Connor McDavid admitted he will be watching this spring’s NHL draft lottery “intently” to find out which team lands the No. 1 selection.
The best player available at the 2015 NHL Draft and the surest No. 1 overall since Sidney Crosby is trying to focus on his final season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters but says he is well aware of the clubs plummeting to the NHL basement.
“If you’re looking at the standings each and every day, you’re going to get caught up,” McDavid told Hockey Central at Noon Thursday. “Twitter does a good job of keeping me updated with the standings.”
McDavid has gone on record saying that playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, his favourite team since childhood, would be “a dream come true,” but explained Thursday that his loyalties will be easy to switch.
“With the Leafs and how they’ve been playing of late, it’s hard to be a Leafs fan right now,” McDavid said. “Your loyalty goes to the team you’re playing for.”
The Maple Leafs have dropped 15 of their last 16 contests, traded away two of this season’s most reliable skaters in Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli, and Thursday centre Tyler Bozak described 2014-15 as “the worst” of the team’s collapses.
McDavid, the bull’s eye of the 2015 NHL Draft, admitted to daydreaming about June 26 in Sunrise, Florida, and has already started to make travel arrangements.
Connor McDavid’s One-Timers:
- He attended Tuesday’s thrilling Penguins-Capitals game and hung out with former teammate Andre Burakovsky: “I got to be around the guys a little bit. It’s different [in the NHL] for sure.”
- On his greatest weapon: “I have to be using my speed and make sure I’m accelerating with the puck, going at defenders instead of slowing down.”
- On his biggest lesson from the World Junior Championships: “How to play under pressure.”
- On draft lottery night: “One hundred per cent. I’ll be watching for sure. That’ll be more of a private thing with the family.”