The NHL dream finally 'starting to get real' for McDavid, Eichel

The reality is finally beginning to set in for the NHL’s youngest and brightest stars. During their childhood years, many of them collected hockey cards. They’d pick them up at convenience stores or trade them among friends and all of them had a favourite.

On Tuesday, a new crop of potential NHL rookies were on hand at the Mattamy Athletic Centre at Maple Leaf Gardens to pose for their own Upper Deck hockey cards.

“Of course I collected trading cards, I think every kid did,” said Connor McDavid, the No. 1 overall draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers in June. “It’s really special to be on one now.”

Earlier, Jack Eichel, who was selected one spot after McDavid by the Buffalo Sabres, signed an exclusive multi-year trading card deal with Leaf. No terms of the deal -- which includes cards, autographs and memorabilia – were released, but Leaf CEO Brian Gray called it “easily the most lucrative autograph trading deal for any rookie in the history of the sport.”

“You dream of this happening and then everything starts to fall into place,” said Eichel of his new endorsement. “You realize it’s more of a reality… people pay you for your autograph and it’s pretty neat.”

Both McDavid and Eichel have been hyped up for so long that it’s hard to imagine they’re only a few weeks away from finally making their long anticipated NHL debuts.

“It’s not a numbers game for me, it’s just doing the best that you can,” said McDavid of his expectations this season. “Playing the best that you can do and contributing to the team and trying to help the team win games. I think a winning Oilers season would be a great success.”

Eichel feels the same, though with the days counting down until training camp, the reality that the NHL is only a month away seems to be finally setting in.

“I think it’s starting to get real,” said Eichel. “Obviously I have to earn my spot on the Sabres – earn everything I get in the next month and a half. I’m just going to go in with an open mind and try to be positive throughout the whole process.

“It’s an exciting time for me, to finally get this all going.”

Eichel said he spent the summer working out with fellow Boston native and Carolina’s fifth overall pick, defenceman Noah Hanifin. In total, Eichel says he added some more bulk to his 6-foot-2 frame in the summer with a strict workout routine.

“I gained eight to 10 pounds,” said Eichel. “Just working out, doing some boxing, skating. I work out with Noah Hanifin every day and we have a pretty competitive group in the gym.

“I was a lot more conscious this summer of what I ate, how many calories I got every day – just trying to do the right things.”

It’s the first summer the pair have been training together and Hanifin, says he appreciates having another 18-year-old in the gym with him who is going through the same process.

“It’s kind of nice having someone your own age there,” said Hanifin. “For the past few years I’ve been training with guys who are lot older than me so it’s nice to have someone who is at my stage of their career.”

It’s also nice to have the camaraderie to be able to push one another further in their training sessions. So working out can, at times, become a contest to see who can go to extra lengths in the gym.

“I think we’re both very competitive guys,” said Hanifin. “We’re both pretty driven, so we definitely push each other.”

When the NHL season starts on Oct. 7 so will the evaluations on both McDavid and Eichel. The two have been linked since long before the draft and have been pitted – unfairly – against each other. They didn’t even meet each other until the NHL draft combine in early June before their names were called from the draft floor.  

“I think you just understand the comparisons,” said McDavid. “Jack and I don’t really let it bother us too much, we both kind of know it’s there – a lot of people know it’s there, but you can’t really let it bother you. I think in sports that happens a lot and at the draft this year it was hyped up pretty good so it’s going to be there for a while.”

“Obviously it’s never going to end,” added Eichel. “He’s a good guy and getting to know him has been good because it feels like we’ve been linked together for a while.”