C Jack Eichel - Boston University, NCAA (2015, 2nd, BUF) III

[BillyShoe1721]

Video of all six of Eichel's points last weekend:

http://thehockeywriters.com/jack-eichel-tracker-hobey-baker-race-is-over/

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

I agree on all accounts. I love both of these prospects but they certainly don't seem far off of one another at the moment. I think Eichel may have more success right out of the gate next season as well. Where each guy ends up will be a major determining factor in terms of immediate success, though.

that's exactly right. I am going to be very curious who wins the lottery.

 

[Rogie21]

New USCHO article on Eichel

Many have assumed that going pro this summer is a foregone conclusion, but that’s not a lock. “I don’t know,†Eichel says. “It’s going to be a decision made after the season.â€

“I don’t think he’s rushing out the door,†Quinn says. “He loves BU, he loves his teammates and he loves playing here.â€

Quinn says that there’s no question that Eichel will go straight to the NHL when he does go pro, and he believes that he would have statistical success immediately — maybe 35 or 40 points for starters. But that doesn’t make the decision a no-brainer.

“Because at 19? It’s a freakin’ hard league; I don’t care how talented you are,†Quinn says. “One thing I talked to him about is, you need to talk to Jonathan Toews, James Van Riemsdyk, Colin Wilson and Phil Kessel. Talk to people who were in your shoes — guys who stayed and guys who left. And I know what they’ll tell him. The guys who went back? The best moves of their lives. And the guy who left? Kessel regrets i to this day because it’s a whole different animal.â€

 

[William H Bonney]

New USCHO article on Eichel

Meh. No chance in hell Eichel is back in the NCAA next season despite Quinn's obvious reasons for wanting him back.

 

[Beesfan]

New USCHO article on Eichel

Wilson and JVR are not in Eichel's league. Kessel was too physcially weak and afraid of contact to be effective. Jonathan Toews would have been fine as an 18 year old in the NHL.

I don't think staying another year is a ridiculous decision, but there is no doubt that Eichel is ready to have an immediate impact in the NHL. He is the most NHL ready prospect in the draft.

 

[William H Bonney]

Wilson and JVR are not in Eichel's league. Kessel was too physcially weak and afraid of contact to be effective. Jonathan Toews would have been fine as an 18 year old in the NHL.

I don't think staying another year is a ridiculous decision, but there is no doubt that Eichel is ready to have an immediate impact in the NHL. He is the most NHL ready prospect in the draft.

Eichel in the NCAA next year would be a terrible decision for his development. He'll be in the NHL but if for some reason his NHL team wanted him to get more seasoning he should go to the AHL.

 

[member 157595]

Wilson and JVR are not in Eichel's league. Kessel was too physcially weak and afraid of contact to be effective. Jonathan Toews would have been fine as an 18 year old in the NHL.

I don't think staying another year is a ridiculous decision, but there is no doubt that Eichel is ready to have an immediate impact in the NHL. He is the most NHL ready prospect in the draft.

Jack Eichel staying another year in the NCAA's would indeed be one of the most ridiculous hypothetical decisions ever.

He's easily the best player in the NCAA's and has absolutely nothing whatsoever to learn at that level. It would be a complete waste of a year, with no further development possible and a possible chance of severe injury with no financial compensation.

Basically, there is literally zero upside of Eichel spending another year in college. Hanifin, OTOH, shouldn't be in the NHL until at least 2016-2017.

 

[JawandaPuck]

New USCHO article on Eichel

Unlikely, but this may be him posturing to gain leverage for draft time, in case he wants to avoid a certain team selecting him.

More likely, it's him being humble while complementing BU and the college experience.

 

[ecemleafs]

hopefully he goes to an awful team who will send him to the WJC next season

 

[Mosby]

No way he goes back to college when he has an NHL contract (and bonuses, and endorsements) sitting on the other side of the table.

 

[Hisch13r]

No chance he is back in the NCAA next year. It's possible he is in the AHL next year but even that is highly doubtful

 

[YEGJuniorFan]

If he is in Buffalo or Arizona I imagine he is on the team next year. If it is the Oilers I wouldn't be against him playing the first 30-40 games in the AHL. The Oilers always get hit with injuries mid year and we should have enough forward depth to not rely on giving him a top 9 spot immediately.

 

[leafsfuture]

I disagree with some of the recent posts.

If Eichel WANTS to go back to the NCAA, than he should do it. For those of you who havent experienced college, or more specifically college away from home, it truly is a special experience. For me, who just spent 4 years in college, complained about not working the last 2 of those years, and now misses it, I understand that it truly is once in a lifetime.

