Sabres coach Bylsma has good read on rookie Eichel

NEW YORK -- Buffalo Sabres coach Dan Bylsma has a unique way of telling if rookie center Jack Eichel is going to have his legs and his 'A' game on any given night.

He listens.

"[Eichel] can be engaged in the game vocally and that's really to me a big indicator of where he is on the ice," Bylsma said. "Doing it night in and night out is a challenge. Traveling and getting in at 5 in the morning is a challenge. It's a challenge for everybody, but a challenge for young guys that may not be accustomed to play this many games in this rapid succession. [Talking on the bench] translates into him skating. It translates into him using his feet."

Bylsma said Eichel has been fairly consistent this season with his bench chatter save for a stretch between U.S. Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"It has been there really since the Christmas break," Bylsma said.

It only makes sense then that Eichel has been fairly consistent on the ice too despite admitting to being tested by the mental grind of his first NHL season.

Eichel will play in his 50th game of the season Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators. He'll enter the NHL All-Star break with five more games played than he had all of last season combining his time at Boston University and with the United States at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship.

He has 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points, putting him third among rookies in each category.

"Definitely you learn when you play more games, but I think he's done a great job this year with handling everything, the pressure that he has on him," Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons said of Eichel. "I think he's done a tremendous job."

Eichel said the mental grind is far more taxing on him now than the physical grind of the NHL season.

"All of us train so hard, eat the right way and we have so many strength and conditioning people, trainers, people that take care of you," Eichel said. "But mentally, just getting up for every game and preparing the right ways and doing the right things, it's a long season. You're on the ice everyday, but you're playing hockey and it's what you love to do so you really can't complain."

To get through it, Eichel said he leans heavily on the Sabres veterans, particularly forwards Matt Moulson and David Legwand. Eichel lives in Moulson's house.

"It's nice to have guys like [Legwand] and it's great to live with a guy like Matt because they help you through it," Eichel said. "Like the other guys say, you're not going to have it 82 times a year, so just know that and don't get frustrated at yourself. I think that's what I've tried to do."

Bylsma doesn't expect Eichel to be at his best every night either, but now he knows the teen's tell for when he might not have it.

"If he's not talking on the bench, he might not be moving his feet on the ice," Bylsma said.

Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl