NHL Draft Watch: Barzal storms back from injury
NHL Draft Watch is your guide to eligible players worth keeping an eye on leading up to June's draft.
Rising/Falling
Rising: Mathew Barzal, C, Seattle (WHL)
Mathew Barzal's draft stock was jeopardized by a serious knee injury that sidelined him for more than two months, but he's making up for lost time following a stellar month of February.
Barzal cracked his kneecap in an off-ice incident in November and didn't return until late January. He went scoreless in his first four games back for the Seattle Thunderbirds but was held off the scoresheet in just two of the next 16 contests.
Barzal recorded 21 points in 12 February games and is once again considered a top prospect at center alongside projected top-10 picks like Mitch Marner and Dylan Strome.
Rising: Joel Ek-Eriksson, C, Farjestad (SWeJE/SHL)
A lanky forward with a knack for scoring big goals, Joel Ek-Eriksson played his way into Sweden's top division by recording 18 goals and 29 points in 23 games with Farjestad's J20 team.
Ek-Eriksson's offensive production understandably declined against much older competition, but his defensive game has continued to impress scouts enough to put him in the first-round conversation. He has a powerful shot and knows how to use his 6-foot-2 frame to create space, which should serve him well in his eventual transition to North American ice.
Ek-Eriksson is ranked 21st by International Scouting Services for March after debuting on the list in February, leapfrogging teammate Oliver Kylington, who was once considered among the top 10 prospects.
Falling: Jesse Gabrielle, LW, Regina (WHL)
Jesse Gabrielle emerged as one of the draft's more intriguing mid-round prospects when he began his sophomore season with the Brandon Wheat Kings, recording 23 points in the first 25 games.
The productive stretch allowed Brandon to leverage Gabrielle in a trade with the Regina Pats for NHL prospect Morgan Klimchuk in January, but Gabrielle has failed to take the next step despite increased opportunities with his new team.
Billed as an agitator, Gabrielle is also expected to contribute offensively, but he was limited to four points in his first 15 games with Regina. The Wheat Kings were rumored to be unhappy with Gabrielle's behavior and attitude toward the coaching staff prior to the trade, and those concerns loom large considering his inconsistency with the Pats.
Spotlight
Jack Eichel vs. the party police
Jack Eichel is the best draft-eligible player not named Connor McDavid.
He has 55 points in 32 games as a freshman with Boston University, drawing comparisons to NHL superstars like Patrick Kane and blasting one-timers from the top of the faceoff circle like Alex Ovechkin on a regular basis. Yet for some reason, most of the recent focus on Eichel has revolved around videos of him drinking beer.
The videos surfaced after Eichel led Boston University to its first Beanpot championship since 2009 - a worthy reason to celebrate a little bit. He is far from the legal drinking age in the U.S., but that hasn't stopped countless other teenagers from getting their hands on booze.
The desire to see hockey players as joyless automatons off the ice extends to the professional level, as Tyler Seguin can attest. The Boston Bruins ran him out of town with accusations of irresponsible partying, but off-ice fun hasn't prevented Seguin from emerging as an Art Ross contender with the Dallas Stars.
Like Seguin, Eichel can only respond to the naysayers in one way: on the ice. Whether or not it's with the Buffalo Sabres, Eichel is coming for the NHL, and a few beers aren't going to change that.