Connor McDavid (center) helped Canada take gold at the World Junior Championship. (Getty Images)
Connor McDavid (center) helped Canada take gold at the World Junior Championship. (Getty)

Throughout the season, Eye on Hockey will take a look at the top two prospects for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, updating their latest statistics, tracking their best highlights and detailing which teams will have the best chance to draft the two most anticipated prospects in a decade.

As the NHL season reaches its halfway point, most of the teams in the bottom of the league standings are aware of their fates. There's still a long way to go, but as the end of the season approaches, NHL general managers of the basement-dwelling teams may lament their team's poor showing a little less fervently knowing that each loss may increase their odds of winning the draft lottery.

The gap in the race between top draft prospects Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel appears to be widening. That’s especially true after the World Junior Championship, during which each player performed well, but McDavid's Team Canada ended the tournament with gold and Eichel’s U.S. squad got skunked.

While the World Juniors is an incredible midseason evaluation event for scouts, it's important to keep in mind the bigger picture. Since the WJC is the most visible pre-draft event on either side of the border, it can skew public perception a lot more dramatically than it would the trained professionals that make these decisions. It's a data point in a series of many.

But even looking at the bigger picture, it appears that McDavid is pulling away from Eichel, who similarly has pulled away from the rest of the field behind these two. There's McDavid, a little further back is Eichel and then way further back is everyone else in what is largely considered a very good first round.

McDavid as top pick appears a foregone conclusion at this point, as does Eichel going No. 2. To have two players of their caliber available to two teams that are going to probably be in desperate need of rehabbing could be a pretty incredible payoff for such a dismal year. Even if there's less of a battle for No. 1, following these two prospects and what they've done this year is no less fascinating.

Here's the latest in how their production stacks up against the other first-overall picks over the last decade.

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 2.70*
2007 Patrick Kane OHL 2.50
2010 Taylor Hall OHL 1.86
2009 John Tavares OHL 1.85
2015 Jack Eichel NCAA 1.72*
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 Jan. 11 (McDavid 20 GP, Eichel 18 GP).

Here’s what you need to know about these two draft phenoms since our December update:

Connor McDavid

Age: 17 (until Jan. 13)
Height: 6-foot-1 Weight: 187 pounds
2014-15 stat line: 20 GP, 18-36—54, 26 PIM
WJC stat line: 7 GP, 3-8—11, 0 PIM

After nearly six weeks on the shelf with a broken hand, McDavid took a little while to get warmed up at the World Junior Championship, but he still managed to tie for the tournament scoring lead with 19-year-old teammates Max Domi and Nic Petan. Additionally, Canada won the whole thing, breaking a five-year golden drought in front of the home fans in Toronto.

Despite the points, McDavid wasn't totally happy with his performance. He was just being too hard on himself. Considering the recovery from injury and the fact that he produced at a higher clip than Sidney Crosby at the same age at this tournament, he remains a special prospect.

Crosby had nine points in six games at the 2005 World Junior Championship, including six goals. That was largely considered the greatest WJC field in history as well. However, neither Crosby nor McDavid could match John Tavares' remarkable 2009 WJC as a draft-eligible player. He had 15 points in six games. Points can only tell you so much in a short tournament, though. McDavid's actions, coming off of the injury, showed that he's among the world's elite under the age of 20.

Upon his return to the OHL's Erie Otters, McDavid collected three points over his first two games back and scored two highlight-reel goals (the best of which is below). McDavid is a star in the making.

Connor McDavid Highlight of the Month: He had a lot of great plays at the World Juniors, but McDavid's goal in his first OHL game back after the tournament was jaw-dropping. Watch as he parts the defense and takes the goaltender out of his jock strap with an incredible move.

McDavid could be on autopilot in the OHL and probably average two points a game. He's on another level from his peers and this goal is yet another emphatic example. Mercy.

Jack Eichel

Age: 18
Height: 6-foot-2 Weight: 194 pounds
2014-15 stat line: 18 GP, 10-21-31, 20 PIM
WJC stat line: 5 GP, 1-3—4, 6 PIM

The United States faltered at the World Juniors and that's going to end up reflecting on Eichel even if he was far from the team's problem. The hype may have surpassed the performance as Eichel collected four points in five games, but he still had a pretty good tournament. The reviews for Eichel coming out of the tournament from draft pundits and scouts were mostly positive, actually.

Eichel averaged 4.2 shots per game in the tournament, but only managed to score once. He was generating his fair share of chances, and was dominant in possession according to hockeythinking.com's tracking. A team's failing will always reflect on its best player and Eichel was also the team's captain, but there were a lot of other issues that contributed to a disappointingly early exit. Still, more was expected and Eichel dropped below expectations.

Upon Eichel's return to Boston University, he was held out of the team's first game after the WJC, went pointless in the next, but got back to his old self Saturday night. Eichel posted four points against Wisconsin as BU earned a 6-1 win. That night put Eichel back in the national scoring lead, despite having played at least three fewer games than those closest to him.

Eichel is still on pace for the best draft-eligible freshman campaign in college hockey since Paul Kariya in 1992-93, which came in an era where college hockey games had an average of 8.17 goals per game according to College Hockey News. College games this year average nearly three fewer goals per game, showing that what Eichel is doing so far this year is essentially historic. He's the early front-runner for the Hobey Baker as a true freshman. That's pretty impressive, regardless of his being unable to catch McDavid.

Jack Eichel Highlight of the Month: Eichel did score one of the better goals of the entire World Juniors. Late in the game against Germany, Eichel scored on one of the cleanest, tightest wraparounds you'll see.

The goal shows Eichel's puck control and awareness. Most players would try to just jam that puck under the goalie. Eichel takes the extra look and gives himself a heck of a lot more net to shoot at while completely reaching out.

Connor McDavid-Jack Eichel Sweepstakes Power Rankings

1. Edmonton Oilers: The lowly Oilers remain in last place, but a recent tumble by the Buffalo Sabres has their chances looking a little less clear of last place. The Oilers have bungled the value of getting three straight first-overall picks by failing to build around them. One of these two star prospects is probably going to end up there.

2. Buffalo Sabres: The players are vehement about not tanking, and everyone should believe them. Hockey players aren't going to be party to an intentional spiral. That said, a recent awful stretch for the Sabres has them right back in the first-overall discussion. They are 1-9-1 in their last 11 games and as bad as it is for the players and coaches there now, the more they lose, the better off they'll be.

3. Carolina Hurricanes: In a recent battle between McDavid favorites, the Canes beat the Sabres, 5-2. They're now even with 31 points apiece, two ahead of Edmonton. The Hurricanes' goaltending would figure to put them right on track to finish at or near the bottom of the league, so they're very much alive in this unsavory race.

4. Arizona Coyotes: The Coyotes sure are giving up a lot of goals -- third most in the league. That's not typical of a Dave Tippett-coached team, but it's about the best they can hope for with this group. It looks like a fire sale is imminent, or at least some significant trades will be made. The Coyotes have to start focusing on a rebuild and landing either of these two players would go a long way to that end.

 5. New Jersey Devils: The Devils haven't responded all that well to the recent coaching change and are sliding down the standings as a result. This is a team that needs to get younger in a hurry, but they probably will need the luck of the lottery on their side to have a shot at either of the top two.