NHL

Rivalry Between 2015 NHL Draft Hopefuls Noah Hanifin and Jack Eichel is Just Getting Started

Fresh Videos

By @powerplaywithcj

Jack Eichel

Getty Images

The number of Massachusetts born players in the NHL has fallen mightily since Keith Tkachuk and Jeremy Roenick ruled the ice in the 1990s. 17-year-old center Jack Eichel and defenseman Noah Hanifin of Chelmsford and Norwood respectively are looking to buck that trend as they begin their collegiate careers this season. Eichel will be wearing the scarlet and white of the Boston University Terriers, while Hanifin will be in the maroon and gold of the Boston College Eagles. The two are projected top three picks in the 2015 NHL Draft and are among the youngest and most highly touted collegiate recruits in recent memory.

Both youngsters left the Bay State to join the prestigious U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. when they were 16. Eichel spent two years wearing the red, white and blue with Hanifin spending a lone season at Ann Arbor. While in Michigan both accelerated their studies to graduate high school a year early and enroll  in school at 17 to ensure they spent their draft year playing against some of the world’s best competition. Now that they’re back in New England and playing less than three miles from each other, their real rivalry will begin.

BU and BC will faceoff twice this year, and while the rivalry between the two schools is legendary, much of the focus will be on the teenaged phenoms on each respective roster. Their positions and styles of play mean they will be going up against one another shift-in and shift-out which will surely be a sight to behold to the throngs of scouts that will be in attendance. The two will likely team up for Team USA at World Junior Championships in December, putting the eyes of the world on them as they take to the international stage.

Canadian super-phenom Connor McDavid is the headliner of the 2015 Draft, but both Hanifin and Eichel will be in the conversation as they have the potential to be truly franchise-altering players. Eichel’s skill set is in many ways like Anaheim Ducks superstar Ryan Getzlaf as his size and playmaking ability elevates the play of the players around him. Meanwhile, Hanifin has a skating ability and hockey IQ that reminds many of Getzlaf’s former teammate Scott Niedermayer.

The rivalry between the Eichel and Hanifin is just getting started, but it will be on display all season long at the NCAA level. Having said that, it won’t end when their respective college hockey seasons wind down as it’ll follow them to the draft next June in Sunrise, Fla. and into what will surely be long, prosperous NHL careers after that.

While they’re at it, they’ll likely end the down period for the state of Massachusetts in terms of sending world-class players to the NHL. Not bad for two young men who aren’t even old enough to vote yet.

Share Tweet
Trending Now on