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Oilers' Future Grows Brighter With Top Pick In NHL Draft, Chance At Securing McDavid

The Oilers on Saturday night won the NHL Draft lottery and with it the "right to claim" OHL Erie Otters C Connor McDavid first overall in the June 26 Draft, according to John MacKinnon of the EDMONTON JOURNAL. Oilers GM Craig MacTavish's "seemingly endless rebuild just got put on a fast track, all things being equal, now that they can add a player deemed to be a transformational one." The Oilers had an 11.5% chance to win the lottery, compared to 20% for the Sabres and 13.5% for the Coyotes. MacTavish said, "It has been some pretty lean times over the last number of years, but it's going to go a long way to ending those." MacKinnon noted MacTavish has "come under intense criticism for over-promising and under-delivering on the pledge to make 'bold moves' when he was installed as GM" in April '13. But his "optimism and confidence in his ability to turn the club's fortunes around has not wavered." On Saturday, that optimism and confidence "received massive booster shots." Asked what the chances were the Oilers could make a deal and move the pick before the draft, MacTavish said, "Zero. No" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 4/19). In Toronto, Mike Zeisberger noted MacTavish indicated he "has no plans to break up a core that already includes" LW Taylor Hall, C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, RW Nail Yakupov and RW Jordan Eberle. Adding McDavid to the mix for an organization "that will move to the new downtown Rogers Place Arena in the fall of 2016" is a windfall "that even MacTavish finds surreal" (TORONTO SUN, 4/19). The NATIONAL POST's Scott Stinson wrote McDavid "has a new role now: Be the guy who turns around a franchise that, in recent years, has been remarkably resistant to turning around" (NATIONAL POST, 4/18).

DRILLING FOR OIL: ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun wrote not since Hockey HOFer Wayne Gretzky played for the Oilers will a player "mean so much to that franchise, one which has languished in a decade of mediocrity and has embarrassed the great fans of that passionate hockey city." LeBrun: "And that’s the rub, isn’t it, that the Oilers can be this bad, this dysfunctional for nine seasons and still get this incredible prize?" If the "hockey gods existed at all, they would have been smiling their faces at a team" like the Blue Jackets, one that "didn’t stain the reputation of the league like a few others did by deliberately tanking their seasons to get a shot at McDavid" (ESPN.com, 4/18). In Buffalo, Mike Harrington wrote the Oilers winning the lottery "certainly created a lot of rolled eyes around the NHL" (BUFFALO NEWS, 4/19). YAHOO SPORTS' Josh Cooper wrote the Oilers getting the top pick "rewards this management team, led by [President of Hockey Operations] Kevin Lowe, for mediocrity." The draft system is "meant to help balance out inequalities in the league." If teams "keep failing with the top selection, being rewarded again is almost a crime in itself." Cooper: "I’ve been critical of [GM] Tim Murray’s tank job in Buffalo, but he had a plan." He "sold it to his owner, it was agreed upon and it was a two-year process that led to Buffalo getting the No. 2 pick" in the draft and a chance to take Boston Univ. C Jack Eichel. If Murray "fails ... he’ll probably get fired." But in Edmonton there "seems to be less accountability since owner Daryl Katz is such a fans of his 80s Oilers heroes running the team" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 4/19).

TANKS FOR NOTHING? In Buffalo, T.J. Pignataro noted this is the "second year in a row the Sabres went into the draft lottery with the best chances of scoring the franchise’s third-ever number one pick but came away empty" (BUFFALO NEWS, 4/19). Also in Buffalo, Bucky Gleason wrote Murray "will say all the right things, as he should, but there was no hiding his obsession with McDavid." Sabres Owner Terry Pegula also "desperately wanted to see the Canadian phenomenon in a Sabres’ sweater, which is why he gave the green light, or a direct order, to do whatever was necessary to get him." Gleason: "You can question -- or make peace with -- how the draft pick was orchestrated, but there’s no ignoring, or denying, that the Sabres will be better with a player who can reshape their future." Eichel will be the "best prospect" the Sabres have had in years (BUFFALO NEWS, 4/19). YAHOO SPORTS' Greg Wyshynski wrote the "meticulous dive to the bottom of the standings" for the Sabres "targeted McDavid, and this lottery loss will sting -- especially given Edmonton’s good fortune in the lottery" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 4/19). CBSSPORTS.com's Chris Peters noted Murray "couldn't even sell this to the fans because he and this disaster of a season failed to bring the result that only had" a 20% chance of happening. Murray even said that the team "expected to come into this getting the second overall pick." Peters wrote the "reality is that all of that tanking was only worth it because of Eichel." Had there been a prospect of a "lower caliber at No. 2 this year, there would have been less of an incentive to finish in last place for the best shot at the No. 1 pick" (CBSSPORTS.com, 4/18).

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