Jack Eichel is quietly becoming a top-5 player in the league

[The Kingslayer]

Mack is better than Eichel for now. I think they were similarly hyped as prospects in their respective draft years. I think they are very, very close talent wise. But they are talented in different ways.

Mack is a faster skater and has faster hands.

Eichel is stronger on the puck in space and along the boards, and his elite wrist shot is finally emerging this season.

Since they have both missed a ton of games in their careers lets extrapolate point per game to get an 82 game point total and average it over seasons.

Mack was a 56 point player his first 4 seasons then jumped to 103 for the next 2 seasons and is on pace for 127 this season. And he has been missing his best winger(rantanen) for most of this season.


Eichel was a 69 point player his first 3 seasons and then jumped to 87 last year, or a 74 point player his first 4 seasons . He's on pace for 111 this year.

Eichel is 2 seasons younger than Mack.

Mack paced at 107 points his 5th season, Eichel is in his 5th season now and pacing at 111.

Although eichels floor was nearly 20 points higher than Macks he's making that same big 5th year jump in production that mack had. Albeit, only a 30 point leap rather than 50 because his floor was already 20 points higher.

Eichel is a great player but hes not on Macks level. He might get their and I hope he does sooner rather than later (personal reasons) When Dahlin emerges as the Dman he was drafted to become I think you will see Eichel reach that level.

 

[The Kingslayer]

An Eichel thread turned into a McDavid thread, what a shocker

It is now a Mackinnon thread

 

[Dotter]

Who are the 9 players ahead of him?

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

Shouldn’t he be?? I mean he was drafted second overall behind the best player of the generation.

What does Laine have to do with this?

 

[OKR]

Why are you offended that I think Mack is on another level than Eichel?

Because you act like your opinion is a fact, which it’s not.

 

[dortt]

Eichel is a great player but hes not on Macks level. He might get their and I hope he does sooner rather than later (personal reasons) When Dahlin emerges as the Dman he was drafted to become I think you will see Eichel reach that level.

Jack has been consistently above MacKinnon's level for all but his first year in the league. See the stats posted in the earlier posts. Eichel has had the faster development, breaking through at roughly the same time as Mac (though he built up to this at a more gradual rate; thus, he easily eclipsed Mac's year 2-4 production)

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Because you act like your opinion is a fact, which it’s not.

Neither is the opinion that Eichel is on the same level as Mack. But more people agree with my opinion, hence the tsn polls etc.

 

[OKR]

Neither is the opinion that Eichel is on the same level as Mack. But more people agree with my opinion, hence the tsn polls etc.

Yes, cause they’re opinions, you’re just the one who presents them as facts.

And actually to be precise they play proffesional hockey at same level, NHL, so it would actually be more factual to say that they’re on the same level, but that obviously isn’t what you mean,

 

[Chainshot]

Might as well get this out of the way too, point-per-game comparison between MacKinnon and Eichel:

MacKinnon:

Year 1 (82 games): 0.77
Year 2 (64 games): 0.59
Year 3 (72 games): 0.72
Year 4 (82 games): 0.65
Year 5 (74 games): 1.31
Year 6 (82 games): 1.21
Year 7 (29 games): 1.55

Eichel:

Year 1 (81 games): 0.69
Year 2 (61 games): 0.93
Year 3 (67 games): 0.96
Year 4 (77 games): 1.05
Year 5 (31 games): 1.35

MacKinnon and Eichel are pretty comparable up to and including Year 5, although Eichel consistently improved every year, while MacKinnon doubled his production between Year 4 and Year 5.

I can see Eichel overtaking MacKinnon, but I can also see them hovering around each other.

From the various stories written about Mack, that was when he decided that he wanted to be great by putting in a sick amount of office training work and really dedicating himself to being the best that he could be. I think Jack has reached a certain level of maturity where he’s decided that he is going to apply himself in a certain fashion. Jack was already a workout warrior, known for his strength and ability to crush weights in the gym. The fun thing to see with him this year is the realization about how he has to play a 200 foot game all the time, every shift. He’s starting to understand that he has the physical tools to impose himself at both ends of the ice without taking away from his ability to generate offense.

And it’s taken a couple of kind of embarrassing moments this season as captain to sort of bring him back to that. We would see every now and then a shift where his backchecking would be superior and he would use his speed and strength to track back to disrupt play. Now it is much more regular.

And then there were the goals in Chicago that Dach scored - Jack since then has been much more dialed in to being aware of his check and being fully committed coming back. There’s been a couple of goals against that were plays that came off of his stick to an opponent that ultimately have cost them games. He’s cleaned that up and is being much more secure with the puck. It’s interesting to see his line playing some more basic hockey and the benefits that we’ve seen for them cycling rather than just having to create off the rush. It is helped that Olofsson has brought his game up to NHL speed in that area. And while Reinhart is having a bit of a down year thus far, he too has shown he can be good at that.

