free tuition, a guarantee on ice time, a guarantee about who their son is going to play with.

That never happened with Bob and Anne as their son played on his travel hockey teams. They didn't showcase their son. They parented him.

Eichel was clearly the best 1996-born player in Massachusetts as he entered his teens just five years ago, yet he wasn't heavily recruited. He played on Team Mass '96, played an independent schedule, toured all of the prep schools and played in all of those tournaments, and yet no one called.

No one saw the first- or second-best player in the world in his age group.

In 2010, at 13, he would join the Boston Junior Bruins, run by former Boston College centerman Chris Masters and his brother Peter, whoplayed defense for the Eagles.

Chris Maters says of Eichel, "He is an unselfish player that plays his best in big situations. He is a leader on and off the ice. I haven't met a teammate who doesn't like him or like playing with him."

Fifteen months later, Eichel was no longer in the weeds. Both Boston College and Boston University offered full scholarships. And a little over a year after that, he was projected as a first-round draft pick, and today he is projected as the first or second player taken.

The Eichel family was blown away by the full scholarship offers and the NHL talk. All of this time, especially when the phone was quiet and when the family was just looking for a place or school to play,