The NHL held their annual draft lottery tonight and 14 teams and their fans sat on the edge of their seat waiting for the result. Some breathed a sigh of relief when they found out that McDavid was not going to go to a rival or that their team still had a chance to move up to 1st. Most were then deflated to find out that he was not coming to their team. That all changed when it came time for the Edmonton Oilers turn to have their golden card pulled that would move them to the front of the line jumping from the third overall pick.
The pick will be Edmonton’s fourth 1st overall pick in six years adding to a wealth of top prospects and young talent that includes Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkens, Nail Yakupov, Darnell Nurse and Leon Draisaitl. They thing they still lack going into next year though would be a bonafide NHL starter in goal and some defensive depth. Buffalo who had the best odds of winning the 1st overall pick in the draft will draft second and will likely draft standout american forward Jack Eichel who won the Hobey Baker award with Boston University this year and is considered by many to be a generational talent himself.
The Sharks who will select ninth overall in this draft should still get a very good player in that position. If they are lucky a guy like Ivan Provorov is still on the board other picks that could go in this range include Pavel Zacha, Zack Werenski or Mathew Barzal. Unfortunately for the Sharks if the Oilers with McDavid can put it together finally this would be another division rival who could not only catch up but pass the Sharks leaving them to dominate the lowly Coyotes. But hey, at least it wasn’t Los Angeles having their gold card pulled. I wonder how Shark fans would feel if Darnell Nurse is able to make the jump next year and they shored up their goaltending with UFA Antti Niemi.
The Draft order for the first 14 picks are as follows:
1 – Edmonton Oilers
2 – Buffalo Sabers
3 – Arizona Coyotes
4 – Toronto Maple Leafs
5 – Carolina Hurricanes
6 – New Jersey Devils
7 – Philadelphia Flyers
8 – Columbus Blue Jackets
9 – San Jose Sharks
10 – Colorado Avalanche
11 – Florida Panthers
12 – Dallas Stars
13 – Los Angeles Kings
14 – Boston Bruins
On a side note if you have not done so yet be sure to check out the most recent Teal Tinted Glasses Podcast. You can also find it on iTunes as well as your favourite pod-catcher.
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