade” series with a look at Oilers fourth line center Will Acton. Today, I continue the series with a look at top-six forward Jordan Eberle, who has had an up and down first quarter of the season. So, how does Jordan’s report card look? Let’s go subject by subject.

Offensive:

Jordan Eberle has been the quiet killer on offense this season. A lot of people are complaining that Eberle isn’t doing nearly enough, but a quick look at the stats suggests otherwise. Eberle has eight goals and 20 total points through 25 games. It’s not a point-per-game pace, but it’s pretty good. He’s not the main driving force, Hall is, so these stats are right where they should be.

He’s been hot lately too, scoring two goals last Thursday over Florida and nabbing the game-winner in the blow-out win over Columbus last Tuesday night. He’s started picking it up recently and it’s showing on the score-sheet.

As for underlying numbers, Eberle has been good in terms of creating chances and chipping in on scoring plays for the team. Defensively is a bit of a different story, but right now we are talking offense, where Eberle has actually played quite well.

Overall grade offensively? 87, B+.

Defensive:

Eberle isn’t a two-way forward. He was never billed as one and doesn’t have the skill set to be one. He’s a player with a good set of hands and an ability to create offense. That’s who he is and that is who he always will be. He’s Edmonton’s top right winger and is asked to score, so you can imagine his defensive numbers won’t be great. He’s a -3 on the season, but that’s arguably the most overrated stat in the book, so throw it aside.

With everything I have said above, you would think I’m about to say how bad Eberle is defensively, but that’s not exactly the truth. He certainly isn’t an ideal defensive forward, but he’s been one of the better ones for Edmonton this season. He’s creating a good amount of chances, been playing tough minutes, handling them well, and isn’t leaking a ton of chances against.

I haven’t watched a ton of goals this year and said “Wow, Eberle got killed there”, and I’ve seen him have the ability to keep the puck in the opponent’s end of the rink.

He’s an average defensive player who has good underlying defensive numbers. The eye test suggests this too. Eberle isn’t going to win any Selke trophies in his day, but he’s doing just fine here.

Overall grade defensively? 81, B-.

Team Play:

Jordan Eberle is one of the players on the Oilers, joined by Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who has the ability to make the guys he plays with better. Eberle is a flashy offensive player with an average defensive game, and that makes him a dangerous player. To me, he’s been Edmonton’s most consistent threat from the RW spot, and has been one of the few consistent offensive threats for the team.

He’s played good five-on-five and has done well defensively this season too. He’s been good on the power-play, and has even added the PK to his arsenal this season. Eberle struggled on the PK earlier this season, evident by both the advanced stats line and by the eye test of just watching him in that situation, but he has stuck with it and improved.

Eberle is a leader on this team and one of the few players that brings it every night. He’s not perfect, but he does a lot right and plays a decent overall team game. He fills his role and then some, which is more than you can ask. To me, this is the toughest area to grade, but I feel he has done fine in this regard so far.

Overall team play grade? 85 overall, B flat.

Overall Grade: 84 – B

Jordan Eberle is a good player and is a top-six forward on any team in the NHL. He’s got a lot of talent, has a great pair of hands and is great on the power-play. He’s a good player and still isn’t close to his prime. He’s a player that can be built around, and is no doubt worthy enough to be part of the core along with Hall and RNH and Yakupov moving forward.

Overall, I feel this grade actually is a pretty good one overall. Eberle is a good player and has had a decent start to the season, but he can do better and has another gear to him. We’ll have to wait and see how Eberle plays the rest of the way, 84 isn’t bad, but this should be a player in the 87-90 range in order for the team to have success.