Does this all make Jack a member of a particular 10 best list in the NHL right now? I think it does but that’s because I get to watch him a lot and love what I see him doing. He reminds me of Mahavolich or Beliveau, big men moving gracefully and imposing their game while not looking like it is all knees and elbows. It’s funny that those guys sometimes had criticism for their application of their physical tools and yet it was because of how effortlessly that they skated compared to others. It’s almost as if bad skating form with a lot of effort somehow was better than somebody who just has that much power in how they move around the ice.

Anyway… McDavid is clearly on another plane from the rest of humanity when it comes to playing hockey. And then there are some extraordinarily talented players who can take over games and right now Jack is one of those guys.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Yes, cause they’re opinions, you’re just the one who presents them as facts.

And actually to be precise they play proffesional hockey at same level, NHL, so it would actually be more factual to say that they’re on the same level, but that obviously isn’t what you mean,

No its not what I meant. Its a “fact” that Mack is widely accepted as on another level than Eichel. The opinion of the polled people are not facts, its a fact that this is a common opinion.

 

[Thenameless]

Its probably what they thought when they signed Lucic.

I'd take my chances with Dahlin at his age in this NHL, over Lucic at his age. Remember, the original poster I responded to wanted Draisatl. So Dahlin is a little more fair as a comparable, than is Lucic.

 

[deepthoughtsleafs]

Curious to see these 20 and how many Leafs there are on them.

Alright, in no particular order
1. Crosby
2. Ovi
3. Kane
4. McDavid
5. Drai
6. Marchand
7. Pasta
8. MacKinnon
9. Matthews
10. Kucherov
11. Kopitar
12. Stamkos
13. Malkin
14. Tavares
15. Keith
16. Hedman
17. Karlsson
18. Josi
19. Pietrangelo
20. Doughty

There's 20 straight up off the top of my head who have more impact on winning a game than Eichel has. I got to even 14 forwards before I even entertained Eichel. So yeah, Eichel is a top 30 player maybe. Top 10 is an absolute joke.

 

[SotasicA]

Alright, in no particular order
1. Crosby
2. Ovi
3. Kane
4. McDavid
5. Drai
6. Marchand
7. Pasta
8. MacKinnon
9. Matthews
10. Kucherov
11. Kopitar
12. Stamkos
13. Malkin
14. Tavares
15. Keith
16. Hedman
17. Karlsson
18. Josi
19. Pietrangelo
20. Doughty

There's 20 straight up off the top of my head who have more impact on winning a game than Eichel has. I got to even 14 forwards before I even entertained Eichel. So yeah, Eichel is a top 30 player maybe. Top 10 is an absolute joke.

He should be ahead of Matthews.

Malkin is definitely clearly behind. And Duncan Keith on that list is a joke. It's not 2015.

 

[couture23]

I'm not offended that you want to compare Eichel to Mack. Thats great. But it also makes you wrong because Mack is still producing much more. The production difference between Eichel and Mack is bigger than Mack and McDavid.

What does this even mean? The difference between Eichel and Mack is 5 points. The difference between Mack and McDavid is 5 points.

 

[couture23]

Alright, in no particular order
1. Crosby
2. Ovi
3. Kane
4. McDavid
5. Drai
6. Marchand
7. Pasta
8. MacKinnon
9. Matthews
10. Kucherov
11. Kopitar
12. Stamkos
13. Malkin
14. Tavares
15. Keith
16. Hedman
17. Karlsson
18. Josi
19. Pietrangelo
20. Doughty

There's 20 straight up off the top of my head who have more impact on winning a game than Eichel has. I got to even 14 forwards before I even entertained Eichel. So yeah, Eichel is a top 30 player maybe. Top 10 is an absolute joke.

So is putting Matthews in a top 10.

 

[TheUnusedCrayon]

Alright, in no particular order
1. Crosby
2. Ovi
3. Kane
4. McDavid
5. Drai
6. Marchand
7. Pasta
8. MacKinnon
9. Matthews
10. Kucherov
11. Kopitar
12. Stamkos
13. Malkin
14. Tavares
15. Keith
16. Hedman
17. Karlsson
18. Josi
19. Pietrangelo
20. Doughty

There's 20 straight up off the top of my head who have more impact on winning a game than Eichel has. I got to even 14 forwards before I even entertained Eichel. So yeah, Eichel is a top 30 player maybe. Top 10 is an absolute joke.

Your list in and of itself is an absolute joke. When did you make this? 3 years ago? Lol. Also half of those players he's clearly better than and it's not even close. Don't pretend you've seen him play lately. He's been as dominant in games this year as any elite player. He's a play driver. Couldn't say that 2 years ago but he's developing amazingly.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

What does this even mean? The difference between Eichel and Mack is 5 points. The difference between Mack and McDavid is 5 points.

Different number of games played.

