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McDavid joins Oilers’ stable of top picks,
Connor McDavid wore a blue and white checked shirt. Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan wore a shamrock.
But it was the Edmonton Oilers — incredibly — who won the NHL draft lottery on Saturday for the fourth time since 2010.
“They’ve got some luck,” said Shanahan, whose team had a 9.5 per cent chance of winning the lottery but who seemed relieved the Leafs retained the fourth overall pick. “You (worry) about sliding down to five. Happy we’re at four. There are some good players there.
“Obviously everybody came here today hoping to get the gold ticket,” Shanahan added. “The odds were stacked against most teams. There are alot of good players in this draft. There is so much focus on the first couple of guys, and they’re fantastic players. It’s a very deep draft.”
Almost assuredly the Oilers will pick McDavid, sliding him onto a young team that features Taylor Hall (first overall in 2010), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (first overall in 2011) and Nail Yakupov (first overall in 2012).
“It’s a game-changer,” said Oilers GM Craig McTavish. “The team looks pretty exciting from our standpoint. It’s a real special moment for all the fans who have supported us.”
The Oilers will open a new downtown arena in 2017, and McDavid will be the likely centrepiece.
The league assembled the four top prospects Saturday: McDavid, Erie Otters teammate Dylan Strome and Boston College defenceman Noah Hanifin. Boston University centre Jack Eichel chimed in on a conference call.
McDavid said all the right things, that he wouldn’t take being drafted first overall as a done deal. But he did allow that his heart was racing during the league’s televised reveal.
“Now is when it all starts, the talk for1-2, and who somebody might pick and whatever happens,” said McDavid. “It can all go a bit crazy now (heading to) the draft.”
The lottery was held at the Sportsnet studios in the CBC building, with all involved sequestered with cell phones removed.
The winning number was 1-5-6-14 for Edmonton, sandwiched between two Arizona numbers (1-5-6-13 and 1-5-7-9). The closest the Leafs had was 1-5-6-8.
The drop of the balls took less than a minute. There was an audible groan from one of the team representatives, but it was impossible to tell which one.
The players kept to themselves while the league and team executives, including Shanahan, watched the balls drop.
“We kind of refrained from talking about what’s going to happen with some ping pong balls,” said Strome, who could land with the Leafs. “Ping pong balls are allowed to define someone’s fate and career. Hopefully, it works out for him.”
The Sabres will pick second for the second year in a row and will likely take Eichel, the Boston University centre nearly as highly touted as McDavid. Eichel, 18, won the Hobey Baker award as the top player in the NCAA and was named Saturday to the U.S. team that will play at the world championships in May.
Sabres GM Tim Murray didn’t hide his disappointment at losing the top pick for the second year in a row. Buffalo had a 20 per cent chance at winning the top pick due to having the worst record in the league.
“We’ll get over it and get ready for the draft,” said Murray.
Arizona has the third overall pick and could choose from among Hanifin, the third-rated prospect according to most lists, Strome or London Knights centre Mitchell Marner.
Hanifin is a sleek, fast, puck moving defenceman who would give the Coyotes a dynamic 1-2 blue line with Oliver Ekman-Larsson. If the Coyotes pass on him, he’d do the same for the Leafs with Morgan Rielly.
“Arizona is pretty nice and warm,” said the Massachusetts-born Hanifin. “I’ve been to Toronto a few times. You can tell, anywhere in Canada, it’s all hockey highlights. It’s the hub of hockey for the world.”
That would leave the Leafs to take the Mississauga-born Strome, who led the OHL in scoring.
Shanahan reiterated there would be “no shortcuts” back to respectability for the Leafs as he prepares for the June 27 draft. And he wasn’t tipping his hat whether he’d draft for a particular position.