When Jack Eichel broke David Perron's single-season assists record for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2024-25, it was a foregone conclusion that he was going to be the one. He was destined to set up sterling passes for his teammates to score if he played a full season.
Alas, that time came as Eichel finished with 66 assists. He also came up short of the 100-point mark, despite averaging more than a point per game. It seems likely that the Olympic gold medalist will hold onto that record for quite some time. After all, he's an American on America's Team, right?
This is where things get interesting. You might know of a man named Mitch Marner on the Golden Knights. Last season, he posted 56 assists in his first year of his Vegas residency. Those are just standard numbers for the former "Core Four" member. However, that puts him on the warning track of that single-season assists record.
But it isn't just for the upcoming season that Eichel should worry about. In fact, this can be a sticking point for the Olympic gold medalist down the road. Imagine the damage that Marner can do if he gets a star winger on his line (think Jason Robertson if Kelly McCrimmon works his magic).
Here's a deeper look at why Mitch Marner is the biggest threat to Jack Eichel's single-season assists record
Believe it or not, Marner was one two of the most productive lines for the Golden Knights in 2025-26. He was one of the wings on Mark Stone and Brett Howden's line, which had a team-best xGoals% of 68.3. He was also part of the third-best line here with Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev (xGoals% of 61.4).
While Dorofeyev was traded to the New York Rangers over the summer, the former Maple Leaf has shown that he can adapt with different forwards. That Hertl-Marner-Dorofeyev line had 314 shot attempts last season, good for sixth on the Golden Knights. But the playoffs were a different matter.
The line of Marner, Howden, and William Karlsson was Vegas's most efficient with an xGoals% of 57.7%. Howden is rising up as a goal-scorer and Karlsson has shown his ability to score when called upon. But the Canadian Olympian has also shown his ability to create goals with Hertl in tow, making him the perfect adversary for Eichel.
Watch for the single-season assists record battle to go down between Eichel and Marner for years. The two superstars are always threats to produce ungodly amounts of assists in a season, making them the most likely to hold the record. Who knows? That record could topple this season.
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