NHL Draft: Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel March update

Connor McDavid's season continues to impress amid lofty hype. (Getty Images)

When we started reviewing the top two draft prospects, this semi-monthly post was titled "Connor McDavid vs. Jack Eichel update." As the season has gone on, it's pretty clear that there is a distinct No. 1 prospect and a distinct No. 2 pick for the upcoming 2015 NHL Entry Draft. The "vs." tag really doesn't fit anymore. The amazing thing about the distinct order of these two prospects is that we're still talking about two of the best prospects to enter the draft in about a decade.

Both McDavid and Eichel are doing cartoonish things in their respective leagues, which is why the disastrous seasons for the Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Arizona Coyotes and Carolina Hurricanes could all be worth it.

The way the draft lottery is set up this year means that there is an 80 percent chance that the last-place team will not land the first overall pick and be able to take McDavid. Last place, does however, 100 percent guarantee the team will draft second overall and be able to at least get Eichel. In a lot of years, the second overall pick is a nice consolations prize. This year, it's a great one.

It is looking more and more like the Sabres, lucky enough to be so bad they are still beating out multiple other really poor teams, are going to get one of these two players around which to build their franchise. Within that window, much will be expected of both, but as should be abundantly clear, neither of these players can make a team a championship contender on his own.

The Pittsburgh Penguins won a Cup after Sidney Crosby arrived, but they also had a litany of top-five draft picks as major contributors to that title, including Evgeni Malkin (No. 2 overall), Marc-Andre Fleury (No. 1) and Jordan Staal (No. 2). The Chicago Blackhawks won a pair of Stanley Cups with Patrick Kane (No. 1) and Jonathan Toews (No. 3) leading the way together, not to mention second-round gems like Duncan Keith and Brandon Saad and spending to the salary cap.

But both of these players looks like the kind that you can start building a contender in earnest around and that's why being so bad will feel so good come June for the Sabres and whoever else finds themselves in the top two.

As we've done with each update, here's how McDavid and Eichel compare to their recent top-prospect counterparts on a points-per-game basis.

No. 1 picks in their draft season 2005-2015
Draft Year	Player	League	Points per game
2005	Sidney Crosby	QMJHL	2.71
2015	Connor McDavid	OHL	2.54*
2007	Patrick Kane	OHL	2.50
2010	Taylor Hall	OHL	1.86
2009	John Tavares	OHL	1.85
2015	Jack Eichel	NCAA	1.79*
2008	Steven Stamkos	OHL	1.72
2013	Nathan MacKinnon	QMJHL	1.70
2012	Nail Yakupov	OHL	1.64
2011	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	WHL	1.53

* -- Statistics through March 14.

These points-per-game scoring rates for both Eichel and McDavid are interesting, but it also helps to know the differences between the two leagues when it comes to scoring rates. One way is to look at NHL equivalencies (NHLe), devised by Gabriel Desjardins (you can find an explainer here). Statistical analyst Rob Vollman has also continually updated NHLe, and in his last update, a point in the OHL translated to 0.30 points in the NHL, while a point in Hockey East, the conference in which Eichel's Boston University plays, a point is worth 0.33 in the NHL.

NHLe isn't meant to be taken as gospel (especially since age corrections can change these numbers), but it gives a little bit of a different look at the per-game rates. Perhaps the best use of NHLe is to comapre player production between the OHL and NCAA, which offer fairly different degrees of difficulty when it comes to scoring.

So, for reference, McDavid's NHLe from a 2.54 points-per-game rate in the OHL is 0.76 in the NHL, while Eichel's NHLe would be 0.59. That works out to McDavid generating about 62 points over an 82-game season, and Eichel putting up about 48 over the same span.

Let's take a look at what these two players have been up to over the past month.

Connor McDavid

Age: 18
Height: 6-feet-1 Weight: 187 pounds
2014-15 stat line: 44 GP, 42-70--112, 44 PIM

We haven't had a McDavid-Eichel update since January and since then, McDavid has been busy. First off, he continued his point streak in the OHL which started before he broke his hand in mid-November. The Erie Otters captain had points in 27 straight contests until Wednesday, when the streak finally ended. Over that lengthy scoring run, he had 11 games in which he put up three or more points. He also had three points in the first game after the streak was broken.

His virtuoso performance of the season came in late February, when McDavid put up four goals -- notching his first (and still only) hat trick in the OHL -- and two assists for a comical six-point night against the Guelph Storm. McDavid also scored a few of his finest goals of the season in that game, which we'll have for you in a minute.

McDavid's Otters currently sit second in the OHL's Western Conference behind the loaded Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, though Erie did claim the Midwest Division already. The Otters have just four games left before the regular season ends. The postseason will hopefully include a showdown between the Otters and Greyhounds as that will be an excellent test for both McDavid and his vastly improved team.

