Golden Knight’s Jack Eichel ‘Stunk’ Yet Again

Vegas Golden Knights superstar center Jack Eichel told Gary Lawless that he "stunk" after the Golden Knight's 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. 

One game later, he stunk yet again on a Monday afternoon against the Dallas Stars, a 4-0 VGK loss.

Eichel had zero points, two shots, and was a -2 in 22:10 TOI. This comes after his -3 performance against the Oilers two nights earlier. Points and statistics aren't everything, but Eichel has been invisible lately, not generating any dangerous offensive chances, drawing penalties, or playing well defensively.

"I have to be better. I have to compete harder, and I have to move my feet better. It's just not good enough," Eichel told Lawless.

The Golden Knights acquired Eichel to be their star player, and most people will tell you that Eichel is the most talented player to put on a Golden Knights sweater. In key moments in close games, such as the end of the Oilers' game, or when the Golden Knights had a powerplay at the end of the season period only down two to the Stars Monday, star players are expected to show up. Jack Eichel did not.

"We have veteran guys in the room. The other guys tonight that should be leading the team, you know who they are; they didn't have it tonight. So shame on them. They have to be the ones that lead the team, and the followers have to follow," said head coach Bruce Cassidy.

These last two games have revealed who the true heart-and-soul star player on the Golden Knights roster is, and it's not Eichel. Captain Mark Stone has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, and the VGK have played some of their worst hockey of the season as a result.

Pressure is nothing new to Eichel, who has always been looked at as a star player since he was drafted second overall in 2015.

But as his career goes on, now in his eighth season, it's hard not to look at how Eichel has never truly won a thing in the NHL. He's a great player, but has no individual awards and has never made the Stanley Cup Playoffs on both franchises that he has played for. The skillset is there, but perhaps not the motivation.

"I always feel the weight. I put pressure on myself to perform. That's the job, right? Yeah, we're banged up, and a lot of us need to step up a bit. But that's normal. As a team, we have to rely on the guys playing. That's the NHL," Eichel told Lawless.

Maybe Eichel is still nursing what appeared to be a leg injury that kept him out of eleven straight games. One thing is for certain, Eichel is not living up to his potential, and the Golden Knights have struggled as a result.