Eichel has Stanley Cup on mind in 1st playoff run with Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS --Jack Eichel was in the stands when the Stanley Cup was awarded in 2019, watching a buddy live his dream, hoping he'd get to do the same one day.

Now, finally, in his first time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he has a shot at it.

The center will play for the Vegas Golden Knights against the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, starting with Game 1 at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, TBS, truTV, CBC, SN, TVAS).

"It's an opportunity you want," Eichel said after the Golden Knights advanced with a 6-0 win against the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final on Monday. "Everybody wants a chance to play in the Stanley Cup Final and a chance to compete for the ultimate goal."

Eichel has wanted it badly. He didn't get a chance to play in the playoffs in six seasons with the Buffalo Sabres after they selected him with the No. 2 pick of the 2015 NHL Draft.

When Game 7 of the Cup Final came to his hometown of Boston on June 12, 2019, he sat 10 rows off the ice at TD Garden. He had friends on the Boston Bruins and one on the St. Louis Blues, former Sabres teammate Ryan O'Reilly.

"I wanted to go for the experience," Eichel said at the NHL Player Media Tour in Chicago on Sept. 6, 2019. "It was a great experience. I knew I was going to get to see a friend of mine hoist the Stanley Cup."

Eichel watched the clock count down and the Blues mob each other in the silent rink. After he saw O'Reilly receive the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs and take his turn with the Cup, he went home.

"Just seeing the celebration and the emotion that was shown from the guys, I think, makes you want it that much more," Eichel said on Sept. 6, 2019. "I mean, it just seemed like … It was one of the cooler things I've ever seen."

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The Golden Knights acquired Eichel from the Sabres on Nov. 4, 2021, and allowed him to have a neck surgery that had never been done before on an NHL player. They expected he would return to form and become the No. 1 center they had lacked since joining the NHL as an expansion team in 2017-18.

Eichel returned and had 25 points (14 goals, 11 assists) in 34 games last season. But the Golden Knights missed the playoffs for the first time, and he missed them for the seventh time.

The good news was that Eichel was healthy and had time to adjust to Vegas, setting him up for success in the future. The Golden Knights hired coach Bruce Cassidy on June 14. Cassidy came from the Bruins and had been behind the bench that night in Boston.

Told Eichel had been in the stands for Game 7 in 2019, Cassidy said: "That tells you a bit about Jack, right? He wants to be a winner, and sometimes it just takes a little learning. I learned that as a coach. Jack is going through that, but he's going through it for the first time in the playoffs. For him to have his first (playoff run) and do it all in one fell swoop, that could be a great thing for him."

Eichel led the Golden Knights with 66 points (27 goals, 39 assists) in 67 games in the regular season, and leads them with 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in 17 games in the playoffs.

"I'm just really, really happy for him," said San Jose Sharks coach David Quinn, who coached Eichel at Boston University in 2014-15, when Eichel won the Hobey Baker Award as the top NCAA men's player and BU lost to Providence 4-3 in the national title game at TD Garden. "This guy is a world-class player. He's a world-class kid.

"It's amazing the pressure people put on players. You get to the League at a very young age. He was asked to do an awful lot. All he wants to do is play hockey and win. I couldn't be happier and prouder of him. He's an elite player and deserves everything he's getting. Anyone who doubted him is being proven wrong, that's for sure."

Eichel is in a great situation in Vegas, because he doesn't have to be the man offensively each night, and when he doesn't score, his other contributions are valued.

Take the win that put him in the Cup Final: The Golden Knights played what Cassidy called their best game of the playoffs and blew out the Stars, and Eichel didn't have a point. He did little things, like win a defensive-zone face-off that led to the fourth goal.

"Jack doesn't have to score for us to win," Cassidy said. "We need him to play well and help us win. There are different ways we account for that other than on the scoresheet."

Asked to describe his emotions after he made the Cup Final, the 26-year-old talked mostly about the team, not himself.

"I'm excited," Eichel said. "It's a great opportunity for our group. We've done a lot to get here and put ourselves in this position. It's not easy by any means. You need things to go your way, and you need to play good hockey at the right time. I think we're playing some pretty good hockey right now. I think that was a good example of it.

"Just really proud to be part of the group (with) so many great guys in this locker room. It's a great organization. So, credit to everyone, top down."

NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen and independent correspondent Aaron Vickers contributed to this report