McDavid surpassed the 100-point mark and despite playing 18 fewer games than OHL leading scorer and fellow draft eligible Mitchell Marner, McDavid is third in the league with 112 points. Marner, who should end up as a top-five pick, has 124 while averaging two points per game.

You don't need me to tell you that McDavid's 2.54 points per game is simply ridiculous. Had he been able to play the full 68 games for the Otters this season, that per-game rate would have worked out to a staggering 172 points. Sidney Crosby had 168 points in 62 games for Rimouski in his draft-eligible season in the QMJHL, a 2.70 per-game average. The pre-draft year comparisons are warranted.

This season McDavid, amid hype not seen since Crosby, has hit every benchmark and even surpassed some along the way. Time and time again, he has proven that he is what everyone has been saying he is. That's not easy to do.

Highlight of the month: McDavid's six-point night against Guelph on Feb. 25 could go down as his signature performace of the season. The talented center's second goal in particular was one of his highlights of the season. He went end-to-end through multiple Storm players. His third and fourth goals were pretty darn impressive as well. McDavid is simply a magician and he's so far ahead of everyone else on the ice in the OHL, it's hard to believe he's even allowed to play anymore. Here are all six points:

Jack Eichel

Age: 18
Height: 6-feet-2 Weight: 194 pounds
2014-15 stat line: 34 GP, 20-41--61, 20 PIM

When we last reviewed the prospects, it was not long after the World Juniors and the US was still stinging from missing out on the medal round. There was some question as to whether Eichel would suffer from a post-WJC hangover that prospects can face after that kind of disappointment. The answer was a resounding no.

Since returning to BU, Eichel has only been held off the score sheet only twice. Over his past 18 games, Eichel has posted 34 points. If anything, Eichel is getting better as the season has gone on and he started out pretty well to begin with.

The 18-year-old helped lead BU to the Beanpot title, the annual tournament among Boston-area-based NCAA programs, and also the team took home the regular-season title for Hockey East. As of this weekend, college hockey is into its postseason across the country and the BU star got off to a hot start.

Eichel had six points in the best-of-3 series sweep over Merrimack this weekend in the Hockey East tournament. Next weekend, he and Boston University will head to TD Garden to attempt to take home the Hockey East tournament title and further solidify themselves as a top-four seed for the NCAA Tournament.

It appears to be a foregone conclusion at this point that Eichel will win the Hobey Baker as college hockey's MVP. Assuming he does, he'll be the only freshman to win the prestigious award since Paul Kariya accomplished that feat in 1993 with his ridiculous 100-point season.

It is beyond question at this point that Eichel is the best freshman college hockey player since Kariya in 1992-93. McDavid is still the biggest fish of this draft, but what Eichel is doing against older, stronger and more experienced opponents is extremely special. He could impact his future team in a way very similar to his draft counterpart McDavid.

Highlight of the month: Eichel has had more than a few highlights this season, so we'll just defer to his Hobey Baker campaign video that BU put together, not that the voters should need extra convincing. One thing to note throughout the video is just how effortless Eichel makes things look. He thinks the game two steps ahead of everyone else it seems and though he seems to have a casual skating stride, the power he generates from each is just remarkable. Enjoy.

Connor McDavid-Jack Eichel Sweepstakes Power Rankings

1. Buffalo Sabres: It's good to be bad. The Sabres traded for a player who can't play the rest of the season, dealt both goaltenders and have gone from bad to worse. Buffalo has lost six straight, which has given it a nice last-place cushion of four points "over" the Edmonton Oilers. The whole organization needs a lot of work, even after Eichel or McDavid arrives.

2. Arizona Coyotes: Another team that dumped many of its most serviceable remaining players at the deadline, while also having a few of its better forwards out injured for the rest of the season, the Coyotes have a really good chance to slide even further. They've lost 15 of 17 games and look poised to lose a lot more with 13 games to go. They have a shot at catching Buffalo, but it's hard to out-tank the team that has been at it all season.

3. Edmonton Oilers: The hockey gods have given the Oilers enough chances and enough lottery wins here to make me wonder if they'll ever get another chance. It's not always about being bad, but being bad at the right time. With four points between Edmonton and the Sabres, they're still going to have a chance to win the lottery, but I don't know if anyone outside of Edmonton wants to see that happen after the chances they've had to fix this thing.

4. Toronto Maple Leafs: Could the Maple Leafs' nightmare of a season end with the ultimate dream scenario of landing the Chosen One? Ontario native McDavid has noted it would be a dream come true to play for the Leafs. With seven losses in their past nine games, it's still a possibility. Imagine McDavid on a line with Phil Kessel, though ... unless you're from Toronto because once you commit to that dream, you know you'll be crushed when it doesn't happen. This is the Leafs, after all.

5. Carolina Hurricanes: The Canes have been somewhat up and down late in the season. They dealt some key players at the deadline, but haven't tailed off a ton. There's a chance they could sneak in with a lottery win, which could make them instantly a more interesting team.