Mitch Marner Names New Teammate Who's 'Pretty Good at Chirping'

That camaraderie includes new linemate Eichel, who has a particular trait Marner made sure to point out.

“Jack’s pretty good at chirping,” Marner said with a grin. “I’m going to join the group here soon enough doing more of that. Lot of loud mouths in here, which is great. I like that.”

On the ice, however, Marner has been struck by Eichel’s style of play.

“He’s got that aura, just got the swagger in him,” Marner said. “He’s got that calmness out there. It looks like he’s not moving so fast, but his speed is outrageous. He gets really going quickly.”

Marner explained how he plans to adapt his playmaking to complement his new center, as both he and Eichel are more known as pass-first players rather than shooters.

“For me, it’s just trying to utilize that as much as I can, trying to find him in spots where maybe it’s not a direct pass, it’s laying a puck in the area and trusting his speed to get in,” Marner said. “I’ll find areas that he can make plays into because his vision and his ability to make plays is really high-end.”

Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon made it clear why the franchise pursued Marner during the winger's introductory press conference in July.

“We wanted to improve our team on the wings,” McCrimmon said. “We wanted to improve the offense from our wingers if that was a possibility for us, and Mitch Marner does all that.”

The Golden Knights have reached the playoffs in seven of their first eight seasons and lifted the Stanley Cup in 2023, just six years after entering the NHL via expansion draft.

With Eichel entering the final season of his eight-year, $80 million deal and Marner arriving off a career-high 102 points in Toronto, the team’s expectations remain unchanged, at least for this season.

“Our standard is the Stanley Cup. Expectations are super high,” Eichel told NHL's Dan Rosen. “ I think that’s a great problem.”

The Golden Knights open the season at 10 p.m. ET Wednesday at home against the Los Angeles Kings.