Eichel having a season to remember in Vegas

LAS VEGAS — Normally, a visit from the Edmonton Oilers would bring heightened awareness inside the rink.

After all, whenever the top two picks of the draft go head-to-head, it creates a buzz. Even 10 years after the fact.

But that wasn’t the case Tuesday. Connor McDavid, the No. 1 overall selection of the 2015 NHL Draft, and Jack Eichel, who went No. 2 that year, did not meet. McDavid is out with a lower-body injury and the Edmonton Oilers managed to keep Eichel under control.

And in a sweet bit of twisted irony along with obscure trivia, Calvin Pickard, who was the first player ever taken by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft but never played for the team, was in net for the Oilers and he stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced in backstopping his team to a 3-2 win.

Yet the evening at T-Mobile Arena wasn’t a total loss. With Calgary losing to Utah, the Knights clinched a playoff spot. It’ll be the team’s seventh trip to the postseason in the franchise’s eight-year history.

And if the Knights intend on trying to repeat their run of 2023 which culminated with hoisting the Stanley Cup, they’re going to need Eichel to help lead the way. The 28-year-old center from Massachusetts is having a career season in so many ways. Not only is he putting up points — he’s got 92 with eight games remaining — he’s looking to finish with 100 or more, something he’s never done. He’s coming off a productive month of March, one that saw him put up eight goals and 15 assists, earning him NHL honors Tuesday as the No. 1 star for the month.

He was carrying a six-game point streak heading into Tuesday’s game  but that ended with Eichel’s being kept off the scoresheet. Twice Pickard denied him on Grade-A opportunities and he had set up his teammates a couple of times but they were unable to finish.

“You don’t have that kind of success by yourself,” Eichel said of the career season he has had to date offensively, which includes having already set the franchise’s record for points in a season. “You look around our room and you have a lot of guys having career years. I think that’s why we’re having success. It’s not just one person carrying the team. We’re getting contributions from everyone.”

And while we can marvel at his offensive exploits, we should be applauding his defensive efforts. Eichel was far from a complete player when he arrived in Vegas during the 2021-22 campaign. But under Bruce Cassidy, he has developed into one, an elite back-checker, penalty killer and an improved faceoff man.

This is the player Eichel always aspired to be. And I would argue he’s superior now to the guy who hoisted the Stanley Cup two years ago. Yes, it took him a while to get there but he has overcome so much in doing so, it makes his accomplishments that much more impressive.

“It’s about trying to help the team win every night,” Eichel said. “Part of my role is to help offensively and part of it is to help defensively. I just try to do that as well as I can. I just try to be myself every day and play my game.”

This complete player metamorphosis didn’t happen overnight. It took a public referendum in December 2022 from Cassidy on Eichel’s need to be better in his own half of the ice and for the player to accept and embrace the criticism in order for the transformation to take place.

Normally, a coach calling out a player publicly doesn’t work. It leads to hurt feelings, resistance and ultimately to change. Either the coach gets fired or the player gets traded or both.

In this case, which was back in December 2022, the coach believed in the player’s ability to grow and Cassidy was going to give Eichel every opportunity to achieve that growth, to become the “200-foot player” coaches love to talk about having.

The Golden Knights already had one of those 200-foot guys up the middle in William Karlsson. But when Eichel took his game up several levels and became dominant at both ends, that made Vegas that much tougher overall.

And when you throw in Eichel’s high hockey IQ and you pair it with Mark Stone, the team’s captain and arguably the smartest guy on the team, well, special things happen.

“I’ve been watching now for a few years and as a coach, there are some wins and losses other than what you see in the standings,” Cassidy said of Eichel’s development as a defensive player. “You like to see wins. And to me, that’s a win how Jack is painted as a player.

“I see nothing but a respectful guy who wants to learn and he’s a smart hockey guy who likes to have back-and-forth conversations, ask questions and those are the best guys to coach.

“It’s very satisfying and gratifying to see. Sometimes with young guys it takes a little longer. But he deserves every accolade he’s receiving.”  

The Knights are looking to lock up the Pacific Division title for the fourth time in the franchise’s history. And while that doesn’t guarantee anything, it certainly provides reason for optimism when it comes to looking to play for the Stanley Cup come mid-June.

They’ll have home-ice advantage through the first two rounds, and possibly the Western Conference Final should Winnipeg falter somewhere along the way. And barring any more major injuries, they should be as close to full strength at the most opportune time. Alex Pietrangelo and Tomas Hertl should be in the lineup when the playoffs begin later this month.  

Eichel himself has managed to stay healthy and on the ice this season, having missed just one game due to illness. He has put the disc replacement surgery of four years ago behind him and is currently playing the best hockey of his career.

“I think as you get older, you become smarter,” he said when it comes to preparing for a season. ”I try to take better care of myself, listen to my body and by staying on the ice, I think I’ve been able to maintain a rhythm to my game.”

And with his name already on the Stanley Cup, Eichel would like to see a repeat of 2023. He didn’t come to Vegas to win just once. He knows it’s not an easy path. But it’s one he and the majority of his current teammates have traveled before and the fact he won’t be asked to do all the heavy lifting alone makes the process that much more enjoyable.

“We have a lot of talented guys here,” he said. “I’m just trying to do my part. Hopefully we can have something special happen.”