After all, there is a really good chance a Canadian team wins the right to select Auston Matthews on Saturday night’s NHL Draft Lottery. Toronto has the best chance of winning at 20 per cent, while the Edmonton Oilers, who have had the No. 1 pick four of the past six years, are next at 13.5 per cent. As well as learning to play in a professional league, the season in Switzerland also allowed him to be somewhat removed from the predraft lottery hoopla that enveloped Eichel and McDavid a year ago, when the Edmonton Oilers ended up with the first-overall pick and the Buffalo Sabres ended up with the second pick.
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If the Canucks land the first overall pick, which this year is known as the “Auston Matthews Sweepstakes”, they will be getting a dynamic centreman who will easily slide into the lineup next fall. The three teams with the best odds of winning – the Toronto Maple Leafs, Oilers and Vancouver Canucks – are all located north of the border.
Other top prospects include Finnish forwards Patrik Laine and Jesse Puljujarvi, who led Finland to a championship at the 2016 World Juniors earlier this year.
The Columbus Blue Jackets did the same and will have the No. 3 overall selection Jun 24-25 when the draft is held in Buffalo. Both the Jets and Blue Jackets moved up from outside the top three.
NHL Central Scouting’s Dan Marr said Matthews is “the clear-cut No. 1”, a complete player who has all the physical and offensive tools to be a game-changer at the NHL level. This organization has finally assembled the foundation of elite young players needed to contend one day, and while management’s work is far from over, this first overall pick starts to bring that window of contention into view. They are at #30 overall. The Maple Leafs have made the playoffs only once in the past 11 seasons. “I kid him every day I hope that he has the luck to get that pick for us”. The Oilers had the first pick in four of the previous six drafts and won the lottery three times.
All clubs that did not qualify for this season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, or clubs that acquired the first-round picks of those nonplayoff clubs, will participate. “It’s going to be so different for me this year, rooting for my own team to win the lottery instead of sitting down waiting to find out how my life is going to be impacted in so many different directions”. He’s a transcending talent that has been compared to superstars like Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Toews, which tells you all you need to know about his game. Chychrun has the size, strength, speed and maturity required of a top-end prospect at his position.
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Shanahan would not confirm that the Maple Leafs will select Matthews with the No. 1 pick, but did hint “our scouts are very pleased with tonight’s results”.
