OP's wall of text with punctuation added thanks to chat gpt:
Jack Eichel, going into the 2015 draft, had a ridiculous amount of hype going his way. There were talks of the big, fast, talented, two-way player with a heavy shot and great vision challenging McDavid. People were saying he had the better shot, was more physical, and had a better two-way game at the time, claiming his game was that of a Stanley Cup-caliber 1C. They were right, as he's won a Cup; however, people also put the "generational" label on Eichel with his historic Hobey Baker-winning freshman season headed into the draft. Many noted that Eichel had very explosive skating and was a physical specimen.
So, the race between the two started, with the two being compared to each other incessantly. Come draft lottery time, the answer to who was number 1 was dispelled, revealing Edmonton as the winners and, going by Tim Murray's reaction, the Sabres as the "losers" of the McEichel draft. The narrative shifted from "Who goes number 1?" to "Eichel would go number 1 in any draft without McDavid or Crosby." Eichel quickly became viewed as the ultimate consolation prize, but the sting was still there for Eichel—going from a historic NCAA season to being the guy drafted by someone disappointing, as he wasn’t his so-called rival.
From there, the pressure was on Eichel to lift the Buffalo Sabres back to greatness while also dealing with being directly compared to McDavid. He put together a solid rookie campaign; without a doubt, some say he was slighted, as I believe he finished 4th that year, just missing out on being a Calder finalist. Super rookie Russian star, 24-year-old Panarin, put up 70-plus points en route to a Calder, assisting Kane in his award sweep of the Ross, Hart, and Lindsay. But his direct competition, McDavid, was injured with a collarbone injury against Philadelphia from Manning, who he would go on to call classless later in his career. Still, McDavid managed to put up 48 points in 45 games compared to Eichel’s 56 points in 81 games.
People were still thinking that Eichel could reach that generational/franchise-altering, Hall of Fame-type potential, as it was still a very good rookie season. After all, he did it over 80 games and wasn’t some 24-year-old KHL pro piggybacking off of American hockey legend, three-time champion, Mr. Clutch himself, Patrick Kane. Panarin himself later proved that he wasn’t just a product of that situation but rather a super elite talent who kept improving, proving worthy of the Calder. However, that is a separate story. So, Eichel was still viewed as a super raw, athletic talent who needed polish and wasn’t defensively ready, as most people thought.
Heading into the 2016 draft, people were saying he would be number 1 over Matthews or Laine, while others would argue back. Regardless of who’s who, the four of McDavid, Eichel, Matthews, and Laine would be four of the uber elite talents. At the time of the draft, I remember people saying Matthews was a more polished product, not as raw; therefore, he was closer to his ceiling. People regarded him as a Toews/Kopitar-type two-way center, not the goal-scoring phenom he is today, putting himself up there with legends, putting together multiple (2) 60-plus goal seasons and Rocket wins. But at the time of the 2016 draft, some were still regarding Eichel as a similar talent to McDavid and superior to Matthews and Laine, and boy, there were debates about that.
After the end of that season, Eichel finished with 61 GP due to a high ankle sprain, and he had a nearly identical stat line as his rookie year with 24 goals and 33 assists, good for 57 points. This showed a stark improvement in his production, which is a points-per-game rate of 0.93—translating to 76 points over 82 games. While impressive, his direct comparison and competition, McDavid, took off, posting 30 goals and 70 assists for the lone 100-point season and his first award sweep, shifting his comparables to Matthews and Laine, who both posted notably better rookie seasons: Matthews with 40 goals and 69 points (lol, his stat line has 69 twice, which is nice), and Laine put together 36 goals and 64 points. While Eichel might have outproduced them, it wasn’t for long.
As the 2017-18 season rolled around, their stat lines looked like this:
- McDavid: 82 GP, 41 G, 67 A, 108 P (Art Ross win)
- Matthews: 62 GP, 34 G, 29 A, 63 P
- Laine: 82 GP, 44 G, 36 A, 70 P
- Eichel: 67 GP, 25 G, 39 A, 64 P
Again missing time, but this time being outproduced by Matthews and not having nearly the same goal-scoring ability as Laine. McDavid essentially separated himself from his peers completely with a 40-goal, 100-plus-point campaign, leading to his second Art Ross and Lindsay, and a questionable Hart loss to former teammate Hall. This also marked the significant emergence of the forgotten and counted-out MacKinnon; he finally put together his speed, shot, strength, and playmaking ability, making him a finalist in the Hart race. The former #1 pick put up 39 goals and 58 assists for 97 points and went on to become one of the most productive present careers—a spot most people thought Eichel would be in.
So, going into the 2018-19 year, Eichel wasn’t viewed as McDavid’s counterpart. Instead, he was being compared to the rest of his draft class, where Marner started getting attention with the idea that he was just as good or better than Eichel. Then, everyone started noting that Eichel had a much heavier load to carry—that he was the Sabres’ hope and that he was the one carrying the whole offense. People recognized his tremendous raw talent and ability to be a top-tier player, but there were doubts about his ability to put it all together.
The next year, Eichel had his offensive coming-out party, potting 28 goals and 54 assists. This was his first over-PPG game season, along with being his only healthy season since his rookie year. People were saying he was beginning to scratch the surface of his potential, noting he was earlier along the development curve than MacKinnon when he had his breakout. Things looked promising for the "Eich Man" as he finished well after they traded O'Reilly, who won the Selke, Smythe, and Cup. That had to sting, as he was left alone on an island with Reinhart, while Marner finished ahead with 94 points. The narrative of him being a near-generational talent faded, along with the idea of him being a slam-dunk 1 overall in any other draft dwindling and becoming questionable.
The very next year, however, he began to show his true colors; the pre-draft hype Eichel had arrived. He came out more determined than ever, showing he was an elite top-ten talent. He could go end to end, snipe any corner from anywhere with speed, keep-away, and dangle ability, along with vision. Finally, he had his MacKinnon-like click, looking unstoppable. However, the season was cut short due to another injury, finishing with 68 games, 36 goals, and 42 assists for 78 points. With a fully healthy season, he surely would have broken the 40-goal barrier and cracked 90 points, scratching at 100 points.
Going into the next season (with Krueger again—a big mistake), they brought along Hall, a former Hart winner. Eichel finally got his Marner, his Drai, his Rantanen. It was looking good with Hall, Eichel, Skinner, Staal, Reinhart, Dahlin, and rookie Cozens. This was the season Eichel finally put it together; he had good pieces around him now. After he broke out, he was finally ready to deliver on his potential, to be the Sabres' franchise savior, and to assert himself as a top-3 center, top-5 player, ready to make that jump à la MacKinnon.
Training camp rolled around, but he got hurt and was visibly physically impaired by season start. He looked nothing like the same player; he lost speed, his shot wasn’t as lethal, and he wasn’t strong on the puck. His production reverted back to sub-PPG. He did not look dominant at all—wasn’t taking over shifts, wasn’t a difference maker. It turned out he was playing injured, to the Sabres' relief, but not for long. As he went down, so did the Sabres' season. Reinhart was the only player with a noteworthy season; Hall fell flat on his face and was useless.
Eichel required surgery on his neck, which created a whole debacle, resulting in his trade to Vegas, where he ended up putting on a great performance, resulting in a Cup win, showing that he is a great playoff performer. But ever since then, he hasn’t played a full season for Vegas and has only had one season above PPG. Although he has a Cup before the likes of the Leafs’ trio and McDavid, you could argue that he is not on any of their levels. While he is a much better playoff performer than the Leafs
