LAS VEGAS – Quite frankly, Jack Eichel isn’t sure what all the fuss is about.
Sure, the Vegas Golden Knights centre understands why there would be a large group of reporters gathered around his locker inside T-Mobile Arena on Saturday afternoon to discuss him qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in his eight-year career.
It’s certainly newsworthy, given the opportunity that’s in front of him, to play a pivotal role on a Golden Knights squad entering the postseason as the Western Conference top seed and a legitimate contender to be playing into June.
The way Eichel sees it, this was always going to be a matter of when, and not if.
That’s why the 26-year-old showed the requisite level of enthusiasm while engaging in a back and forth with reporters lasting more than eight minutes, but also made it clear he wasn’t going to be doing a victory lap simply for receiving an invitation to the dance.
“I’m excited. It’s something that we worked hard for. It should be a great atmosphere in here and nothing is better than playoff hockey,” said Eichel, who had 27 goals and led the Golden Knights with 66 points in 67 games. “I haven’t played in it, but watching it, it was always real intense and I’m looking forward to being a part of it.”
Eichel isn’t going to be a casual observer or ease his way into things, he’s planning to make a splash as he gets his first taste.
“It’s been a while, but it’s a desperation level, compete level, details, everything goes up. It’s no different,” said Eichel, asked about playing in high-pressure situations on his road to the NHL. “There are a lot of guys in here who have won and a lot of guys who have won a lot of playoff hockey games. We’re a pretty veteran group. There have been plenty of games where we haven’t played well but we found ways to win. Everyone understands that in here and you just want to carry that into the playoffs.”
For some, Eichel’s tumultuous departure from the Buffalo Sabres, culminating in the blockbuster deal in November of 2021 is what brings the achievement to the forefront.
One of the questions he faced on Saturday was about feeling any sort of vindication – given the way things ended with the Sabres, who chose Eichel second overall in the 2015 NHL Draft but weren’t comfortable with his desire to have artificial disk replacement surgery to repair the herniated disk in his neck
“The health thing, that’s a long way away,” said Eichel. “Everyone can probably look at it and say it was a good decision to do what I did. Having played a few years now with the disk and having other players get (the surgery), people feel more confident in it. I’m thrilled to be here and thrilled to be part of this organization. Looking back at when they first traded for me, it says a lot about the way they went about things and giving me the freedom to pursue what I wanted to do medically. I feel really good about that.
“That seems like such a long time ago. I’ve put it in the rearview mirror and just tried to focus on the present.”
That present includes chasing the first Stanley Cup for a franchise that has been to the playoffs five times in six seasons and fell three wins short in 2018 against the Washington Capitals.
“Now the ultimate goal starts and we’ll start building towards winning. We did a lot of good things in the regular season, but now, that’s behind us. Everybody has a clean slate at this point,” said Eichel. “This is a great organization to be in because their expectations are so high and I’ve said it before, that’s the type of place you want to be.
“They expect the very best out of the guys every night and every year and I think that’s a great culture to have.”
Since his arrival, Eichel has quickly impressed his new teammates with his dedication to the craft.
“He’s a rink rat,” said Golden Knights winger Reilly Smith. “He loves putting in extra work, long hours. He’s always shooting pucks or doing something at the rink, trying to get his game better.
“One of the things people outside of this locker room don’t know is how good of a teammate he is. He’s here for everyone. He got the short end of the stick when he left Buffalo and a lot of people are sour about that. But I don’t think they realized the situation in depth. He’s come in here and he’s made us a much better hockey team, both on and off the ice.”
The opening round series between the Golden Knights and Jets begins on Tuesday and Eichel will be centring the top line with Jonathan Marchessault and trade-deadline pick-up Ivan Barbashev.
When asked about his regular season, Eichel spoke about not being thrilled with his production – even though he’s operating at nearly a point-per-game pace – but feeling encouraged by the growth in his overall game.
“Just the little things that (Golden Knights head coach) Bruce (Cassidy) has harped on me a lot about. I think I’ve gotten better with it throughout the season,” said Eichel. “It was one of my better years defensively. In terms of production, it wasn’t really where I wanted it to be, but there were a lot of other things that were good parts of my game. You just want to continue to build off those going into the playoffs.”
Cassidy made it clear that the buy-in from Eichel was there right from the beginning of this season.
“He was held accountable like every guy in that room, that’s not going to change, whether you’re the highest paid, lowest paid, most experienced, least experienced, whatever. That’s just the right way to do things,” said Cassidy. “He bought into defensive play right away. Any question about Jack only caring about offence or anything like that, I’m like ‘watch the games.’
“He’s one of our best defensive centre’s. He closes as quick as any centreman on our team and values that part of the game. Whether you’re a plus/minus guy or not, his metrics have to back all of that up. He cares about defence and he did a good job for us. So that part of the challenge was accepted easily.”
One of the other changes Eichel had to get used to was a slight reduction in ice time (roughly 90 seconds per game from his career average with the Sabres), though that’s not related to performance.
“He didn’t play as much as he did in Buffalo and he probably wanted more, which I don’t blame him,” Cassidy explained. “You’re building a four-line program that can be successful starting Tuesday. You lose a little bit of playing time for the good of the group, but still be able to perform at a high level. We’ll see how that translates in the playoffs, his minutes may go up. Things are magnified.”
Speaking of magnification, Eichel will be getting plenty of attention from Jets centre Adam Lowry and his checking line, along with top defence pair Josh Morrissey and Dylan DeMelo.
That comes with the territory when you’re a star player and it’s something Eichel has been dealing with dating back to minor hockey.
So that won’t be a new issue for him to tackle either.
While Eichel is going to be feeling plenty of juice when the puck drops on Tuesday, he’s not about to be overwhelmed by the situation.
He’s played on the big stage before and he’s eager to perform on this one as well.
“At the end of the day, it’s hockey, right?” Eichel asked rhetorically. “I’ve been doing it for a couple of minutes, so I should be alright.”
This is Eichel’s time to shine and he won’t be satisfied until he goes on a lengthy run and makes his mark.