Mikey Eyssimont: A Hidden Gem on a Stacked Team

There are a few components to Mikey Eyssimont‘s game that are, as the 25-year-old winger coined it, “non-negotiable.”

“Playing hard and not caring who I’m out against, what the score is, what game in the season it is, and [to] try to have a playoff mindset every practice and every game,” Eyssimont told Full Press Coverageafter the Moose’s practice on March 8.

While some of that may come across as a bunch of hockey cliché buzzwords, it really does ring true with Eyssimont. The Littleton, Colorado native — who played in his 200th career AHL game on Friday — has developed a reputation as a fierce competitor at this level. He’s a constant source of frustration for opponents.

 “I think he’s one of the most hated people in the division,” Moose forward Nick Jones told Full Press Coverage after the Manitoba’s March 4 practice.

Eyssimont, who signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Jets last summer, is sort of an instigator out there. But not in the traditional sense.

“I’m not a big chirper out there,” Eyssimont clarified. “I don’t run my mouth too much.” 

But from whistle-to-whistle, the speedy forward plays hard. And it irks opponents like crazy.

“The amount of attention other teams spend on him is astonishing to me, really,” said Jones. “He can rattle a whole team in a couple of shifts and they focus on him all night. He’s very good at that.”

A prime example was back on February 26 during the third period of Manitoba’s game against the Chicago Wolves. As the Moose trailed 4-1, Eyssimont caught an outlet pass en route to the attacking zone and carried the puck into the high slot. His shot attempt deflected off a Chicago player’s stick and out of play. As the referee went to blow the whistle, a crouched over Eyssimont — the lone Moose player in the zone with three Chicago players close by — sprouted up and decked the defenceman parallel to him. As the Wolves swarmed him, Eyssimont didn’t engage in any pushing and shoving. He tried to skate it off like it was nothing.

The next day, early in the second game of the back-to-back series, Eyssimont looked to give his team a spark once again. As Manitoba trailed 2-1 halfway into the first period, Eyssimont — who measures out at 6 feet (generously) — unloaded a massive hit on Wolves forward Stelio Mattheos a mere seconds after his on-the-fly line change.

Ultimately, it’s Eyssimont’s tenacity that’s the driving force of his effectiveness.

“He’s [hard] on pucks. He’s back-pressuring, he’s lifting sticks. He’s disrupting all the time,” Moose head coach Mark Morrison explained after the Moose’s February 28 practice.

All season long, Eyssimont has quietly been one of Manitoba’s most productive offensive players. While his raw point totals — 26 points in 41 games (9 of which came in his last 10 games) — don’t jump off the page, he’s extremely efficient at even strength. He’s long been one of the AHL’s best at producing scoring chances and shots on goal. Plus, a deeper look into his production this season reveals he may actually be one of the most underrated players in the league.

Now, if some of the numbers listed in the chart above are confusing (and the explanation in the captions aren’t clear enough), don’t worry; we’re going to unpack a lot of it. The first thing that’s interesting to note is Eyssimont’s Game Score ranking. For those that are unfamiliar, Game Score was developed by The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn as a way to measure single-game performance. It takes about 10 or so stats and weighs each separately based on the stats’ correlation with goals.

While Game Score has a lot of limitations, it provides a decent idea of how well players perform, on a game-to-game basis, at the NHL level. While I intend to create a more AHL-based Game Score equivalent someday soon, I used Dom’s model with the AHL data as just a general summarizer of individual game output, for now.

Dom’s Game Score Formula = (0.75 * G) + (0.7 * A1) + (0.55 * A2) + (0.075 * SOG) + (0.05 * BLK) + (0.15 * PD) – (0.15 * PT) + (0.01 * FOW) – (0.01 * FOL) + (0.05 * CF) – (0.05 * CA) + (0.15 * GF) – (0.15* GA)

Eyssimont’s 1.12 Game Score/GP is 23rd amongst all forwards, which is pretty impressive given that he scores just 0.63 points per game. It’s a testament to his play-driving ability.

“He works for all of his chances,” Moose assistant coach Marty Johnston pointed out after Friday’s game against Belleville.

Eyssimont’s 65.9% CF% rating this season is the best individual Corsi output of any AHL forward over the last three seasons. Making that number all the more impressive is the fact that his CF% rel is a +14.02 on a Manitoba team that’s sat comfortably in the top three of Team Corsi rankings all year long. Given the fact Manitoba possesses the puck for the majority of the time he’s on the ice, it’s pretty telling that Eyssimont is in the 66th percentile for hits per 60. If that’s not a testament to his willingness to finish each and every check, I don’t know what is.

Scoring Chances are not factored into Game Score, but shots on goal are.

Eyssimont has been elite in getting shots on goal at even strength in each of the past three seasons. He leads the league with 13.00 EV SOG/60 this year. During the 2021 season, he recorded 12.09 EV SOG/60, second to San Jose’s Joachim Blichfeld. Before that, Eyssimont recorded 12.00 EV SOG/60 during the 2019-2020 campaign.

If only he could convert at a higher rate.

“I’ve left some points on the board where I’ve been in a position to succeed,” Eyssimont admitted when discussing his offensive capabilities. “I think that it’s important that I take that very seriously and try to work on that for when I have those opportunities again.”

While beefing up those point totals would certainly help his chances of playing in NHL Games down the road, Eyssimont isn’t going to be a goal scorer at the next level. If he ever gets over the hump and earns a shot in the big leagues, it’d be as an energy fourth liner. And for my money, he checks all the boxes, especially with the energy he brings on a nightly basis.

“It’s something that guys can follow,” CJ Suess said of Eyssimont’s high energy level in an interview after Manitoba’s practice on March 1. “His love for the game and his passion pushes other guys.”

With the playoffs fast approaching, these next few months are going to be huge for Eyssimont. If he ends up having a big-time playoff performance, it’ll surely bode well for him once next fall’s training camp rolls around. The Winnipeg Jets organization would probably give him a longer look if he indeed does have a good playoff.

But, even if Mikey Eyssimont never plays a game for Winnipeg, his impact with Manitoba is immensely valuable — especially this year — as the organization’s AHL affiliate is poised for a legitimate Calder Cup run.