The Oilers have failed to build around young talent for several years. Now, a player being described as "generational" is coming under their care. Great.
Connor McDavid is a champ.
Staring down the unenviable position of being fawned over by the NHL's worst teams, McDavid played it like a polished prospect should. He smiled, nodded politely and said the right thing when everybody was watching.
McDavid will be selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. The Edmonton Oilers are the team lucky enough to own that pick. "Luck" is the important word in that phrasing because it seems to be the only way the Oilers will ever accomplish anything.
"If it is Edmonton [who picks me], it'll be unbelievable," McDavid said, ironically. The fact that Edmonton won another draft lottery is far beyond unbelievable. It's ridiculous. The Oilers have won four lotteries since 2010 and have used the first overall selection on Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov. Those players began playing in the NHL in their draft year despite eligibility to continue developing with their junior teams.
McDavid will follow the same route.
"It's going to be a dream come true and it's a great situation to be in," McDavid said while displaying the media savvy necessary of a pro athlete in the digital age.
The truth is, Edmonton has not been a great situation to be in. Young talent has continually gone there to be wasted. The organization has repeatedly put inexperienced individuals in situations that require a great deal of experience -- like, the process of turning around a historic franchise that has failed to make serious progress toward sustained success in a decade's time.
Despite having Hall to build around, then Hall and Nugent-Hopkins to build around, and then Hall, Nugent-Hopkins and Yakupov to build around, the Oilers have been left spinning their wheels. This is proven by the mere fact that the team still finds itself performing so poorly that they managed to be in position to get a fourth No. 1 overall pick.
The Oilers have displayed sustained incompetence when it comes to taking promising individuals and helping them realize the fullest extent of their potential. Rather than competing in the playoffs, the team is competing in the draft lottery. This is a concerning trend, especially when considering a player being described universally as "generational" is coming under their care.
"It would have been an absolute honor [to have any of the 14 lottery teams win the pick]," McDavid said. "If I am selected by Edmonton it will be amazing, a dream come true."
It will be amazing for him and his family when he is selected No. 1 overall, and it will be a dream realized. But McDavid has to be a man of many other dreams, like winning the Stanley Cup and leaving his mark on the NHL record book. The Oilers will have to play a part in making those dreams come true.
They better not mess it up.
Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1J2p8OB
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