McDavid savouring the draft process
Buffalo , N.Y. — When Dylan Strome was asked what advice he’d give an opponent who was tasked with covering Connor McDavid, he simply replied: “Good luck.”
Granted, Strome is somewhat biased, having played with McDavid as a member of the Erie Otters, but he was on the other side of the ice during the Canadian Hockey League’s Top Prospects game and he hasn’t forgotten the outcome.
“I know I got caught out there for about a minuteand-a-half shift and he was on the ice,” Strome recalled on Friday afternoon at the NHL Scouting Combine. “He made a pass right through my legs when I was in the slot and looking at him in the corner.
“I definitely take (his abilities) for granted and people in Erie take it for granted — we got to see him every day at practice and in games — (but) some of the stuff he does is pretty ridiculous.”
McDavid, the consensus No. 1 pick in this month’s NHL entry draft and the player pegged to help change the fortunes of the woeful Edmonton Oilers, has been the centre of attention again this week in Buffalo, where 119 players have been undergoing medical assessments and team interviews.
The combine wraps up on Saturday with a gruelling set of physical tests, after which there will be a brief reprieve before the draft, which goes June 26-27 in Sunrise, Fla.
“This is the last step toward that,” said McDavid, who took one look at the crowd that gathered on Friday and acknowledged that it was the biggest media scrum he’s ever faced.
Still, he’s in no hurry for it to all be over. “No it’s something you want to savour,” he said. “You only go through the draft process once. It’s something I’ve been looking forward to for a long, long time now.
“Obviously, you’ll be so happy when you’re drafted, but that’s kind of when the hard work starts. There’ll be no more junior life, if I’m lucky enough to move on.”
It’s hard to imagine what would prevent Mc David from stepping right into the NHL. Ditto for Jake Eichel, the Boston University centre who is expected to be selected by the Buffalo Sabres after the Oilers take McDavid.
Dan Marr, the director of NHL Central Scouting, said again on Friday that it was a fine line separating the two centres. “I think if you try and project 10 years down the road, it’s still going to be a fine line,” Marr said. “They both bring something a little bit different to the table, but they’re both going to be big contributors in the National Hockey League. They’re going to make a difference to their team. ... They’re going to be special players.
“What we like about Connor is the quickness with which he processes the game; the quickness with which he executes the game. We actually feel that the best is yet to come; that there’s still room for growth in his game.”
“I’d say Connor is a little crafty in the corner, very good on his edges, whereas Jack’s very powerful, a north-south guy,” said Boston College defenceman Noah Hanifin.
Strome, like Hanifin or any of the prospects projected to go in the top 10 picks, has spent much of the lead-in to the draft in the shadow of McDavid and Eichel. He figured that just came with the territory.
“It’s such a different year with the amount of talent that’s in this draft and those two guys deserve to be talked about,” said Strome. “Look at the years they’ve had. Pretty impressive. We do get talked about too; it’s just that those type of players don’t come around too often.”