Childhood dream about to come true for Jack Eichel at NHL draft

When Jack Eichel was 4, he announced to his family that he intended to play in the NHL. When he was 6 he informed his father that he planned to skip high school hockey to play for the Boston Junior Bruins.

"He had it all mapped out by the time he was 7 or 8," his father, Bob, told USA TODAY Sports. "Nobody believed him, but he had it mapped out."

These days everyone believes in Eichel, 18, because he is arguably the best American center prospect since Mike Modano was drafted No. 1 overall in 1988. Eichel will be chosen No. 2 overall by the Buffalo Sabres in Friday's draft, following Connor McDavid who will go to the Edmonton Oilers at No. 1.

"The divider for great players is whether they can beat opponents one-on-one and Jack Eichel can," said USA Hockey's assistant executive director Jim Johannson.

In most years, Eichel, who did play for the Junior Bruins, would be the first overall pick, but McDavid is also considered a franchise center and has been compared to Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby.

Although the consensus around the NHL is that McDavid is worthy of the top pick, it's easy to find scouts who believe the players are in a dead heat, or even give the edge to Eichel.

"I think Jack's impact on a team will be every bit as great as Connor's," said former Calgary Flames general manager Craig Button, now a draft analyst for TSN, Canada's version of ESPN.

The McDavid-Eichel debate, which has raged for at least a year, has benefited from a hockey archetype: McDavid as the Canadian kid who left home at an early age to play in the Ontario Hockey League, and Eichel as the Massachusetts native who picked college hockey over junior hockey.

"I'm super happy about my decision to go to college," Eichel told USA TODAY Sports of his experience at Boston University, where he won the Hobey Baker Trophy as college hockey's top player. "Being able to go to school 30 minutes from my house, getting an education, in a city like Boston, at a school like BU. I thought the competition was better, older.

"It was the perfect fit for me."

Struggles along the way

Eichel's career has been a direct march toward success, but he had a bump along the way this past season.

He was captain for Team USA at the prestigious World Junior Championships in December and January. Neither Team USA, nor Eichel, played particularly well.

"That was probably the lowest point of the year in terms of the media attention," Eichel said.

The tournament was played in Montreal, and Eichel's family was harassed by fans because of the Eichel-McDavid sweepstakes.

"I think I learned a lot from that experience," Eichel said. "I'm sure if the team would have played better it would have been a great experience."

He has a focus about his game that is second to none. He also has the ability to connect with everyone around him.

"It was crystal clear that everyone on the junior team looked up to him," Johannson said. "And when we were at BU, it was clear that he knew everyone around the arena."

Dan Marr, the NHL's Director of Central Scouting, said his group found "no distinctive line" between McDavid and Eichel.

"(But) we have to make one No. 1 and the other No. 2," Marr said. "But I think their production will be similar and their results will be similar. The difference will be that one will beat the other to win a Stanley Cup."

Bob Eichel said his son's dedication to hockey was beyond anything he had ever seen in a child.

"He would get up in the morning and do push-ups and sit-ups," Bob Eichel remembered. "He would shoot 100 pucks."

Dad remembers that a friend advised him to give his son a small taste of the sport to see if he liked hockey.

"But Jack was insane," Bob said. "Hockey is all he ever talked about. We would only let him play one or two summer tournaments."

How over the top was he? "How many kids would love both the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens? Only Jack Eichel," said his dad. "He loved the Bruins, but it didn't matter that the Canadiens were (archrivals). He just liked the way they played because they played fast."

When Eichel was 9, he essentially negotiated his first hockey contract.

"He said: 'If I get a full hockey scholarship, will you buy me a car,'" Bob recalled. "I said, 'I will buy you anything you want.' I still haven't paid on that yet."

Ready for the NHL?

The Sabres will likely want Eichel to turn pro, because he didn't look out of place competing against NHL players when he played for USA at the World Championships in May. He centered Team USA's top line, and helped the Americans win a bronze medal.

"There were a handful times that Jack did something (at the tournament) that made the coaches behind the bench and the players on the bench say, 'Whoa that's a different level of player,'" said Buffalo Sabres coach Dan Bylsma, who was an assistant coach at the World Championships.

In the bronze medal game against the Czech Republic, he gave his team a much-needed two-goal lead with a memorable pass to Los Angeles Kings winger Trevor Lewis for a tap-in tally.

"You saw him tested against legitimate NHL players and you had to remember that he was an 18-year-old kid who hadn't yet been drafted," Bylsma said.

Eichel seemed to improve with each game at the tournament. He even played in the opener with a fever of 103 degrees.

"He played against (Evgeni) Malkin. He played against (Alex) Ovechkin's line. He played against (Vladimir) Tarasenko," Bylsma said. "It was a huge learning experience. He had to play defense against those guys."

Bylsma said Eichel may be a star in the making, but he doesn't want star treatment.

"He definitely wants to be part of the group," Bylsma said. "I think he knew he could learn a lot from players like Lewis or Matt Hendricks about being a pro. He didn't want to be alone."

One misconception about Eichel and McDavid, is that McDavid is the finesse player and Eichel's game is far different. Eichel has always been considered a skilled player, rather than a power center. He had 26 goals and 71 points in 40 games as a college freshman.

"If you watch Jack play he can impact the game in so many ways," Button said. "He can do it with passing. He can do it with his power. He can do it with his skating."

Bylsma said the initial test for Eichel at the NHL will be his ability to handle the 82-game schedule. "It's different when you have to play the Bruins one night, and then the Rangers the next, and then the Penguins and then the Capitals."

Button said Eichel's strength is his ability to understand what he needs to do to make an impact.

"He's not a one-trick pony or a two-trick pony," Button said. "He's a multiple-trick pony. And he's not a pony he's a Thorougbred."