The most highly touted hockey prospect since Sidney Crosby delivered music to the ears of Leafs Nation this weekend.
“That would be an absolute dream come true,” Connor McDovaid told Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun when asked about the possibility of becoming a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. “It’s pretty crazy to even think about.”
Landing McDavid is practically all a hopeful Maple Leafs fan can think about these days on the back of an 11-game losing streak (snapped Saturday versus Edmonton). Toronto has plummeted 13 points out of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference as a result.
The Leafs currently hold a 6.5 per cent chance of landing the No. 1 overall selection of the 2015 NHL Draft, which McDavid will surely be. The last-place Buffalo Sabres (20 per cent) have the best shot at him, followed by the Oilers (13.5 per cent).
McDavid, 18, grew up in Newmarket, Ont., rooting for the Blue and White. He told the Sun that he’ll remember his first Leafs game, a 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers, forever.
“I’m from Toronto. You have to be a Leafs fan,” McDavid said in the article. “So, of course, I was. Of course. My dad was a Leafs fan. Every Saturday night watching Hockey Night in Canada would be my favourite time.”
Playing junior in a relatively quite market like Erie, McDavid has racked up 25 goals and 51 assists this season, his third in the OHL, in just 30 games. But he said he has no qualms about playing in a hockey-mad Canadian city.
“Listen, if a team could ever win in Toronto, it would be unbelievable. Whoever won would have the key to the city. It would be something that people would never forget,” McDavid said.
“So, playing in a place like that, it has its perks and it has its downfalls. But it’s one of the best places in the league.”
