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Historic night ends as expected for McDavid, Eichel, but not others
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- You know the draft is popping off the charts when rookie Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney is almost as hot a property as generational prospects Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel.
So it was as the first round of what is rightly considered a historic draft came and went Friday night in South Florida, an evening chock-a-block with drama, optimism and old-fashioned hockey trades.
I always talk about drafts in terms of the creation of foundations, chances to change a franchise's direction, chances to alter the future. Did we witness such groundbreaking movement Friday night?
We can say unequivocally, emphatically yes.
If you asked scouts, GMs, coaches and fans in Edmonton, Buffalo, Boston and Calgary, we'd guess they'd agree, even though change will come in different forms and on different timetables for each of those franchises.
While this draft will hold a special place in history, given the formal introduction of McDavid and Eichel to the NHL landscape, there are some things about the draft that are constant.
- A (surprisingly?) full building booing commissioner Gary Bettman ("Thank you for that warm South Florida welcome," Bettman quipped as he took the stage to kick off the proceedings).
- Nervous young men and their even more nervous parents, siblings, girlfriends and agents or advisers.
- The optimism, founded or unfounded, that each of the 30 first-round players selected Friday evening might someday be something special and this night will mark not the end but the beginning of something meaningful for the player, the fans and the team that selected him.
Over time, of course, this draft will come to be known simply as the McDavid-Eichel Draft or, as some have already coined, the McEichel Draft.
The two players' lives have been intertwined for the past few years, as they jostled with each other for predraft supremacy.
It has been known for months that it would be McDavid who would end up with the forever tag of "first overall pick."
When he slid on a new No. 97 Edmonton Oilers jersey on the big stage alongside new GM Peter Chiarelli and owner Daryl Katz, among others, it marked the beginning of something fresh and new, not just for the Oilers -- what franchise could use some "fresh and new" more than the Oilers? -- but the league itself.
McDavid described his draft day -- eating breakfast with his family and other draftees, doing some jet skiing before beginning his career as savior of a franchise -- as something that dragged on a little longer than he imagined it would.
"They had to introduce everyone and all the teams and the roll call, and it just felt like it was going by so slowly, and all I wanted to do was just have that pick called, and it was absolutely a dream come true," he said.
Someone asked whether he'd given much thought to whom he'd play with on the Oilers.
"I got picked about two minutes ago, so a lot has been going through my mind, and that isn't necessarily one of them," McDavid said.
In the movie version of the McDavid-Eichel story, the two young stars would meet in front of dozens of reporters as McDavid finished his post-selection media session and Eichel waited to take his place on the dais, like two prize fighters squaring off at a weigh-in.
But it didn't happen quite like that.
Although the two were indeed selected a matter of moments apart, McDavid had completed his media duties and disappeared into the bowels of BB&T Arena before Eichel arrived and answered questions about his role in reviving the doormat Buffalo Sabres.
"Yeah, I mean, it's pretty cool," Eichel said of the almost parallel tracks he and McDavid traveled to Friday night's selections.
"Everyone seemed like they had the order," the Boston University standout said. "Nothing was really set in stone until the two GMs went up and said our names, and then, obviously, we're part of our respective organizations. I think the next step is just trying to make the NHL."
If the two young stars didn't quite cross paths, there were lots of intersections Friday evening.
For instance, Dylan Strome and Mitchell Marner both headed to their respective media briefings, not the big area set aside for McDavid and Eichel, but smaller pods for the other first-round selections. Strome ended up the third overall pick by the Arizona Coyotes, after the Coyotes made serious inquiries about moving their pick. Strome, younger brother of the New York Islanders' Ryan, was long rumored to be heading to Toronto, but the Leafs ended up with Marner, and the two Ontario Hockey League stars embraced with big smiles as they headed off to meet their respective local media groups.
A few minutes later, another moment: Three young players stride down the hall to the media area, with all three wearing Boston Bruins jerseys with the No. 15 (for the draft year) on their backs. None had a name plate, but the jerseys represented the 13th, 14th and 15th picks of the draft: defensemen Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk (son of former NHLer Louie DeBrusk) and Zachary Senyshyn. The picks marked the first time since the draft began in 1969 that one team had three consecutive picks in the first round. They also represented the significant impact Sweeney has had on the Bruins in the short period of time since he took over for GM Peter Chiarelli, who is now the new Edmonton boss.
Trying to restock the Bruins' organizational shelves while freeing up cap space, Sweeney saw three everyday players from last season's squad head out the door in a 24-hour period, as he traded the rights to Carl Soderberg to the Colorado Avalanche, who signed him to a five-year deal Friday, sent defenseman Dougie Hamilton to the Calgary Flames and sent veteran winger Milan Lucic to the Los Angeles Kings.
No wonder Sweeney was almost as much in demand as McDavid and Eichel.
If there was unbridled enthusiasm in Calgary over the acquisition of Hamilton -- the ninth overall pick in the 2011 draft and a big, young defenseman who joins a strong cadre of young players -- more skepticism greeted the moves by Sweeney.
But that is the nature of the business, especially when the moves are as bold as those undertaken by Sweeney, a man so new to the job.
"Very new to the scene and actually executing it," Sweeney said. "As I said, I felt comfortable talking to other general managers. ... I do know their rosters and their players, and our staff does."
Of course, these are the kind of moves that speak to things such as a "rebuild," which might not be music to the ears of Bruins fans.
"Clearly, we have to integrate our younger players in our lineup and do a better job ... [being] patient with them while they continue to develop at the National Hockey League level, and I think every team faces that," Sweeney said.
The new GM and former Bruin was then asked if he is building for the 2016 playoffs or something else.
"Our expectations are to make the playoffs. Absolutely," he said.
As though any team would say anything else on draft day.
The Oilers added a franchise draft pick in McDavid and picked up another former top draftee in Griffin Reinhart (2012 fourth overall pick by the New York Islanders) in a deal that saw the Oilers send two picks back to the Isles.
The Sabres picked up a franchise draft pick in Eichel and added a top-six forward in Ryan O'Reilly and Jamie McGinn, in exchange for young players Nikita Zadorov and Mikhail Grigorenko, J.T. Compher and a second-round pick.
Both teams will tell you they are better today than they were yesterday.
That's the beauty of a night such as this, no?
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