Jack Eichel

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Jack Eichel
Jack Eichel - Buffalo Sabres.jpg
Eichel with the Buffalo Sabres in 2016
Born (1996-10-28) October 28, 1996 (age 24)
North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, U.S.
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 213 lb (97 kg; 15 st 3 lb)
Position Center
Shoots Right
NHL team Buffalo Sabres
National team  United States
NHL Draft 2nd overall, 2015
Buffalo Sabres
Playing career 2015–present

Jack Eichel[1] (born October 28, 1996)[2] is an American professional ice hockey center and captain of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed the "Eichel Tower" for his dominating presence, Eichel was selected second overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres. Before entering the league, Eichel was described at the age of 17 as "the new face of American hockey," and he is considered a member of a rising class of generational talents in the sport, along with fellow 2015 draftee Connor McDavid.[3][4]

Eichel was the recipient of the 2015 Hobey Baker Award, given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player.[5] He was the second freshman to win the award and the first since Paul Kariya who won it first in 1993.[6]

Playing career[]

Amateur[]

Eichel grew up in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts.[7] He played for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program team during the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons,[8] and was recognized for his outstanding play during the 2013–14 season when he was named to the United States Hockey League Second All-Star Team.[9] After his second season within the Development Program, Eichel signed a letter of intent to commit to Boston University of the Hockey East on April 29, 2014.[10]

On April 10, 2015, Eichel became the second freshman to win the Hobey Baker Award, which was previously won by Paul Kariya in 1993. In 40 games with Boston University, Eichel led the nation in scoring with 26 goals, 45 assists, and 71 points. Eichel was also the Hockey East scoring champion, Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, First Team Hockey East and a member of the All-Rookie Team, and was named MVP of the conference tournament. Eichel was projected to be the second overall selection in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft behind projected first overall pick Connor McDavid.[11]

Professional[]

Buffalo Sabres[]

On June 26, 2015, Eichel was selected 2nd overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, one pick after the Edmonton Oilers selected Connor McDavid. In the months leading up to the draft, considerable interest and hype arose surrounding Eichel and McDavid, both seen as generational talents.[4] For example, the sports section of the Buffalo News regularly published the "McEichel Derby," a graphic of the teams at the bottom of the standings.[12] On July 1, 2015, Eichel signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Sabres.[13]

On August 13, 2015, Eichel signed a sponsorship deal with Bauer Hockey, which states Eichel will wear its equipment exclusively and Bauer will provide him with its apparel.[14]

Eichel scored his first NHL goal on October 8, 2015, becoming the youngest player in Sabres history to do so, in his first game in the NHL against the Ottawa Senators.[15] He finished his rookie campaign with 24 goals and 56 points in 81 games, being the Sabres' top goalscorer and second in points (after Ryan O'Reilly) and second in both criteria among rookies, after Artemi Panarin. On October 12, 2016, Eichel suffered a severe high ankle sprain to his left ankle in practice and had to be helped off of the ice;[16] he missed the first two months of the season before making his season debut on November 29. He finished the year with 24 goals and 33 assists in just 61 games.[17]

Before the 2017–18 season, on October 3, 2017, the Sabres signed Eichel to an eight-year, $80 million contract extension worth $10 million annually which began at the start of the 2018–19 season.[18] On December 15, 2017, Eichel scored his first career hat trick against the Carolina Hurricanes in a 5–4 loss.[19] On January 11, 2018, Eichel was selected as the sole representative of the Sabres for the 2018 NHL All-Star game. This was the first NHL All-Star game of Eichel's career.[20] During a game in February against the Boston Bruins, Eichel sprained his ankle and was ruled out for 4–6 weeks.[21] He returned 15 games later to help the Sabres beat the Chicago Blackhawks for the first time since 2009.[22] Eichel finished the 2017–18 season with 25 goals and 39 assists for a total of 64 points in only 67 games.

