[sureLoss]

Another Eichel article
http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/11...sity-lava-lamp

It's hard to picture him not playing in the NHL next season. A few NHL scouts today believe Eichel could step in and be a No. 1 center this season. Eichel is expected to go either first or second overall, depending on where Connor McDavid, who is playing for the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League, goes.

This has been predicted for a while now. This has NHL scouts and GMs salivating.

Eichel is a whisker over 6-foot-1, with 195 sinewy pounds on his frame. As he walked to the shooting practice cage underneath BU's Agannis Arena with Drake bumping in his earbuds, he has a spring to his step. He walks the Earth with mini-calf raises.

On the latest round of strength testing, he front-squatted 320 pounds, cleaned 335 pounds, had a close-grip bench press of 250 pounds, a pull-up max of 25 reps, and body fat percentage of 6.3 percent.

25 pull ups already? imagine how much better than Bennett he will be

Watching any young top NHL prospects, people often look for comparables to give them a vision of a player's style and perhaps potential. Sometimes players themselves do this.

"I like looking at Mike Modano," said Eichel, referring to the first overall pick in 1988. "Him being an American, and his career speaks for itself. I like watching [Sidney] Crosby and Toews; those guys do everything so well. But, I think I play pretty similar to Jeff Carter. Big, strong, skilled power forward."

Eichel has a long, powerful stride that makes him a deceptively fast skater, much like the stride Mario Lemieux had. He looks like he is not working hard, but that is because he has such a long, graceful, efficient stride, like he is floating on the ice.

Eichel has an abnormally long reach like Evgeni Malkin, and he does a great job protecting the puck with that reach. He also has great vision, seeing plays before they happen and plays that other players don't see. If you play with Eichel, you'd better make sure your stick is on the ice and never doubt that he can get you the puck.

He accelerates with his head up carrying the puck and has the skill and attitude to beat players one-on-one. What makes players like Eichel so promising at the next level is that he also has a big-time release and a goal-scoring touch and also scores from bad angles like great players seem to do. He's a game-changer who makes players around him better.

An area Eichel wants to improve on?

"I want to work on bearing down on the net," Eichel said. "Bearing down and getting that goal that can help separate us on the scoreboard. "