BOSTON — Jack Eichel is the undisputed star of this Frozen Four.

He’s the local boy on the local team who has NHL scouts salivating, and for good reason.

Eichel, a forward from North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, will lead Boston University into a semifinal matchup against North Dakota on Thursday at TD Garden. He scored 67 points this season, the most for a freshman since Paul Kariya put up an otherworldly 100 for Maine in 1992-93.

He will be the likely No. 2 selection in this summer’s NHL draft, but for now he’s thrilled to be on his sport’s biggest stage so close to where he grew up.

“We wanted to be here, so we were mentioning it all year, how cool it would be to be at the Garden for the Frozen Four,” Eichel said Wednesday. “Obviously we’re pretty familiar with this venue, but the other teams are here, they’re all practicing today. Once the game gets going, there’s not much of an advantage or disadvantage whether or not you’ve played here.”

Eichel’s value extends beyond his scoring, as BU goaltender Matt O’Connor pointed out.

“It goes unnoticed sometimes how quick he can get the puck down low in transition up the ice. That’s huge, especially with how tight college hockey is defensively. If we can keep the puck moving in that direction, it makes my job a lot easier,” O’Connor said. “And I think playing with Jack has helped me playing the puck because I’ve been able to maybe get an assist off of some of his plays just by transitioning quick.”

BRUINS fans may be getting a glimpse at the future Thursday. BU junior defenseman Matt Grzelcyk and North Dakota junior goaltender Zane McIntyre are Boston draft picks.

McIntyre even admitted he snuck a peek at what may be his future locker room during Wednesday’s practice session.

“It’s hard not to notice the big ‘B’ in the middle of the floor,” he said. “I mean, they covered it up and carpeted it up, but it’s pretty cool.”

McIntyre grew up Zane Gothberg in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. That was still his name when the Bruins took him in the sixth round of the draft in 2010. He legally changed his name to honor his grandmother, Susan.

“Growing up as a kid, my mom would work a couple jobs at a time just to support my sister and I, and my grandma would be the one who would drive us everywhere on the weekends, whether it was five hours on a weekend or 12 or 15 hours,” McIntyre said. “In hockey you get to build a bond with players and teammates, but also the people who you travel with, and I think that kind of hit home a lot, too, when she passed away in 2011.”

As for Grzelcyk, he has scored 10 goals, all since Jan. 30.

“He’s got incredible ability to lose the first forechecker,” said Terriers Coach David Quinn.

NEITHER COACH wanted to look too far ahead, but there’s the possibility of an intriguing matchup in Saturday’s title game.

Nebraska Omaha’s Dean Blais won two national championships in his 10 years at North Dakota. One of his assistants was Dave Hakstol, the current head coach.

“It would be nice to play them. That means we beat Providence,” Blais said. “We are happy to be here, and this obviously being our first time here, we’re going to take advantage of it, but we’re not backing down a bit.”

North Dakota went 2-1-1 against the Mavericks this year, with three of the games going to overtime.

Hakstol was focused on Thursday’s meeting with BU, the marquee matchup.

“Obviously in Boston University’s hometown, not too far from their campus, it brings a great spotlight, a great stage to college hockey with the history and tradition of both programs,” Hakstol said.

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