Yes you can go back to college, but it isnt the same.

Eichel CAN play on any NHL team. BUT, really if he goes to Edmonton lets say, why would it be any worse to go back to college.

And dont give me the "he has nothing to learn" crap. There is ALWAYS something to learn. Also, the potentially stacked US WJC team (Matthews, larkin, Milano, Werenski, Hanafin) could be a selling point

 

[Asquaredx2]

I disagree with some of the recent posts.

If Eichel WANTS to go back to the NCAA, than he should do it. For those of you who havent experienced college, or more specifically college away from home, it truly is a special experience. For me, who just spent 4 years in college, complained about not working the last 2 of those years, and now misses it, I understand that it truly is once in a lifetime.

Yes you can go back to college, but it isnt the same.

Eichel CAN play on any NHL team. BUT, really if he goes to Edmonton lets say, why would it be any worse to go back to college.

And dont give me the "he has nothing to learn" crap. There is ALWAYS something to learn. Also, the potentially stacked US WJC team (Matthews, larkin, Milano, Werenski, Hanafin) could be a selling point

He can play on the WJC team even if he turns pro. For me the biggest thing is the financial security: what if (God forbid) you suffer a major or career-threatening injury and lose out on NHL money? College is great but he'll still have a social life playing on a team.

 

[bigdog16]

He will not play in the NCAA next year.

 

[The Gloaming]

What would be the point of Eichel playing in the NCAA next year? To see if he can break 2PPG?

 

[leafsfuture]

He can play on the WJC team even if he turns pro. For me the biggest thing is the financial security: what if (God forbid) you suffer a major or career-threatening injury and lose out on NHL money? College is great but he'll still have a social life playing on a team.

And if you go to Edmonton, or Buffallo, or any team with limited offence, and struggle to put up points... that can hurt a guys psyche too, especially when eventually you will be expected to put up points.

I will give you an example. Lazar and Horvat arent in the NHL to score. As should be clear with lazar especially, the team really doesnt care for his offensive output. And really, down the line, no one expects him to be scoring 30 goals on a regular basis.

But Eichel will be expected to become a scorer.

Again, you are right about the risks. All I am saying is that there is a possibility (however slim) that Eichel goes back one more year. I know its a bad comparison, but the Flyers wanted JVR to turn pro badly, but he went to college for 2 years.

 

[rosemount289]

As a Oilers.................???

I disagree with some of the recent posts.

If Eichel WANTS to go back to the NCAA, than he should do it. For those of you who havent experienced college, or more specifically college away from home, it truly is a special experience. For me, who just spent 4 years in college, complained about not working the last 2 of those years, and now misses it, I understand that it truly is once in a lifetime.

Yes you can go back to college, but it isnt the same.

Eichel CAN play on any NHL team. BUT, really if he goes to Edmonton lets say, why would it be any worse to go back to college.

And dont give me the "he has nothing to learn" crap. There is ALWAYS something to learn. Also, the potentially stacked US WJC team (Matthews, larkin, Milano, Werenski, Hanafin) could be a selling point

What is wrong with going to Edmonton?.............It is better than Toronto.

You have three 1st overall picks to play with. The U of A is a better academic school than BU........if Eichel wants to continue his education there is no better institution. The Oilers are a up and coming team that only needs help defensively.

A fan base equal to none and a new rink in year 2016.

 

[OiledUp]

He can play on the WJC team even if he turns pro. For me the biggest thing is the financial security: what if (God forbid) you suffer a major or career-threatening injury and lose out on NHL money? College is great but he'll still have a social life playing on a team.

One of the reasons for him to stay would be so that he can build up his physique enough to stand the rigors of an NHL season and avoid future injuries. Sure there's a slight risk of him suffering a career ending injury but that risk is higher as an 18/19 yo in the NHL than the NCAA. He will get signed to an ELC no matter what, unless he ends up paralyzed or something but that's going to the extreme and again that risk should be higher in an 82 game NHL season.
Imo another NCAA year might help him in the long run with maturing and finetuning his game with less pressure. The only issue with staying would be that he's too dominant and the lack of challenge breeds complacency.

 

[Heraldic]

One of the reasons for him to stay would be so that he can build up his physique enough to stand the rigors of an NHL season and avoid future injuries. Sure there's a slight risk of him suffering a career ending injury but that risk is higher as an 18/19 yo in the NHL than the NCAA. He will get signed to an ELC no matter what, unless he ends up paralyzed or something but that's going to the extreme and again that risk should be higher in an 82 game NHL season.
Imo another NCAA year might help him in the long run with maturing and finetuning his game with less pressure. The only issue with staying would be that he's too dominant and the lack of challenge breeds complacency.

