Oilers win NHL Draft Lottery, chance to pick Connor McDavid – CBSSports.com
Edmonton won the 2015 NHL Draft Lottery and the chance to select top prospect Connor McDavid. (Getty Images)
The Edmonton Oilers have won the 2015 NHL Draft Lottery, as revealed by the NHL in a live results show Saturday night. The Buffalo Sabres, who finished in last place in the 2014-15 season, will pick second overall. The Oilers had an 11.5 percent odds to earn the top pick heading into the lottery and the numbered ping pong balls bounced their way.
This is the fourth time since 2010 that the Oilers have held the first overall pick. The Oilers did not confirm who they will take with the first pick.
It is expected that Connor McDavid, the 17-year-old center for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters, will be the first overall pick on June 26. The junior phenom put up 120 points in just 47 games this season and has been tearing up the OHL playoffs with 23 points in nine games so far as the Otters are cruising.
McDavid is widely considered the best NHL Draft prospect since Sidney Crosby, whose draft lottery was met with similar fanfare albeit coming on the heels of the 2004-05 NHL lockout. McDavid’s availability in this draft made a few teams feel not so bad about being really bad this year.
Here’s a full rundown of the draft order for teams that were eligible for the lottery. The rest of the first-round order will be determined by playoff finishes for the 16 teams still fighting for the Stanley Cup:
It appears that the long-term outlook for the Oilers has dramatically changed after today, though we’ve thought that before.
That said, McDavid is a special player that could be an impact player immediately. His scoring pace in junior was like a mere few before him and his potential for greatness has been evident since he was 15 years old and admitted to the OHL a year before he was eligible. This night could be remembered as well as the night the Pittsburgh Penguins won the chance to draft Sidney Crosby.
Earning the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft is a better consolation prize than it is most years as there is another incredibly special talent available. Boston University freshman center Jack Eichel is arguably the best player available at No. 2 since Evgeni Malkin went right after Alex Ovechkin in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.
Eichel led the NCAA ranks with 71 points in 40 games as he helped lead Boston University to the national championship game. The 18-year-old Massachusetts native also became just the second freshman to win the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s best player. He joined Paul Kariya, who won the Hobey as a freshman in 1992-93, in that exclusive club.
If the Sabres do end up picking Eichel as most would agree is the smart move at No. 2, they’re landing a player that could make an immediate impact if he decides to come out of Boston University next year. Eichel, who will represent the United States at the World Championship in May, was named an alternate captain for BU’s 2015-16 team. He could decide to stay, but many believe he will end up in the NHL next season. Even if he doesn’t come next year, he’s not the kind of talent that comes along very much.
Other top prospects available in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft including McDavid’s Erie Otters teammate Dylan Strome, the younger brother of New York Islanders forward Ryan Strome. The younger of the Strome brothers won the OHL scoring title earlier this year with 129 points in 68 games. The guy who finished second to Strome, Mitchell Marner of the London Knights, is also drafte eligible this year. He had 126 points in 63 games in the OHL this year.
The top defenseman available for the draft is Boston College freshman Noah Hanifin, who played college hockey a year earlier than he was supposed to after accelerating his schooling. Despite his youth, Hanifin was a top-four defenseman for one of the top programs in the country and had 23 points in 37 games this year.
Another prospect of intrigue is Kingston Frontenacs forward Lawson Crouse. At 6-foot-3, 212 pounds, he has the potential to be a dominant two-way forward. His points-per-game was a little low as he had 51 points in 55 games, but he has been viewed as a potential top-five pick in the draft, especially after his performance with Team Canada at the World Junior Championship.
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