2015 NHL Mock Draft: Sabres Select Jack Eichel
The Fansided Network will be having a month long mock draft with each team blog selecting their team’s player. The next one up is Sabre Noise, bringing the Buffalo Sabres selection of Jack Eichel.
Jack Eichel
NCAA Team: Boston University Terriers
2014-2015 Stats: 61 points
Accolades: Hobey Baker Award 2014-2015. Hockey East championship. Bean Pot Championship. Brought his team to the Frozen Four championship game.
Prospect Profile
If it weren’t for Connor McDavid, Eichel would be who is getting all the noise. The 18 year old dominated college hockey this year with the most points by a freshman since the early 1990s.
He went overseas to play for USA in the IIHF, where they took home a bronze. Eichel was a big part of it, scoring the overtime game winner against Slovakia to advance out of their division.
Plain and simple, what stands out about Eichel is his skating ability. He can smate circles around some players. He’s fast, calm, and he knows what to do with the puck.
Elite Prospects has this to say about Eichel:
"When Jack Eichel is on the ice, the pace of the play shifts; if players can’t keep up, they are left behind. A consistent scoring threat on the ice, Eichel possesses next-level hockey-IQ, an elite-level skillset, and the natural size and work ethic to let him play his role as a scoring power center. All-in-all, Jack Eichel is that uncontainable, dynamic center that can make other players look out of place in his wake."
How He Fits
It’s not confirmed that the actual Sabres WILL draft Eichel (yeah, it is) but they are making every accommodation possible for his arrival. They’ve already signed his Boston University linemate, Evan Rodrigues.
The Sabres will be a different team in 2015-2016 than the cellar dwellers we saw this past year. They will get their first look at Evander Kane after trading for him, and Sam Bennett should be up again. But what is going to change the hockey culture in Buffalo will be Eichel.
Some people think Eichel may return to Boston University instead of going to Buffalo in year one. He hasn’t declared he will go to the NHL yet, but it almost seems certain he will be donning the blue and yellow next season.
The next selection will come later today when Howling Hockey will draft representing the Arizona Coyotes.