Is this the season we get the full Jack Eichel experience?
Jack Eichel’s Vegas Golden Knights are a perfect 3-0-0 and his seven points are tied for the early-early-season scoring lead. Is this a sign of things to come? Ryan Dixon digs in.
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Jack Eichel turns 28 in a couple weeks, has a signature playoff performance under his belt and the 2023 Stanley Cup ring to prove it. And yet, it sometimes feels like we still haven’t had, from puck drop in October through the post-season grind, the full Eichel experience.
Maybe this is the season that changes.
Eichel’s Vegas Golden Knights won two games over the weekend to run their record to a perfect 3-0-0 and Eichel’s seven points have him tied with Russians Artemi Panarin and Evgeni Malkin for the early, early-season scoring lead.
The bugaboo for Eichel to this point in his career has, obviously, been health. Only one time since his rookie year of 2015-16 was the American centre able to play more than 70 games in an NHL season. I was in the seats early in his second NHL training camp when, on a routine drill, Eichel got twisted up with another Buffalo Sabre and sustained a high-ankle sprain that complicated his sophomore season before it ever really even began. I still remember a scream, followed by a long, uneasy silence.
That was a bad harbinger of more serious things to come, most notably the neck injury — and the approach to healing it — that wound up finalizing his divorce from Buffalo and rebirth in Vegas.
Even in the desert, though, Eichel has not been able to play more than 67 games in either of his two full seasons there. If that changes this season, could we finally be looking at the 100-point campaign that’s always felt very within reach for the guy picked No. 2 behind Connor McDavid nearly 10 years ago in 2015?
Eichel is one of a few key Knights hoping for healthy runs this year, including Shea Theodore (only 47 games played last season), Mark Stone (56) and Alex Pietrangelo (64). Toss in full seasons for two deadline acquisitions last winter — centre Tomas Hertl and rearguard Noah Hanifin — and you can start to see why, even with the departure of free agents Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson, it’s easy to envision Vegas back up at the top of the Pacific this time out after scrapping it out for a wild-card berth last spring.
(By the way, Theodore can become a UFA in 2025 and Eichel is somehow now UFA-eligible less than two years from now, in 2026.)
Heck, the Knights already have a six-point head start on the winless Edmonton Oilers, should it come down to those two at the top of the division in April.
After three straight home wins, Vegas heads out for a trio of road games this week. And a few more positive results in those games will make it even easier to believe Eichel and his crew can be at their best this season.
Long Weekend Takeaways
• Just call him “Milestone Malkin.” After already collecting his 800th career assist and 1,300th point this season, future Hall of Famer Evgeni Malkin sits one goal from 500 after potting an ENG in Pittsburgh’s 6-3 victory in Montreal on Monday night. Although the past two non-playoff years have been tough in Steeltown, it’s worth noting — after years of struggling to suit up regularly — Malkin has played a full 82 in each of the past two seasons. Before that, he hadn’t dressed for every Penguins game since winning the scoring race in 2008-09.
• Dylan Guenther is sure doing his best to justify the decision of all those eager fantasy hockey players who snagged him early on in snake drafts or got a little drunken sailor at their fantasy auction. Utah Hockey Club was blanked Monday by the New Jersey Devils, but Guenther is still leading the NHL with five goals on just 14:45 of ice time per game. And don’t sleep on Guenther’s teammate Barrett Hayton as a breakout candidate. The fifth-overall pick in 2018 — who did have 19 goals two years ago — is off to an awesome start as UHC’s No. 1 centre, notching five points through four games.
• Forget the “it’s early” talk, teams and players can get testy fast when things are going poorly. We’ve got Cale Makar saying, “It’s definitely a lot closer game if I don’t play” following a gruesome 6-2 home loss to the Islanders on Monday for the 0-0-3 Avalanche. Meanwhile, in Buffalo, captain Rasmus Dahlin and Peyton Krebs got into it during practice on Monday, even after the 1-3-0 Sabres pulled off a had-to-have-it victory on Saturday over Florida. Let’s see how things go this week with 0-0-3 Edmonton and 0-2-0 Nashville, with all those shiny new toys in the lineup.
The Week Ahead
• All watery eyes in the hockey world will be on Columbus on Tuesday night, as the Blue Jackets pay tribute to Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau ahead of their home-opener. Guy Gaudreau, father of Johnny and Matthew, is in Columbus and was on the ice with the Jackets during practice on Monday.
• Will this week bring the first goal of the season for Connor McDavid and reigning Rocket Richard winner Auston Matthews?
• Hard-nosed defenceman Luke Schenn is set to play his 1,000th career NHL game on Thursday in Nashville versus the Oilers. If both teams are still looking for their first ‘W’ of the campaign, it could be a heated affair.
Red and White Power Rankings
1. Toronto Maple Leafs (2-1-0) A .940 save percentage through two starts as a Leaf for Anthony Stolarz? That’ll do.
2. Winnipeg Jets (3-0-0) What a fantastic start to the year for a team almost everyone pegged to take a step back from last season’s 110-point showing.
3. Edmonton Oilers (0-3-0) Nobody is going to get too down on the Oilers just yet, but it’s hard to ignore the lopsided nature of Edmonton’s three losses. It’s just wild that the Oilers are at the bottom of the league with a minus-12 goal differential.
4. Calgary Flames (3-0-0) How can you not be happy for Jonathan Huberdeau, who has five points through three games for the Flames?
5. Vancouver Canucks (0-0-2) After failing to get a victory in two home games, the Canucks hit the road for seven of their next 10 outings.
6. Ottawa Senators (2-1-0) Per the NHL, the seven power-play goals Ottawa and L.A. combined for in the Sens’ crazy 8-7 victory on Monday is the most in a game since Anaheim and Vancouver had the same amount more than 10 years ago, in January 2014.
7. Montreal Canadiens (2-2-0) After four games in six nights to start the year, the Habs can let things breathe a bit with four in the next 12. That will give the squad some practice time to work on its defensive structure, which has been non-existent at times so far.