Then he should just play in AHL.

By not signing an ELC next summer he is leaving a lot of money on the table long-term and he is also risking not ever getting any salary (if his career ending injury happens in NCAA, he will get nothing, but he will at least get something, if it happens after signing ELC).

 

[OiledUp]

Then he should just play in AHL.

By not signing an ELC next summer he is leaving a lot of money on the table long-term and he is also risking not ever getting any salary (if his career ending injury happens in NCAA, he will get nothing, but he will at least get something, if it happens after signing ELC).

He can always sign at the end of the year to blow his first ELC year. The financial incentive is weaker if he plays in the AHL so I do think it's NHL or NCAA for him.
Sure there is a slight risk but let's be honest, how common are career ending injuries off one single event for a well trained athlete? There aren't a whole lot of injuries that would be so bad that his team wouldn't take a chance at signing him to his ELC. You can't really make decisions based on that fear. Most injury woes that ends a career are due to longterm issues, something you can somewhat avoid by making sure your body(and mind) is ready for the NHL before entering. From an injury perspective I'd argue it's smarter to stay put and maybe prolong your career, it's a tough league for a youngster and I do think a lot of players tend to make the jump too soon, RNH is an Oiler example, I'd even argue that Hall while more developed physically and fully ready on a skill level would have benefitted from making sure his body could take his style of play in the NHL, something his list of injuries suggest it couldn't and once you start getting injured it tend to continue and all his injuries are likely to slow him down or even cut his career shorter than it otherwise would have been. Would be interesting to see the a comparison of man games lost between players entering the league right after the draft and guys entering draft+1+2 and so on.

Also even if Eichels career would end tomorrow while not rich I doubt he'll ever end up with financial troubles, it all depends on how much he values being very wealthy or if he's happy having a solid income. Obviously not easy to think in such terms for a teenager.

If heading to the NHL one year later he's likely hitting more bonuses as well by not going up against McDavid in the rookie battle.

I'm not saying I know which is the ideal way to go or even that one way is better than the other just that it's not as crystal clear as has been suggested in this thread.

There'll be a lot of pressure on him to go to the NHL and it's the more likely route but I hope for his sake he considers all options and thinks more long term than just getting money on the table next year.

 

[covfefe]

One of the reasons for him to stay would be so that he can build up his physique enough to stand the rigors of an NHL season and avoid future injuries. Sure there's a slight risk of him suffering a career ending injury but that risk is higher as an 18/19 yo in the NHL than the NCAA. He will get signed to an ELC no matter what, unless he ends up paralyzed or something but that's going to the extreme and again that risk should be higher in an 82 game NHL season.
Imo another NCAA year might help him in the long run with maturing and finetuning his game with less pressure. The only issue with staying would be that he's too dominant and the lack of challenge breeds complacency.

He's already dominating college hockey at an age where most of his peers are playing Jr. A or in Prep leagues. I can't imagine any situation in which him staying for another year would be beneficial. He would be one year further behind the pro curve, and in my eyes, Eichel is the most NHL ready player in the draft anyway.

We also can't discount the allure of endorsements and professional perks. Sure, he signs his ELC either way immediately after getting picked. But he can't endorse Reebok/Bauer while playing for BU. He also doesn't get to fly charter, eat amazing catered meals, travel in the company of people who can teach him extremely valuable career/money/life lessons, stay in 5 star hotels, enjoy the variety of *ahem* other perks that come with being a rich and famous athlete....

 

[MrKabukiman]

He's already dominating college hockey at an age where most of his peers are playing Jr. A or in Prep leagues. I can't imagine any situation in which him staying for another year would be beneficial. He would be one year further behind the pro curve, and in my eyes, Eichel is the most NHL ready player in the draft anyway.

We also can't discount the allure of endorsements and professional perks. Sure, he signs his ELC either way immediately after getting picked. But he can't endorse Reebok/Bauer while playing for BC. He also doesn't get to fly charter, eat amazing catered meals, travel in the company of people who can teach him extremely valuable career/money/life lessons, stay in 5 star hotels, enjoy the variety of *ahem* other perks that come with being a rich and famous athlete....

He plays for BU......

 

[covfefe]

He plays for BU......

Truly egregious error. Apologies.

 

[BillDineen]

New USCHO article on Eichel

If Buffalo loses the lottery and he stays one more year, get ready for the tanking for Matthews onslaught.