Jack Eichel's Golden Knights Debut Was One for the Books

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The newest Vegas Golden Knight, Jack Eichel, made his Golden Knights debut last night against the Colorado Avalanche. The long-awaited debut of Eichel has created a ton of anxiety within the fan base, but in a good way.

Eichel has always been considered a top player in the league despite playing for one of the worst organizations in the NHL. Now, you can’t say that he didn’t play with some good players, but for the most part it was Eichel elevating the team.

What Eichel offers in terms of speed, a great shot, terrific playmaking, it’s what makes him such an exciting player. Putting him on a team as talent and as well-rounded as the Knights, it’s going to be a lot of fun moving forward. Especially when Mark Stone returns and we can get a line of Max Pacioretty-Jack Eichel-Mark Stone.

Jack Eichel made his official return to the ice yesterday night against the Avalanche. The Vegas Golden Knights welcomed him to T-Mobile with loud cheers, long applauses, and lots of banging on the glass.

Eichel made the most of his first game as a Golden Knight. There were good and bad takeaways, but at the end of the day, I think it’s safe to say he’s going to fit in just fine.

So, let’s talk about his return to the ice and how he did.

Jack Eichel’s Vegas Golden Knights debut. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Analysis

Jack Eichel, right out of the gate was easily one of the more noticeable players on the ice. It is possible that it’s because all the eyes were on him tonight? Yes. That statement however doesn’t change the fact that he was very noticeable on the ice.

Eichel in the offensive zone showed signs of the Jack Eichel we were hoping to get. He played a strong game with the puck on his stick in both moving the puck, finding opportunities, and applying pressure.

He was for sure playing a pass-first game which led to him only having one shot on goal. However, that’s not the only good part of his game. Never has been.

As a center, you are generally looking to facilitate the puck from the middle and try getting a quick one-time opportunity to your wingers or defenseman. Now, that’s not always the case. Sometimes you get anomaly’s like Auston Matthews, but Eichel isn’t Matthews.

Eichel is a terrific goal scorer with a incredible wrist shot, but he’s always been a great playmaker and that has been his identity. Which is what he showed the Knights in this game.

Having a couple passes that led to terrific opportunities for Max Pacioretty and Evgenii Dadonov, he showed great vision and great passing. Which is something that the Knights are probably going to be asking of him a lot.

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Pacioretty is known for his great shot, and in order to balance that out, you need a guy who can pass the puck well and put it on his stick. Dadonov, although a talented player, isn’t exactly a great passer which leaves the playmaking part of the line to be on Eichel’s shoulders.

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