During the summer before the 2018–19 season, Eichel changed his jersey number from 15 to 9, the same number he wore at Boston University.[23] On October 3, 2018, before the beginning of the regular season, Eichel was named the captain of the Sabres.[24] On March 10, 2019, Eichel was suspended for two games for illegally checking Colorado Avalanche player Carl Söderberg in the head.[25] On March 28, 2019, Eichel scored his 100th career goal in a 5–4 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings.[26]

On November 16, 2019, Eichel scored four goals in a 4–2 win over the Ottawa Senators.[27] He was the seventh Sabres player to record four goals in one game and first since Thomas Vanek did it on April 10, 2010.[28] On December 7, Eichel recorded two assists to reach 300 career points in a 6–5 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks.[29] On January 2, 2020, Eichel became the first player in Sabres history to score a penalty shot goal in overtime, and also set a franchise record for goals scored in overtime, as the Sabres won 3–2 against the Edmonton Oilers.[30] On February 1, Eichel scored the eighth overtime goal of his career in a 2–1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, improving the previous franchise record for most regular-season overtime goals.[31]

On April 14, 2021, it was announced that Eichel would miss the remainder of the 2020–21 season in order to recover from surgery required to repair a spinal disc herniation. In May, Eichel, along with Sam Reinhart, expressed their frustration with the Sabres. He stated, "I have a lot of thinking to do in this offseason... there's a lot I have to consider."[32]

International play[]

Medal record
Representing  United States
Ice hockey
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Czech Republic
IIHF World U18 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2014 Finland
Silver medal – second place 2013 Russia

As a 15-year-old Eichel represented the United States at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics.[33] He won a bronze medal with Team USA at the 2013 World U-17 Hockey Challenge[34] and a silver medal at the 2013 IIHF World U18 Championships.[35] The following season he helped the USA squad capture the gold medal at the 2014 IIHF World U18 Championships,[36] and he competed as a 17-year-old as Team USA's youngest player at the 2014 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.[37] Eichel represented Team USA in the 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship.

At the conclusion of his freshman season with the Terriers, Eichel was named to make his full international debut with Team USA at the 2015 World Championships.[38] Eichel scored 2 goals, including a game winner in the group stage against Slovakia, and 5 assists during the tournament, where Team USA won bronze.[39] Eichel was selected to the 2017 Team USA IIHF World Championship roster.[40] Team USA was eliminated in the quarter finals and placed 5th overall. Eichel recorded zero goals and five assists in eight games at the championship.

On April 19, 2019, Eichel was selected to represent Team USA at the 2019 IIHF World Championship, held in Bratislava and Kosice, Slovakia.[41]

Career statistics[]

Regular season and playoffs[]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2012–13 U.S. National Development Team USHL 35 13 14 27 14 — — — — —
2013–14 U.S. National Development Team USHL 24 20 25 45 20 — — — — —
2014–15 Boston University HE 40 26 45 71 28 — — — — —
2015–16 Buffalo Sabres NHL 81 24 32 56 22 — — — — —
2016–17 Buffalo Sabres NHL 61 24 33 57 22 — — — — —
2017–18 Buffalo Sabres NHL 67 25 39 64 32 — — — — —
2018–19 Buffalo Sabres NHL 77 28 54 82 26 — — — — —
2019–20 Buffalo Sabres NHL 68 36 42 78 34 — — — — —
2020–21 Buffalo Sabres NHL 21 2 16 18 6 — — — — —
NHL totals 375 139 216 355 142 — — — — —

International[]

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2013 United States U17 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 3 0 3 2
2013 United States WJC18 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 1 1 2 6
2014 United States WJC18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 5 5 10 2
2014 United States WJC 5th 5 1 4 5 0
2015 United States WJC 5th 5 1 3 4 6
2015 United States WC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 10 2 5 7 8
2016 Team North America WCH 5th 3 1 1 2 0
2017 United States WC 5th 8 0 5 5 4
2019 United States WC 7th 8 2 6 8 2
Junior totals 29 11 13 24 16
Senior totals 29 5 17 22 14