 

[BFLO]

Alright, in no particular order
1. Crosby
2. Ovi
3. Kane
4. McDavid
5. Drai
6. Marchand
7. Pasta
8. MacKinnon
9. Matthews
10. Kucherov
11. Kopitar
12. Stamkos
13. Malkin
14. Tavares
15. Keith
16. Hedman
17. Karlsson
18. Josi
19. Pietrangelo
20. Doughty

There's 20 straight up off the top of my head who have more impact on winning a game than Eichel has. I got to even 14 forwards before I even entertained Eichel. So yeah, Eichel is a top 30 player maybe. Top 10 is an absolute joke.

hahhahahah! Is this a list of career accomplishments? Well I guess it can’t be, because Matthews is on it.

 

[MackAttack26]

Alright, in no particular order
1. Crosby
2. Ovi
3. Kane
4. McDavid
5. Drai
6. Marchand
7. Pasta
8. MacKinnon
9. Matthews
10. Kucherov
11. Kopitar
12. Stamkos
13. Malkin
14. Tavares
15. Keith
16. Hedman
17. Karlsson
18. Josi
19. Pietrangelo
20. Doughty

There's 20 straight up off the top of my head who have more impact on winning a game than Eichel has. I got to even 14 forwards before I even entertained Eichel. So yeah, Eichel is a top 30 player maybe. Top 10 is an absolute joke.

T-6th in goals
8th in assists
7th in points

On a team that barely scores outside of him and has significantly less help than the players ahead of him.

"Top 30 player maybe"

I don't think you should be qualified to say what opinions are "absolute jokes" or not.

Duncan Keith lmao.

 

[GoJetsGo55]

IT WORKS!!!!!

 

[GoJetsGo55]

Alright, in no particular order
1. Crosby
2. Ovi
3. Kane
4. McDavid
5. Drai
6. Marchand
7. Pasta
8. MacKinnon
9. Matthews
10. Kucherov
11. Kopitar
12. Stamkos
13. Malkin
14. Tavares
15. Keith
16. Hedman
17. Karlsson
18. Josi
19. Pietrangelo
20. Doughty

There's 20 straight up off the top of my head who have more impact on winning a game than Eichel has. I got to even 14 forwards before I even entertained Eichel. So yeah, Eichel is a top 30 player maybe. Top 10 is an absolute joke.

Keith???

Did my time machine work?

Let me try it again.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Alright, in no particular order
1. Crosby
2. Ovi
3. Kane
4. McDavid
5. Drai
6. Marchand
7. Pasta
8. MacKinnon
9. Matthews
10. Kucherov
11. Kopitar
12. Stamkos
13. Malkin
14. Tavares
15. Keith
16. Hedman
17. Karlsson
18. Josi
19. Pietrangelo
20. Doughty

There's 20 straight up off the top of my head who have more impact on winning a game than Eichel has. I got to even 14 forwards before I even entertained Eichel. So yeah, Eichel is a top 30 player maybe. Top 10 is an absolute joke.

This is such an awful list good grief. Eichel is certainly ahead of half of them at least, including both Leafs.

 

[stokes84]

Alright, in no particular order
1. Crosby
2. Ovi
3. Kane
4. McDavid
5. Drai
6. Marchand
7. Pasta
8. MacKinnon
9. Matthews
10. Kucherov
11. Kopitar
12. Stamkos
13. Malkin
14. Tavares
15. Keith
16. Hedman
17. Karlsson
18. Josi
19. Pietrangelo
20. Doughty

There's 20 straight up off the top of my head who have more impact on winning a game than Eichel has. I got to even 14 forwards before I even entertained Eichel. So yeah, Eichel is a top 30 player maybe. Top 10 is an absolute joke.

Attention seeking behavior is often a cry for help. Is everything okay?

 

[AegonLeConqueror]

Alright, in no particular order
1. Crosby
2. Ovi
3. Kane
4. McDavid
5. Drai
6. Marchand
7. Pasta
8. MacKinnon
9. Matthews
10. Kucherov
11. Kopitar
12. Stamkos
13. Malkin
14. Tavares
15. Keith
16. Hedman
17. Karlsson
18. Josi
19. Pietrangelo
20. Doughty

There's 20 straight up off the top of my head who have more impact on winning a game than Eichel has. I got to even 14 forwards before I even entertained Eichel. So yeah, Eichel is a top 30 player maybe. Top 10 is an absolute joke.

Eichel, this year, is better than everyone from #9 downwards and close to, if not on par, with just about everyone from 8 upwards.

 

[Snippit]

Alright, in no particular order
1. Crosby
2. Ovi
3. Kane
4. McDavid
5. Drai
6. Marchand
7. Pasta
8. MacKinnon
9. Matthews
10. Kucherov
11. Kopitar
12. Stamkos
13. Malkin
14. Tavares
15. Keith
16. Hedman
17. Karlsson
18. Josi
19. Pietrangelo
20. Doughty

There's 20 straight up off the top of my head who have more impact on winning a game than Eichel has. I got to even 14 forwards before I even entertained Eichel. So yeah, Eichel is a top 30 player maybe. Top 10 is an absolute joke.

The only joke is this post.