Newburyport, Massachusetts didn’t use to be the nice little place to grow old on the other side of the continent from Seattle.
The city basically refocused itself in the 70’s to become exactly what you’d expect from a little New England coastal town; a tourist trap and last stop for those going into the state of New Hampshire. By the time I was growing up, the fruits of this work had fully come in. A sleepy, tiny town with little real concern beyond it’s point; Plum Island, possibly sinking into the sea. If you wanted to start some weird fiction story or a Steven Spielberg movie there, it would be astonishingly easy.
It is also a place that he and I have shared time in for any number of years.
This presents a problem: How can I be objective about a prospect when he’s The Local Kid to me?
I know people from Ontario don’t have this problem, but that’s the thing: Toronto puts a good NHL prospect into the ether several times a year. BC and Alberta have pumped out good player after good player, and even Massachusetts itself has plenty of strong players of which even the Kraken can be happy to have on their roster (See: Beniers, Daccord). But that’s different. Those guys are from downstate. The Boston area. The sheer number of rinks around find people.
Newburyport? Not so much. Even with Essex County’s similar obsession with hockey like the rest of the state.
This is a North Shore kid. He’s probably got beach pizza opinions. He’s probably been to Hodgie’s and Angie’s and all the other little dine-ins that I went to after church. I likely went to the same elementary school he and his brother did…maybe…they tore the old one down but there’s a new one right on top of the land the old one was on. You get the point.
How do I try to do this right?
Well…I might as well be honest about it. Let’s meet the kid I just hope gets drafted as high as possible. Let’s talk about Cole Eiserman.
Who is he?
Cole Eiserman is an American-born Winger who measures at 6’0, and weighs in at 196 pounds. He played for the US National Development Team Program in the USHL and abroad for the United States. He’s currently committed to Boston University for the upcoming season.
What is he good at?
SCORING.
Cole Eiserman’s skating is good, and his offensive instincts are excellent…but above everything else he’s got that makes him a tantalizing prospect…his hands are seemingly otherworldly. If there’s anything that stands out immediately for Eiserman, it’s his hand-eye coordination and stick skill…and it all comes together in that shot.
Eiserman’s stickwork at the USHL and at the NCAA (when the National team plays NCAA opponents. It’s a weird system they run) is a step and a half ahead of everybody; able to juke out defenders and allow him to create space…where that shot comes into play.
For Cole Eiserman, there is no such thing as a low danger shot. Just varying degrees of dangerous.
Eiserman’s shot is both laser accurate and thanks to his hand-eye, capable of being placed anywhere and at any time. He can shoot from just about everywhere on the ice and keep the same level of power going through his body from anywhere on the ice. Guys in front of him? He’ll find the space in-between them to get a shot through. On the breakout? He’s more than willing to get the goalie to move for him so he can use the inch of space given up to score on him. Off a passing play? Time to crank a slapshot from the circles. His shot really is that good.
The sheer amount of options available to him has made him not just one of the best players in the National Development program’s history, but one of their most prolific scorers; being the third in program history to hit 50 goals, and leading the all-time NTDP goalscoring record; beating out Cole Caufield, a guy the Habs are quite fond of having, by one. Eiserman’s willingness to get involved to both take a hit and make a hit have also garnered eyeballs in his forechecking; moving around constantly to draw or evade contact in order to find lanes in which to put a puck home or to let one of his teammates do the deal.
Most scouts would point to him as the pure goalscorer that could anchor a power play or give a huge punch in goals to one’s own offense, if everything goes right.
What does he need to work on?
Here’s the thing.
Eiserman is very, very, very good. He is also very, very raw.
One of Eiserman’s big strengths offensively is that he tries to make himself available for a pass whenever he can. Unfortunately, that can also be one of his greatest negatives. In trying to stay open, he will end up floating in space, and giving the impression he’s not trying to get the puck or support his teammates. Further, he can often be caught trying to advance the play by attempting to breakout before his teammates even have the puck, giving the impression among some scouts that he’s not always 100% engaged in what he’s doing. Given that a lot of Eiserman’s goalscoring comes from being available like that, it’s clear the US Development Program sees him as a weapon worth going to work for, and his linemates seem to agree, but will it translate to the next level? Will his next few coaches agree? The NHL and even the NCAA demands a lot of you, and there’s a chance that he could find himself having to remake his game substantially in the very tough Hockey East.
More concrete issues he faces are that while his offensive instincts are good, they’re very centered on himself. He’s not entirely selfish, he’s perfectly willing to find a good pass for a teammate if he thinks they can score, but as his coach made clear in an interview with The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler…his default strategy is shooting if he can help it and that being encouraged, even if it means a better scoring chance is waiting for him on the other side of the ice, or that he turns the puck over after a bizarre decision. Another concern is acceleration and edgework; when he gets up to speed he can blast past defenders, but it can sometimes leave him out of position if the puck doesn’t make it to him, and gives the impression that he’s slacking a bit on the backcheck. He’s perfectly willing to be physical, but the movement in his legs betrays the effort he’s willing to put in that seems more obvious in the other end of the ice.
Ultimately he leaves himself as a very intriguing prospect with exceptional tools for the part of the game that wins you games…but with a lot of deeply frustrating traits that have some people shy about going for him, making him a prospect you will likely have to be very patient with.
If you’re wondering how I managed to get this particular part done, it’s by nearly biting through my hand.
My Verdict
I can’t even pretend to be objective about this.
If he’s available, and they get him, I don’t care about the needs they have, I will consider the first round a resounding success.
Even if he’s not a blue-liner or a center, he’s an incredible goalscorer who’s going to more than likely find a depth to his game he didn’t have before in Hockey East, and his offensive acumen is something so very badly needed by the Kraken that the rest of the Kraken-watching world, who does not care about where he’s from, can be more than happy with him. Sure, he’s got issues, but so do a lot of players at this level. There are dudes in the top 5 who didn’t even complete their seasons and are likely going to be ahead of him. If he gets to play some meaningful minutes at BU; then he’ll more than likely find dimensions to his game that could be beneficial.
But for the very select few who are native to Essex County’s most northern towns, A kid who probably started learning down at the Graf Rink on Low Street gets to be our representation of the wider NHL.
For me, that’s more than enough.
My head says Parekh or Buium, my heart screams Eiserman. I will be insufferable if they do decide to take a chance on him.
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