OPINION: It’s Time We Start Mentioning Jack Eichel In Every Hart Trophy Conversation

LAS VEGAS — I know all about the Thanksgiving deadline for NHL teams and their chances of making the playoffs. My question, though, is there a date we start discussing Hart Trophy candidates, where we look at their league-wide statistical standings and how valuable they’ve become to their respective teams?

Because in my estimation, it’s about time we start mentioning Jack Eichel in every Hart Trophy conversation.

End of story, no debate.

I know Edmonton’s Connor McDavid is considered to be the best skater on the planet. I know how ridiculously good Nathan MacKinnon is for Colorado. And, I mean, Kirill Kaprizov has been a phenomenon since arriving in Minnesota.

And while those three might hold the shortest odds to win the Hart Trophy out of the league’s Thanksgiving off-day, let’s be real with all due respect to his slick skating, crafty puck-handling skills, precision passing, and ability to ignite the Vegas Golden Knights with aptly timed goals – Eichel undoubtedly deserves to have his name uttered among those considered as the league’s most valuable player.

“Jack continues to do more and more to demonstrate he is one of the best players in the NHL,” Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon told The Hockey News. “He’s a Stanley Cup Champion, he has become a tremendous two-way player, he’s at or near the top of the scoring race, sound defensively, he plays the right way every night.

“He’s all about winning.”

As of Friday, at DraftKings, Kaprizov (+285) is the favorite, followed by McDavid (+300), MacKinnon (+500), Nikita Kucherov (+750), Martin Necas (+1800) and then Eichel (+2000).

Look, we’ve seen plenty of faces come and go in the 7 1/2 years since the Knights officially embedded themselves into the fabric of Southern Nevada sports. But when it’s said and done, I have to wonder if we’ve seen a better hockey player than Eichel – the current face of the franchise.

Eichel, who finished eighth in Hart Trophy voting in 2019-20 with two fourth-place votes and eight fifth-place votes, ranks fourth in the league with 34 points entering Friday’s games. His 26 assists rank second only to MacKinnon.

Let’s go back further, though.

Since Eichel stepped on the ice for Vegas on Feb. 16, 2022, following his well-publicized neck surgery, he’s played 80 regular-season games for the Knights and ranks 26th in the NHL with 1.03 points per game.

If you include the playoffs, he inches up to 21st with 1.05 points per contest.

Heading into Friday’s game against league-leading Winnipeg, his 1.48 points per game in 2024 rank sixth in the NHL.

And even further, Eichel is on pace for 121 points this season, which would shatter his career-high 82, from the 2018-19 season, a year he didn’t receive a single vote.

The whole Thanksgiving narrative got the rusty wheels in my head spinning, so I broke out the WD-40 and did some research. If we’re going to use Thanksgiving as the gauge for playoff-caliber teams, it’s fair to lend credence to the superstars of those teams and how they’re contributing, right?

Over the last 14 seasons, including a strike-delayed campaign in 2012 and the COVID-stricken season in 2020, only six eventual Hart Trophy winners who were skaters (one was a goaltender) led the league in points through Thanksgiving.

For 2012 and 2022, I looked at Alex Ovechkin and McDavid, respectively, and their numbers through the midway point of those seasons.

The average placement of the eventual Hart winner has been 15th with an average of 28.7 points by Thanksgiving.

To reiterate: Eichel is sitting fourth with 34 points.

“He hasn’t missed a game … he’s played every night, and he looks healthy out there,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I think he’s dealt with stuff over the years. He seems to be as healthy as he’s ever been, so he’s feeling good about himself.

“I think he’s taken another step in our locker room, too. When you take out some other veteran guys, I feel like he’s more of a voice now, and I think that’s translated on the ice. Just a more confident guy. He knows that he needs to be a really good player for us to win most nights. He can have an off night like everyone else, and he wants to be that guy.”

And he has been, for the most part, with at least one point in 18 of Vegas’ 23 games.

Look, I’ll admit it, when we submitted one name for The Hockey News’ preseason predictions, I didn’t name Eichel.

Nobody did.

Of the 56 respondents predicting who would win the Hart, 41 writers chose Connor McDavid, followed by Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov, Cale Makar, Jack Hughes and David Pastrnak.

Now, as a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, we submit five choices, in order, of whom we deem worthy of Hart Trophy recognition. And if we were turning in ballots today, Eichel would be on my list.

Perhaps, in front of everyone else.

It’s about time.