Can Eagles rebound?

[Greg_Di 1,028]

 

It has been a tough year for Tom Eagles, as he is producing at his lowest pace since his rookie season. Nobody knows why his play has diminished considering he is at the peak of his career. No matter what the coaches and trainers try, they just can't get him going.

With things looking grim for Tom this season, he has been losing more and more ice-time as his Wranglers continue to play well and hold a playoff spot. We try to break down some key aspects as to what may have gone wrong this season.

Wranglers offense:

Compared to last season, the Wranglers offense has not been as good as it has been over the past few years. While the team got better, majority of the players seem to be having down seasons. With lower scoring overall on the team, this could be affecting Tom as he relies on assists for the majority of his points. If the team isn't scoring then Tom ain't getting any points. Even though the offense has stagnated this season, the Wranglers are still doing well due to great sustained defensive play. There is some correlation here that this is a possibility in affecting his play.

Ice-Time:

When the season started, Tom, was on the top pairing. As the season went on he asked to be put on the 2nd line due to struggling early in the season. Since that chance to the second line, he has stayed there. While it was his own choice, less ice-time can also equal to less productivity. The problem with this is that if Tom is playing bad, others should get the opportunity to play on the top pair. Tom has not done anything to prove that he is ready to be back on the first line even though he is one of the top defenders on the Wranglers team. Our theory is that this has nothing to do with ice-time.

 

Mental:

The final thing that we think could be affecting Tom is his mental state. He has spoken out to the media multiple times that this season he is more in his head and the pressure of trying to be better is affecting his play. We do agree that this season's play has a lot to do with him trying to put too much pressure on himself to bring the Wranglers a cup. We can also notice that his lifestyle has changed this season. Rumors from a TSN article state that Tom has been seen leaving clubs late at night over the past few weeks. This has never been a problem in the past and could also be something that is affecting him.


Overall we believe that it is a mix of lower offensive play from the team and Tom getting into his head too much which is affecting his abilities this season. We are hoping the team can find a solution to this so that Tom is able to get back to where we all know he can compete at. If things don't improve, who knows where Tom may end up. At his current salary he will need to produce a lot more then what he is producing now.

One good thing about this is that Tom has been heard speaking highly of his team and team-mates. He is happy with the way the team is performing and knows that he just needs to focus on himself to get better.

Edited August 13, 2021 by Greg_Di