Buffalo Sabres Top 25 Under 25, #1: Jack Eichel

Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

No surprise, Jack Eichel remains at the top of the hill

The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Die By The Blade community. It was a combination of seven staff writers and over 250 fans that ranked players under the age of 25 as of July 15th, 2020. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production to rank each player. This is our 2020 pre-draft rankings.

There was never a doubt that Eichel would again find himself at the top of this mountain. It’s still not even close to this point, to be honest. The 23-year-old center has been an impact player for years, but he “arrived” this season. He started to get the recognition that he deserved around the league.

I’ll be interested to see if Eichel does receive some votes for the Hart Trophy for league MVP after the award winner is announced. If the Sabres were closer to a playoff position when the season was paused, it’s possible he would have been in the discussion for a finalist. Similar to Artemi Panarin being in the top three with the New York Rangers missing the playoffs.

It was unfortunate we didn’t get to see Eichel in a playoff-type series with the expanded postseason, but hopefully Kevyn Adams can put a roster together that can get them into the postseason consistently.