JT Volpe
Most of the hockey world has their attention focused 100 percent on the ongoing NHL Playoffs, especially last night's thrilling Game 7 finale of the Capitals-Rangers Metropolitan Division Final. And for good reason, as one of the game's most skilled - and most polarizing - stars, Alex Ovechkin attempted to lead his Capitals to an Eastern Conference Final matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning are lead by a superstar of their own, sniper Steven Stamkos. In the Western Conference, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks are preparing for a series against Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and the Anaheim Ducks. The NHL is a league defined by its star players, and the playoffs especially are so tense and thrilling because of the sport's most skilled competitors.
But across the world, in Prague, Czech Republic, at the IIHF World Championships, the game's next superstar is shining.
His name is Jack Eichel, an American raised in Boston. He was most recently seen leading the Boston University Terriers to the NCAA Championship game, though he would lose to the Providence Friars. Eichel is projected to be drafted second overall this season after Canadian center and puck handling magician Connor McDavid. McDavid will go first due to having a massively high ceiling of development, shown by his pure domination at the OHL level, the highest amateur junior hockey league in the world. But make no mistake, although Eichel will go second, he is the most NHL ready prospect this year, and possibly this decade.
His name is Jack Eichel, an American raised in Boston. He was most recently seen leading the Boston University Terriers to the NCAA Championship game, though he would lose to the Providence Friars. Eichel is projected to be drafted second overall this season after Canadian center and puck handling magician Connor McDavid. McDavid will go first due to having a massively high ceiling of development, shown by his pure domination at the OHL level, the highest amateur junior hockey league in the world. But make no mistake, although Eichel will go second, he is the most NHL ready prospect this year, and possibly this decade.
McDavid has certainly been one of the most statistically dominant prospects in a long time. Just this year, he amassed a ridiculous 120 points in 44 games played for the OHL's Erie Otters. The key to remember though, is that McDavid, an 18 year old, is playing in a junior league populated with 16-19 year olds. This past season, Eichel was a freshman at Boston University, and recorded 71 points in 40 games. What's impressive about this is that Eichel was an 18 year old true freshman, something very rare in American collegiate hockey. These days, most college prospects spend 1 or 2 seasons playing for a junior team in United States Hockey League before entering the NCAA. As a result the college ranks are mostly filled with 20-23 year olds. Eichel was about 2-5 years younger than his competition and he dominated all year and won the Hobey Baker Award, the Heisman of ice hockey. Its impressive to see Eichel play at such a high level against older competition.
He has continued to do that this month at the World Championships as a member of Team USA. In 7 games so far he's scored 6 points, including an overtime game winner against Team Slovakia. This tournament is not the U20 worlds that Eichel played in last season. It is the World Championship, second only to the Olympics in terms of skill and level of play. Because of scheduling, players currently participating in the NHL playoffs can obviously not play for their respective countries. But those eliminated from the playoffs are eligible. The Flyers Claude Giroux, Jake Voracek, Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn and others are in Prague, part of a long list of NHL talent playing in the Championships. To see Eichel performing well, and playing comfortably on a line with Trevor Lewis of the Los Angeles Kings and Anders Lee of the New York Islanders, is proof that this kid is the real deal. Most impressive is his strength on the puck against NHL sized defensemen, a trait that usually needs to be developed by draft prospects during their formative rookie and sophomore seasons.
McDavid reminds me very much of Sam Reinhart, taken at number 2 overall in last year's draft by the Buffalo Sabres. Reinhart had a similar dominating presence in juniors, scoring 105 points in 60 games in his draft year. But in a 9 game trial with the Sabres this year, he recorded only 1 assist before being sent back to juniors for more seasoning. This is not to knock Reinhart who has all the skill and intangibles to be a solid player when he bulks up and develops, nor to bring down McDavid, who is certainly deserving of his number 1 status and will almost certainly be an elite talent before all is said and done. However, for the Sabres, who hold the number 2 pick again this year, Eichel is just about the best consolation prize possible for losing the draft lottery. He can make an immediate, tangible impact on a struggling franchise and be the face of a new era of Sabres hockey, a club with an abundance of young talent including Reinhart, Evander Kane, Mikhail Grigorenko, Nikita Zadorov, and JT Compher (okay, so Compher isn't as highly touted as the others, but there's something about him I really like).
Much like Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin, and other super prospects who went 1 and 2 in the draft, McDavid and Eichel will be tied together from day one. Time will tell who finds more career success, but at least for right now, Eichel appears likely to have the better rookie season, and fans in Buffalo will again have something to cheer for.
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