I don't think anyone is saying anything of the sort. What was pointed out by myself and others is that Eichel is in a different situation than McDavid. Eichel may feel that spending a year in the minors is not worth leaving school right away. Instead, he can stay in school be the captain of team USA, at the wicked, compete for a ncaa trophy and at worst sign an elf in the spring of 2016 and play his nine games or more. I do not think he will forego 3 years of accrual to reach free agency. The path I mentioned is exactly what Toews did and never spent a day in the minors even though there was a lot of people who thought it would have been the right move. Eichel will sign with whoever drafts him. Same with McDavid. The only thing people are doing is discounting Eichels ability by thinking he is less nhl ready than McDavid, which is highly debatable.