PITTSBURGH (93.7 the Fan) A former Pittsburgh Penguin you may not remember had some select words to say when comparing a pair of his former captains.
Jean-Sebastian Dea played nine games with the NHL Penguins over the course of three seasons, mostly playing with the AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.
Dea also spent four games over two years with the Buffalo Sabres, again usually spending most of his time with the AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.
Despite spending most of his playing career in the AHL, Dea has on occasion spent time in the NHL and got the opportunity to play with some of the best player in the league.
In Pittsburgh’s case he shared a dressing room with future Hall of Famer Sidney Crosby, and with Buffalo he played with Jack Eichel.
And this is where it gets interesting; When asked about the kind of leader Eichel is, Dea responded with this.
“I didn’t really get the chance to chat a lot with him. I don’t think he’s a bad person when you get to know him, but all I can say is that he’s not Sidney Crosby either.”
Dea went on to praise Crosby’s outstanding leadership. “No matter who you are, the individual, your name, your draft rank, he’s (Crosby) is going to take care of you.”
But when comparing to Eichel, Dea said “Like I said, he’s not a bad person, but perhaps there are also reasons why Buffalo was in the situation like that.”
The situation Dea could be alluding to is that of a negative hockey environment in the Sabres locker room, on that Eichel is supposed to be the leader of.
The lack of success with the Sabres in recent years has been well documented, and Eichel was supposed to be a big reason for the franchise to see lighter days.
Now he is on the verge of being traded out of Buffalo while the organization is still floundering.
Eichel was promoted to captain of the team in 2018 when he was 22-years-old; It’s not easy being a captain that young, but Crosby was given the “C” when he was 19 heading into his third season in 2007.
Clearly, at least according to someone who has seen both sides, Crosby is looked at as a much better leader off the ice.
“He’s not a bad person, but I don’t think he’s the leader we can find with the Penguins.”
These are strong words coming from Dea; Sure he isn’t a big name in the NHL, but hockey players don’t usually talk about their peers in this sort of tone.
This pulls back the curtain in Buffalo a little and shows that Eichel could be partially to blame for the teams environment.
Remember when Ryan O’Rielly said he lost his love for the game when playing in Buffalo? He was immediately sent to the St. Louis Blues to win the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe as the playoff MVP.
What Dea said about his former captains is eye opening, and quite brutal for Eichel.