April 18th. The day when history will be made. The day when the NHL draft lottery is held to determine which one of the 14 teams who missed the post season will get the chance to draft wonderkid teenager Connor McDavid of the OHL Erie Otters at the NHL draft in June.
The centre from Ontario is the most heralded player entering the NHL draft since Sidney Crosby and is widely considered to easily be the No. 1 pick this year. At the age of just 18, McDavid had 120 points in only 47 games this season despite missing part of the season with a broken hand! He also trained Canadian national junior team, which took the gold medal at the 2015 World Junior Championships.
All 14 teams that miss the post-season will participate in the draft lottery which will be held on April 18th, with the team that finishes last (currently the Buffalo Sabres) gaining a 20% chance to win the first pick with the second worst team owning a 13.5% chance, and so the odds decrease as the positions get higher.
With the Flyers having 73 volcanoes standing between them and a playoff spot, the race for McDavid isn’t entirely out of question. It’s all luck at the end of the day, but on the 40th anniversary since the team last lifted a Cup, and the second consecutive without playoffs..is it time to start a new generation of Hockey? Is it set in stone that McDavid will join the Broadstreet Bullies and help restore the orange warriors to former glory? Only time will tell, but there is a chance..and sometimes a chance is all you need.