Awards and honors[]

Award Year
USHL
USHL Second All-Star Team 2014 [42]
College
HE All-Rookie Team 2015
HE Rookie of the Year 2015
HE First All-American Team 2015
HE First All-Star Team 2015
HE Player of the Year 2015
HE Champions 2015
HE Tournament MVP 2015
HE Scoring Champion 2015
HE Three Stars Award 2015
NCAA Rookie of the Year 2015
Hobey Baker Award 2015 [43]
NHL
NHL All-Rookie Team 2016 [44]
NHL All-Star Game 2018, 2019, 2020 [45]
International
Winter Youth Olympics 2012 [46]
World U-17 Hockey Challenge Bronze Medal 2013 [47]
IIHF World U18 Championship Silver Medal 2013 [48]
IIHF World U18 Championship Gold Medal 2014 [49]
CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game MVP 2014

References[]

  1. ^ [1] "Pure gold: @Jack_Eichel11 takes the ice with a 7-year-old @TimHortonsUS Timbit & shares some pointers." Retrieved January 26, 2019
  2. ^ "Jack Eichel Stats and News". NHL.com. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  3. ^ Klein, Jeff Z. (October 2, 2014). "At 17, Jack Eichel Is Seen as the New Face of American Hockey". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Mather, Victor (October 7, 2015). "Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel Heralded as N.H.L.'s Next Stars". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  5. ^ "Boston University's Jack Eichel wins Hobey Baker Award". Boston Globe. April 10, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  6. ^ May, Peter (March 28, 2015). "Big Decision (and Plenty of Advice) for Hockey Prospect". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  7. ^ Gleason, Bucky (July 4, 2015). "Jack Eichel's work ethic makes him a perfect fit for Buffalo". The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  8. ^ "Player Feature – Eichel Uses Experience to Motivate". USA Hockey. April 15, 2014.
  9. ^ "Top 2014 prospects highlight USHL All-Star teams".
  10. ^ "Jack Eichel signs Letter of Intent to play college hockey at Boston University". SB Nation College Hockey. April 29, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
  11. ^ Mahoney, Andrew (April 10, 2015). "Boston University's Jack Eichel wins Hobey Baker Award". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  12. ^ Harrington, Mike (March 22, 2015). "The McEichel Derby: It may be a two-team race as Oilers pull out OT win over Flyers while Sabres, Coyotes lose again". buffalonews.com. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  13. ^ "Sabres sign Eichel to entry-level contract". Buffalo Sabres. July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  14. ^ "Eichel signs sponsorship deal with Bauer Hockey". tsn.ca. August 13, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  15. ^ Wharnsby, Tim (October 9, 2015). "Sabres forward Jack Eichel scores in NHL debut". NHL.com. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  16. ^ "Eichel won't play for U.S. at worlds, needs rest".
  17. ^ https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/e/eicheja01.html
  18. ^ "Sabres, Eichel agree to terms on extension". NHL.com. October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  19. ^ The Canadian Press (December 15, 2017). "Slavin scores OT winner as Hurricanes top Sabres". TSN.ca. Buffalo, NY: TSN. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  20. ^ Yerdon, Joe (January 11, 2018). "Eichel honored to represent Sabres at All-Star Game". NHL.com. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  21. ^ "Sabres' Eichel out 4 to 6 weeks with sprained right ankle". sportsnet.ca. February 11, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  22. ^ Yerdon, Joe (March 17, 2018). "Eichel has assist in return, Sabres top Blackhawks". nhl.com. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  23. ^ "Eichel unveils new, old number, former teammate Kane chimes in". NHL.com. July 6, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  24. ^ "Sabres name Eichel captain". TSN.ca. October 3, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  25. ^ "Eichel suspended two games for actions in Sabres game against Avalanche". NHL.com. March 10, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  26. ^ "Red Wings recover, top Sabres in OT". NHL.com. March 28, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  27. ^ Ludwiczak, Mark (November 16, 2019). "Eichel scores career-high 4 goals, Sabres top Senators 4-2". AP News. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  28. ^ Ryndak, Chris (November 16, 2019). "Eichel's 4-goal game lifts Sabres over Senators". NHL.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  29. ^ "Facts and Figures: Aho scores three ways for Hurricanes". NHL.com. December 7, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  30. ^ Engel, Heather (January 2, 2020). "Eichel scores on OT penalty shot to lift Sabres past Oilers". NHL.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021. Eichel is the first player in Sabres history to score a penalty-shot goal in overtime. ... Eichel scored his seventh overtime goal in the NHL, moving him past Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek for most in Buffalo history.
  31. ^ Engel, Heather (February 1, 2020). "Eichel, Sabres end Blue Jackets winning streak at six". NHL.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021. Eichel scored his eighth career NHL overtime goal, the most in Sabres history.
  32. ^ Vogl, John. "Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart vent frustration with Sabres. Is a trade next and how soon?". The Athletic. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  33. ^ "Eichel To Represent Team Usa At Youth Olympics". Boston Junior Bruins. November 2, 2011.
  34. ^ "Top U.S. prospect Jack Eichel serves notice at world junior".
  35. ^ USPHL: Five Alumni Invited To World Junior Camp Archived September 23, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  36. ^ "U.S. captures gold medal at U-18 Worlds".
  37. ^ Reserved., . All Rights (December 30, 2013). "Age doesn't hinder American Jack Eichel at World Juniors".
  38. ^ "Jack Eichel named to Team USA for World Champs". USAToday. April 18, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  39. ^ Hamilton, Paul (May 17, 2015). "Eichel and the U.S. win bronze". WGR 550. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  40. ^ "Eichel Added to 2017 U.S. Men's National Team". usahockey.com. Colorado Springs, Colo. April 19, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  41. ^ "First 17 players named to 2019 U.S. Men's national team". USA Hockey. April 19, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  42. ^ "All-USHL First and Second Teams Named for 2013–14".
  43. ^ "Boston University's Jack Eichel wins Hobey Baker Award – The Boston Globe".
  44. ^ "NHL announces All-Rookie Team".
  45. ^ "Eichel honored to represent Sabres at All-Star Game". NHL.com. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  46. ^ "U.S. Youth Olympic Team Settles for Fourth – Amateur Hockey News – January 21, 2012".
  47. ^ "USA's Jack Eichel, 17, already turning heads".
  48. ^ "2014 U18 Video: Jack Eichel, USA – Hockey's Future". April 28, 2014.
  49. ^ Notebook (April 28) – Team USA Captures Gold at U18 Worlds | USA Hockey

External links[]

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Johnny Gaudreau 		Hockey East Player of the Year
2014–15 		Succeeded by
Kevin Boyle
Thatcher Demko
Preceded by
 Hockey East Rookie of the Year
2014–15 		Succeeded by
Colin White
Preceded by
Connor Hellebuyck 		Hockey East Tournament MVP
2015 		Succeeded by
Kevin Boyle
Preceded by
Johnny Gaudreau 		Hockey East Scoring Champion
2014–15 		Succeeded by
Andrew Poturalski
Preceded by
 Hockey East Three-Stars Award
2014–15 		Succeeded by
Kevin Boyle
Preceded by
Johnny Gaudreau 		Hobey Baker Award
2014–15 		Succeeded by
Jimmy Vesey
Preceded by
Johnny Gaudreau 		NCAA Ice Hockey Scoring Champion
2014–15 		Succeeded by
Kyle Connor
Preceded by
Sam Anas 		Tim Taylor Award
2014–15 		Succeeded by
Kyle Connor
Preceded by
Sam Reinhart 		Buffalo Sabres first round draft pick
2015 		Succeeded by
Alexander Nylander
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Brian Gionta 		Buffalo Sabres captain
2018–present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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