What Do the Numbers 1, 2, 8 and 9 Have to Do With the Bruins and Connor McDavid?
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are officially underway for the 16 teams vying to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup. For the 14 teams who missed out on the postseason, the main event this weekend is the NHL Draft lottery that will take place on Saturday at 8 p.m.
While the draft is always a source of hope for struggling teams, this year’s event holds particular significance. The reward for getting the No. 1 selection is the chance to secure the rights to the highest-touted prospect since Sidney Crosby: Erie Otters center Connor McDavid.
With his talent so apparent at such an early age, McDavid became just the third player in the past decade – after John Tavares and Aaron Ekblad – to be granted exceptional player status by Hockey Canada. This designation allowed him to enter juniors a year earlier than is normally permitted.
In what seems sure to be his final year in the Ontario Hockey League, McDavid scored 44 goals with 76 assists in a mere 47 regular-season games. In three seasons in the OHL, McDavid tallied 285 points in 166 games, averaging 1.71 points per contest.
While the Bruins are among the teams in the lottery, their chances of landing that No. 1 selection are slim. As the non-playoff team with the best regular-season record, the Bruins only have a 1 percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick. There are 10 different combinations of numbers that could be drawn during the lottery that would give them the chance to select Connor McDavid. All 10 of those combinations – including the aforementioned 1-2-8-9 – can be seen on the NHL’s official lottery table and in the chart on the right. Overall, there are 1,001 different four-number combinations that could be selected. One thousand of those are assigned to a specific NHL team, while the combo “11-12-13-14’’ calls for a re-draw.
Screenshot via official NHL Draft Lottery table.
The most likely team to land McDavid is the Buffalo Sabres, who – thanks to their league-worst 54 points – have a 20 percent chance of winning the lottery, while the consolation prize for Buffalo wouldn’t be too shabby either: Boston University center, reigning Hobey Baker award winner and expected No. 2 overall pick Jack Eichel. Other top players expected to be taken early in the draft include Boston College defenseman Noah Hanifin and McDavid’s Erie teammate Dylan Strome.
The 2015 NHL Draft will take place on June 26 and 27 in Sunrise, Florida.
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