The folks whose job it is to assess the prospects of young players to make it in the NHL usually speak in language that is reserved and conditional.

“I think the kid has a pretty good chance,” a scout might say of a highly regarded prospect, “but he has to get bigger and stronger to play up here.”

Early last season, though, as North Chelmsford’s Jack Eichel stepped into Hockey East and, still months short of his 18th birthday, began to dominate the league for the Boston University Terriers, the conversations were remarkably different.

“Jack Eichel,” one Bruins scout said, “could play on the second line of any NHL team right now.”

League rules didn’t allow that. Eichel had to wait to be drafted, which will happen shortly after 7 p.m. Friday at the NHL entry draft in Sunrise, Fla.

It is as close to a certainty as it can be that Eichel will be the No. 2 overall selection of the Buffalo Sabres, following Ontario Hockey League star Connor McDavid. It is nearly as certain that Eichel will be playing for the Sabres in October, the long-suffering puck fans of Buffalo hoping he can help bring their team back to prominence.

“He’s a generational talent,” said a Massachusetts Division 1 college coach who faced Eichel last season. “The things that would normally be tough from an adjustment standpoint for an 18-year-old trying to jump up to the NHL — the strength and the speed — just happen to be some of his biggest assets. I think Buffalo should be pretty excited.

“He’s still learning the game, and there’s things he’ll have to continue to improve on. But he’s just such a tremendous prospect. His skating and playmaking are already at the elite level.”

For Eichel, the notion of competing against the much older, stronger, established stars of the NHL became more realistic after his experiences playing for Team USA at the IIHF World Championships in May in the Czech Republic.

Playing on the No. 1 line and matching up against NHL stars like Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin, Eichel acquitted himself quite well with two goals, five assists and a plus-2 rating in 10 games.

“It was huge for me,” Eichel said. “I learned a lot about myself as a player. It was a great experience. That was the highest level that I’ve played at. Obviously the NHL is little different than that, but with so many NHL players out there, I think it was probably pretty similar. It gave me a lot of confidence. It made me think that I can play in the NHL next season even more than I thought before.

“Going against guys like Malkin was pretty weird. I was pretty nervous at first. But as that game went on I think I got more confidence and started to play well. I realized I could play with those guys. I gained a lot of confidence in my whole game throughout the tournament.”

If there’s been any knock on Eichel’s play, it’s his involvement when he doesn’t have the puck. Early in the 2014-15 season, one veteran NHL scout compared Eichel with McDavid: “I think the difference, to put it in a way people can understand, would be that one of them (McDavid) plays the game hard for 60 minutes. Eichel plays for 55. McDavid is tuned in for the entire game, where Eichel kind of drifts at times and then explodes with a great play.”

Eichel acknowledged that flaw in his play and this season greatly improved his back-checking, his defensive play deep in his own zone and his battles along the boards.

“I think I got a lot better at it this year,” he said. “It’s something that I’ve continued to work on it. I think at one point in my career, my play away from the puck wasn’t as good as I want it to be. But I think in the past year or two it’s gotten a lot better.”

Ex-NHL star Jeremy Roenick commented in a rather nasty way on the issue after the World Junior Championships, saying of Eichel: “He seemed too cool for school. I heard how fast he was, how mean he was. I didn’t see that. He stood around, going through the motions.”

Roenick’s words didn’t sit well with Eichel, who learned an important lesson about being a celebrity.

“Everyone wants to build you up and then knock you down even more,” he said. “I really don’t pay attention to stuff like that, that negative stuff. I really don’t pay attention to what he or anybody else has to say. Whatever. It’s his opinion. There’s really no need for him to be saying something like that. I don’t really understand it. I don’t know how constructive that is.”

The 6-foot-2, 196-pound Eichel, who will turn 19 a few weeks into the 2015-16 season, said he might want to return to BU for his sophomore season. It’s unlikely the Sabres would support that. Going to major junior (his rights are owned by the Quebec league’s St. John Sea Dogs) could be a possibility, but Eichel said he’s been assured that would not happen.

“If I’m signing, it’s not to leave school and go play major junior,” he said. “If I sign, it’s to play in the NHL the whole year. That’s the only way I’ll sign. And Buffalo has already explained to me that that would be the case.”

He’s ready for the NHL. He has been for some time.