BUFFALO, N.Y. — As Boston University skated on the TD Garden ice after winning the Hockey East title last month, Jack Eichel could have been a part of that.
Now in his third NHL season with the Sabres, it’s easy to forget the Chelmsford, Mass., native would have been a senior this year with the Terriers.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have BU teammates by his side.
The Sabres organization hosts the top line of the 2015 Terrier squad that went to the national title game. Eichel, who led the nation in scoring and won the Hobey Baker that season, still plays with that season’s second leading scorer, Evan Rodrigues. The connection grew deeper at the NHL trade deadline when the Sabres added Danny O’Regan, the third wheel to that line, as part of the return from San Jose for star wing Evander Kane.
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Eichel played on Commonwealth Ave. for just a single season, when Rodrigues was a senior and O’Regan a junior.
“It all started there,” Rodrigues said. “It’s grown since we’ve been here in Buffalo. [Eichel's] such a skilled player and it’s worked out.”
With the Terriers winning the 2018 conference title for the first time since Eichel skated with the team, it had him thinking about what could have been.
“Some of the guys who could be at BU, if we stayed for all four years, it really doesn’t happen often,” he said. “There’s only four guys from my freshman class there now. It’s kind of crazy to think about what the team could have been if everybody stuck around.”
Indeed, what a team it would have been if the entire recruiting class had stayed. A collegiate lineup headed by Eichel, likely skating with now-Coyotes star Clayton Keller and Bruins defender Charlie McAvoy back on the blueline.
Out of the 10-player freshman class that included Eichel, five remain. Captain Brandon Hickey (Coyotes) and John MacLeod (Lightning) are the NHL prospects, with Brien Diffley, Chase Phelps and Niklas Olsson making up the rest.
Instead of playing with that quintet for a national title, Eichel is focused on trying to turn around an NHL squad that has struggled since he was drafted second overall. He's in it for long haul after signing an eight-year, $80 million extension that kicks in next season. With Rodrigues at his side, there may be some hope for that Terrier magic to become a big influence for a Sabres organization looking to turn things around soon.
When O’Regan was traded, there was talk about the line eventually reuniting in the NHL. It was bittersweet in some ways, losing a teammate, but O'Regan could join Eichel and Rodrigues in becoming key pieces to the future of the organization.
“You never like to see a teammate go like Kane,” Eichel said. “But having Danny here, his family is happy and he’s closer to home. I hadn’t seen him in so long. I’m happy to have him here.”
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O’Regan was happy to be sent east, while appreciative of his time with the Sharks. He’s mostly played with Buffalo's American Hockey League affiliate in Rochester since the trade, but has spent time with the big club as well. O'Regan's call-up came while Eichel was out with an injury, so the three haven't yet skated on the same sheet of ice for the Sabres.
He’s focused on returning to the NHL before worrying about being reunited with his former teammates.
“We haven’t talked about it too much,” O’Regan said. “There’s so many guys. You can’t be expecting anything to be given. You have to earn a call-up and playing time.”
The trio hasn’t been apart for long since departing BU. They all work out at the university during the offseason, even before being in the organization.
That’s when they’re united with the rest of the program as well.
“We’re in touch for sure,” BU coach David Quinn said. “They’re surely missed. They meant a lot to our program, on and off the ice. It means a lot that they come back here every summer and work out. It’s always fun to follow your former players.”
Quinn said they don’t talk all too much, usually about once a month, but the group chat fired back up again when O’Regan was traded.
“We had a lot of laughs about it,” Quinn said. “All four of us were going back and forth about it in a group text.”
That group chat doesn’t seem exclusive with just their former coaches. After the Terriers won Hockey East, all three players were in touch with several members of the program.
BU is certainly pulling for three of its most successful alum to have a chance to play together at the next level, but also recognize the challenges ahead.
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“It’s a whole different set of circumstances,” Quinn said. “At some point, maybe they will play together, maybe there is an opportunity. But at that level, there’s so many good players. Those guys had some great magic while they were here. It remains to be seen what opportunity they will get.”
In the 2015 run to the national title game, Eichel led the nation in scoring. Rodrigues was right behind him. The two were put on the same line by Quinn about halfway through the season. Rodrigues, who had 34 points as a sophomore, exploded with a 61-point season when he was on a line with Eichel.
Rodrigues earned himself a contract with the Sabres after his collegiate career ended, going undrafted four years before.
Yet, he’s ended up in the same spot as the former second overall pick.
“It’s cool, we share a past,” Eichel said. “It’s something that we all have in common. It’s nice to have them. We went through that year together. We got closer, and have gotten closer since we’ve been here.”
Rodrigues was appreciative to have someone there when he made the jump to the AHL.
“It makes it a little easier," he said. “You’re not going into it alone. You have someone to bounce ideas off of and talk to when you need to. It makes it a little bit easier.”
Adding O’Regan was just icing on the cake. The other winger on that Terriers first line, O’Regan was at BU for the year after Rodrigues and Eichel had headed to the pros.
A Chelmsford native like Eichel, O’Regan has his own New England connections. He played at St. Sebastian’s, earning a scholarship to BU, and he tallied 38 points his first season.
With the dynamic duo at his side, he posted a career-high 50 points, and had another 44 the next season.
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The former Sharks draft pick proved he belonged in the pros as well with 58 points in his first AHL season.
“It was really cool,” Rodrigues said of O'Regan's trade to Buffalo. “We were two of the first people to text him. We work out in the summer as well. We’ve been friends ever since the BU days. I played with Danny for three years at BU, so it’s cool to have us all here again.”
So far in Buffalo, Eichel and Rodrigues have seldom played together. Ironically, much of Rodrigues’ real chance to shine came when Eichel was injured earlier this season.
But, all those games together don’t just go away; they have seen some time together, and the magic remains.
“We played together so much,” Eichel said. “The half a season at BU, we see the game pretty similar. Being good friends with him off the ice, there’s chemistry out there.”
If O’Regan, a restricted free agent this summer, ever did get that chance? He may not be focused on it now, but it’s hard to overlook history rewriting itself.
“If we did get put together, I’m sure we’d pick up that chemistry right away and it would be a lot of fun,” he said.