BROSSARD, Quebec (AP) — Jack Eichel is not the most well-known American in hockey. He’s not even the most famous center from his country, thanks to captain Auston Matthews and his star power.
He’s just the United States’ best and most important player, less than two years removed from keying the Vegas Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup run and yet still somehow underappreciated beyond the most dedicated watchers of the sport and those around him.
Drafted second behind Connor McDavid a decade ago and having persevered through a neck injury that threatened to derail his career, the international stage of the 4 Nations Face-Off with the Milan Olympics a year away is another chance for Eichel to play his way out of that shadow and show off how much he has evolved.
“He’s elite in so many capacities,” U.S. coach Mike Sullivan said Wednesday. “He’s always had an offensive dimension to his game. The physical attributes that he has, just with his size, his skating ability, his puck-handling ability, his vision, he can play any type of game. He can beat you a number of different ways.”
And he does. Eichel, at 6-foot-2 and just over 200 pounds, has the size to overpower opponents and a skating stride so effortless that he blows by defenders. Vegas captain Mark Stone said, “It doesn’t look like he’s going very fast” but Eichel can turn on the afterburners with ease.
“He might not be miles an hour the fastest guy in the league, but if he needs to take two hard steps and beat a guy, he’s beating him — the guy’s not catching him,” Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill said. “He’s so strong and just a freak athlete.”
What makes Eichel elite is how he augments that athleticism with keen awareness of who’s around him on the ice, where the puck is and how to navigate just about every situation in a game. U.S. teammate Chris Kreider marvels at Eichel’s “ability to take over the game and make everyone play at his speed.”
“His skating’s so smooth with how he handles the puck and his ability to scan and take in information and then make the right plays, there’s really not anything he can’t do,” Kreider said.
Eichel scored 26 goals and recorded 45 assists in 40 games in his one season of college hockey at Boston University, and he quickly became a point-a-game player a few years into the NHL with Buffalo. But the defensive prowess that sets him apart from his peers came more recently, after Bruce Cassidy began coaching him in Vegas after having six-time Selke Trophy-winning center Patrice Bergeron in Boston.
“As I’ve gotten older and wanted to build my game, it’s a detail that I think I’ve learned to focus on a bit more,” Eichel said. “It’s something that helps you win games, and I realized how important it was if I wanted to gain the coach’s trust and to be out on the ice in big moments that I needed him to be able to trust me in those situations, and that meant being responsible defensively. I definitely put a lot of work into it and take pride in it. You’re always an unfinished product, so always working to get better.”
Former Sabres teammate Rasmus Dahlin, who’s playing for Sweden at the 4 Nations, said Eichel “was using his speed a lot back in the days, but now he’s using his brain way more.” Sullivan has noticed Eichel’s play away from the puck improving, as well.
Maybe it takes seeing him up close on a daily basis to understand everything Eichel can do.
“I didn’t realize how good he was until I played on his team,” Hill said. “He can take over a game and is so calm and poised with the puck, just sees the ice different. It is like the game is moving in slow motion out there. He’s one of those rare players.”
Now 28, Eichel is squarely in his prime and, along with the country’s absurd goaltending talent, is a big reason the U.S. could seriously contend for Olympic gold in Milan. After the NHL skipped the Games in 2018 and withdrew late from sending players in 2022, Eichel said playing in that tournament is an opportunity he and many others around the league would love to have.
But first, he’s got the 4 Nations in front of him, with games in Montreal and Boston to add another chapter to his legacy. Viewers will get an up-close look at Eichel against the best competition from Finland, Canada and Sweden and might see why teammates like Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk think he’s a dominant No. 1 center.
“It’s his size, it’s his skating, it’s the hands and it’s the shot, the smarts,” Tkachuk said. “Quite frankly, he’s one of the best players in the league.”