This article is one in a series that uses the FantasyLabs Tools to build daily fantasy scouting reports for each of the NHL’s brightest stars.
Joe Holka recently did a DFS scouting report on the No. 1 overall selection from the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Connor McDavid, showing that McDavid has historically bucked general trends by providing value in many situations that tend to be suboptimal for most NHL players. Now we’ll take a look at his classmate and the player selected No. 2, Jack Eichel.
Overall Performance
Eichel has been a strong option on most nights since he came into the league (per our Trends tool).
Performance By Season
While Eichel hasn’t been quite as impressive as McDavid during his first two seasons, he certainly hasn’t disappointed.
| Season | Points | Goals | Assists | Shots | Blocks |
| 2015-2016 | 0.70 | 0.30 | 0.40 | 2.94 | 0.31 |
| 2016-2017 | 0.84 | 0.33 | 0.51 | 4.03 | 0.62 |
Eichel has improved in every fantasy scoring category this season. While his scoring totals have seen only a slight bump, he is shooting more and has doubled his blocks per game this year. Those peripheral stats have helped his fantasy output.
Fantasy Output By Season
| Season | Count | Ex. Points | Avg. Points | Plus/Minus | Consistency | Upside |
| 2015-2016 | 81 | 2.95 | 3.30 | 0.36 | 48.10 | 14 |
| 2016-2017 | 39 | 3.79 | 4.38 | 0.60 | 48.70 | 20 |
This season Eichel’s game has outpaced his price. After an increase of 0.84 in expected points, Eichel has still increased his DraftKings Plus/Minus by a sizable amount. His career arrow is pointing up.
Trends
Let’s explore the subtleties of Eichel’s production tendencies.
Home/Road
Centers generally perform better on home ice, but Eichel’s splits are more drastic than those of average centers.
| Count | Ex. Points | Avg. Points | Plus/Minus | Consistency | Ownership | Upside | |
| Home | 61 | 3.21 | 3.93 | 0.72 | 55.7 | 11.5 | 18 |
| Road | 59 | 3.23 | 3.37 | 0.14 | 40.7 | 7.0 | 15 |
Jack averages over a half DK point more in Buffalo. He’s also much more consistent and has higher Upside at home.
Division Games
| Count | Ex. Points | Avg. Points | Plus/Minus | Consistency | Ownership | Upside | |
| Division | 43 | 3.21 | 3.91 | 0.70 | 46.50 | 8.00 | 20 |
| Non Division | 77 | 3.23 | 3.52 | 0.29 | 49.40 | 9.20 | 14 |
Whether a center is playing inside or outside his division usually doesn’t impact fantasy output all that much, but Eichel has an edge in division games. Intriguingly, Jack is more consistent outside of the Atlantic Division, but he has exhibited more Upside in division games, in which he could be a decent option in guaranteed prize pools.
Vegas
The Sabres have been one of the worst teams in the league since Eichel was drafted, so we don’t have a large sample of games in which he’s been favored.
| Count | Ex. Points | Avg. Points | Plus/Minus | Consistency | Ownership | Upside | |
| Fav | 17 | 3.35 | 4.29 | 0.94 | 52.90 | 18.2 | 17 |
| Dog | 103 | 3.20 | 3.55 | 0.35 | 47.60 | 7.0 | 16 |
Like most centers, Eichel has been better as a favorite. With the Sabres seemingly on the upswing, we should see more slates in which Vegas favors Buffalo.
Common Opponents
Give that Eichel performs well inside of his division, it’s not surprising that he tends to do well against the teams he plays most frequently.
Eichel has slayed the Senators over the course of his short career. Not only has he hit or exceeded value in five of his seven games against them, but his ownership in those games has been just over half of his average ownership percentage. Of his regular opponents, the Canadiens have given Jack the most trouble, as he’s never hit value in seven games against Montreal.
Takeaways
Eichel has been a smart play on the majority of slates so far in his career. Like most centers, he does better at home and as a favorite. In division, he could provide an edge moving forward, as his production has been higher and ownership lower when playing against Atlantic Division opponents.
