BUFFALO, N.Y. — It’s a narrative we’ve seen countless times before: The one where two young prospects are pitted against each other leading up to the NHL draft. In 2010 it was Taylor Hall vs. Tyler Seguin. After that it was Nathan McKinnon vs. Seth Jones and last year the fight to see who would reign as the NHL’s first-overall pick was between Aaron Ekblad and Sam Bennett.
This year the media construct involves Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel. And as much as you will read about these two names being inextricably linked, there is no real debate here.