Last night was the first time I've watched Eichel this season, and he did not disappoint. He was dominant, and he had the puck on a string all night long. He created many scoring chances for BU by himself all throughout the game, and his puck protection was outstanding. Amazing vision and patience with the puck as well. David Quinn seemed to be double shifting him the whole game, and he did not seem to tire at all from the extra ice time.
Eichel was not blazingly fast, but he definitely was mobile and moved around the ice very well, both with and without the puck. I actually think Hanifin is a better skater than him from what I've seen, but Eichel was clearly the better player last night.
With the way he was able to hang onto the puck and protect it so well and with his vision and patience with the puck, he actually reminded me a lot of Alexei Yashin at his peak (the earlier years when he was the runner-up for the Hart Trophy, not the later years when he played lazy and priced himself out of the league).
Would have liked to see him get a little bit more involved defensively and be a little more physical than what I saw last night. His defensive positioning was good for the most part, though, and he did finish his checks from what I could see. He definitely didn't initiate much contact, though, and I most certainly agree with those who wouldn't call him a power forward at all.
He has his own style of course, but the first thing I noticed was his skating.
