Golden Knіgһtѕ Anаlyѕіѕ: Connor McDаvіd’ѕ Jаck Eіcһel Problem

Imagine this: you’re given a choice between drafting two top-end players. One of them is undeniably more gifted offensively and is arguably the best player in the world. The second player, however, can consistently defensively shut down the first player.

I’m starting to believe that Connor McDavid has a Jack Eichel problem.

Now, I’m not suggesting that Eichel is better than McDavid. I don’t think anyone can, or should, dispute McDavid’s greatness. But that secret chord that (Mc)David played to please the Lord? Eichel figured it out, and he tampered with McDavid’s guitar– or harp, canonically– to make it sound slightly off-key.

And, yes– Jack Eichel wasn’t exactly known for his defensive work when he was drafted. There was no way to predict that Eichel would evolve into such a skilled and effective two-way player. But they were selected with back-to-back picks in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, and it’s funny how things work out.

When Team USA played Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off, USA’s head coach, Mike Sullivan, did his best to match Eichel up against McDavid. And it worked– McDavid scored twice against Team USA, but neither goal came opposite Eichel. You have to wonder, if not for the icing call and a missed too-many-men penalty that allowed Jon Cooper to send McDavid out against a tired Matthews unit, would the result have been the same?

But I digress.

Jack Eichel has faced off against Connor McDavid 16 times as a Golden Knight. When deployed against McDavid’s line, Eichel has given up just five goals at 5v5. And it’s worth arguing that none of them were his fault.

Let’s take a look at those five 5v5 goals.

Golden Knights Snap Analysis: Tight on McDavid, Big Responses Win Game 1 - Vegas Hockey Now

11/14/2023: 4-3 L vs Edmonton

Here’s the first goal, scored by Leon Draisaitl at 1:42 in the first period. A turnover by Alex Pietrangelo took Eichel out of the play entirely.

https://twitter.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1614464724615430144

Draisaitl intercepts an Alex Pietrangelo pass meant for Eichel. He sends the puck to McDavid, who gets position on Pietrangelo and fires a shot on net. Logan Thompson makes the save, but Draisaitl bats in the bouncing puck.

Here’s the second goal, scored by Leon Draisaitl (jeez, can he chill?) at 7:22 in the second period. Once again, due to another turnover– this one forced– Eichel is on the other end of the rink.

https://twitter.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1614479245765664768

Chandler Stephenson enters the offensive zone with the puck, and Eichel drives the net. Stephenson drops a pass to Michael Amadio, but it’s in his skates. McDavid and Cody Ceci combine to knock the puck away, and Draisaitl picks it up. Only Kaedan Korczak is back defending against Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse, and Korczak eliminates Draisaitl’s passing option. That’s fine by him— Draisaitl fires a shot from the right dot that beats Thompson over the glove.

5/10/2023– 4-1 L @ Edmonton (Game 4)

Here’s the goal, scored by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at 14:45 in the second period. The goal itself isn’t on Eichel— how was Nugent-Hopkins left completely open in the slot?— but he did nothing to stop McDavid’s pass. He looked gassed. And he probably was; earlier in the play, Cody Ceci held in Brayden McNabb’s clearing attempt, keeping the Golden Knights hemmed in their zone.

https://twitter.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1656504536067080193

Cody Ceci passes to Darnell Nurse, who fires a shot wide. The puck finds McDavid, and McDavid threads a pass to Nugent-Hopkins. Nugent-Hopkins is wide open in the slot and fires a pass that beats Adin Hill blocker-side.

11/28/2023– 5-4 SOL @ Edmonton

Here’s the goal, scored by Mattias Janmark at 5:08 in the second period. Two Golden Knights are in front of the net— Kaedan Korczak and Brayden McNabb— and neither boxed out Janmark. Eichel is on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and never loses his man.

https://twitter.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1729702177118261413

Connor McDavid gets the puck and works it to Mattias Ekholm, who fires a clapper on net. Thompson makes the save, but the puck takes a bounce, rides up his stick, and bounces in off of Mattias Janmark.

12/14/2024– 6-3 L @ Edmonton

Here’s the goal, scored by Zach Hyman at 1:13 in the second period. If you watch Eichel on this play, he stays with McDavid off the faceoff. Hyman was behind the Golden Knights’ defense, completely unmarked atop the crease.

https://twitter.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1868056854745784685

Jack Eichel wins a faceoff— not cleanly, but it’s a win— against Connor McDavid. Shea Theodore can’t handle the puck and turns it over to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the slot. Nugent-Hopkins backhands a pass to Zach Hyman, who is all alone behind Theodore and Brayden McNabb in front of the net. Hyman collects the puck and backhands it past Adin Hill.

Inside Eichel’s Defensive Dominance

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Eichel’s defensive skills have flourished in Vegas. Eichel played his first game in a Golden Knights sweater on February 16th, 2022. After the Golden Knights missed the playoffs, they fired Pete DeBoer and hired Bruce Cassidy as head coach on June 14th, 2022.

Cassidy came to Vegas and immediately implemented what he called a “goalie-friendly” zone defense.

“When I say goaltender-friendly, we want to protect the high danger and slot chances that are more difficult stops,” Cassidy said to The Athletic in 2022. “So we’re going to try to minimize those opportunities. Some of those are odd-man rushes, breakaways, two-on-ones. We’ll take less risk in our game through the neutral zone. That’s what we’ve always done, so goaltenders know predominantly most of the shots are coming from the outside, or a little higher up in the slot.”

That’s exactly what he’s done. In 2022-23, the Golden Knights allowed 153 high-danger shots against at 5v5 per MoneyPuck, the 11th fewest in the league. In 2023-24, they allowed 151 and improved to 8th in the league. This season is a bit of an outlier, as they’ve already allowed 127 high-danger shots at 5v5 and are 24th in the league.

Here’s the kicker– William Karlsson and Mark Stone lead the Golden Knights in most defensive metrics. Karlsson’s 2.2 on-ice expected goals against per 60 minutes narrowly beat Stone’s 2.21; they’re both top-four on the team in fewest high-danger shot attempts against per 60 minutes.

But against Connor McDavid, Eichel finds another gear. Bruce Cassidy preaches defense-first, and Eichel fully bought in.

“Every time I looked up, [Eichel] was taking a defensive zone draw,” said Cassidy after the 4 Nations Face-Off final last night. “The coaches trust him to play against top players and win faceoffs… he should have a lot of positives from this tournament. Hopefully, [he] will take that and apply it as we go forward here. You know how I feel about Jack. I can’t say enough about him.”

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