Canadian-born center Connor McDavid has been prepping for this exact moment ever since he first picked up a hockey stick. Now, his time is finally here.
To no one's surprise in the hockey world, the Edmonton Oilers selected the 18-year-old first overall in Friday's NHL Draft, making him the unquestioned face of a franchise that's been stalled in a seemingly never-ending rebuilding process for years now.
"It’s a day I’ve been waiting for my whole life,” McDavid said on Thursday.
“My family has been waiting for it as long as they can remember. ... It’s going to be so exciting to celebrate with family and friends. It’s more of a day for them. It’s a day we’ve all been working toward.”
McDavid has been the projected #1 ever since teams began drawing up their draft boards, with many NHL analysts pegging him as one of the biggest sure fire stars we've seen out of the draft in the past decade or two.
“You don’t want to get too far ahead of yourself, you want to make sure the proper steps are taken to get him up and running,” Oilers G.M. Peter Chiarelli said earlier this week, “but (players like McDavid) only come around once in a while.”
Now Edmonton will get a chance to help McDavid make good on his potential while nurturing the kid who appears destined to grow into the next great Canadian-born NHL superstar.
For more on the 2015 NHL Draft, stay tuned to Chat Sports.
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