Bob McKenzie TSN Hockey Insider Follow|Archive

If you didn't know any better, the two teenagers in the black Jeep Cherokee waiting to cross the Peace Bridge from Buffalo to Fort Erie, Ont., on Friday afternoon could be any two kids looking to have a fun weekend in Toronto.



They had their music going -- a nice mix of country and rap -- and they shared some conversation and laughs about the fun that lay ahead.



Of course, Connor McDavid and Dylan Strome, teammates with the Erie Otters, are hardly any two teenage kids. And certainly not this weekend.



McDavid is the generational talent and undisputed No. 1 prospect for the 2015 NHL Draft; Strome is a consensus top five pick for the draft; and while they were most certainly looking forward to what will be a fun weekend in Toronto, it had more to do with the NHL draft lottery than any typical teenage pursuits.



Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET, in a downtown Toronto television studio, the winner of the long-awaited Connor McDavid Sweepstakes will be revealed by the NHL. The 14 non-playoff teams in the NHL -- Buffalo with a 20 per cent chance at one end of the spectrum and Boston with a one per cent chance at the other end -- will hope and pray four of 14 ping pong balls fall in the right combination, one of 1,000 possible combos that will perhaps alter the face of one lucky franchise.



If the 18-year-old McDavid, who is between playoff series in the Ontario Hockey League (Erie knocked off London earlier in the week and don't face Sault Ste. Marie until next week) was anxious or nervous, he certainly didn't sound it.



"It should be fun," McDavid said. "I'm really looking forward to it."



As much as it's a big deal for the NHL franchise that gets him, it's just as big a deal for McDavid, and his family (father Brian, mother Kelly and brother Cameron), to find out where he's going to start his highly-anticipated NHL career.



"It is amazing that such a big part of your life is in the fate of some ping pong balls," McDavid said. "Right now, all the balls are in the air. Then these four little numbers come out and it could have a pretty big impact on your life, where you're living, where you're playing hockey, a lot of things. That's exciting."



McDavid, by virtue of his immense talent, doesn't get to act like a kid as often as others his age. That goes with the territory. But on a sunny, spring day, blasting some tunes and riding on down the highway with his friend and teammate Strome, the two were obviously enjoying themselves.



They were discussing the lottery and what might happen. They were well aware the NHL had earlier in the day issued the 1,000 potential numerical combinations and matched up those numbers up with the 14 NHL clubs with their weighted odds to win the lottery.



McDavid and Strome also knew, though, there was a 1,001st combination -- 11-12-13-14 -- that wasn't assigned to an NHL team, a left over combo. McDavid and Strome knew if those four ping pong balls came out of the machine, the draw would have to be done over.



"Wouldn't that be funny?" McDavid said, laughing along with Strome. "I hope that happens. It would be so funny. Everyone is waiting around to see who wins and they have to do it over again. Wouldn't that be something?"



The actual drawing of the ping pong balls will not be carried on live TV -- video of it will be posted after the fact -- but any NHL member club interested in having a rep there in the room as a live observer has that right. But everyone in the room for the actual drawing -- a couple of senior league officials, representatives of accounting firm Ernst and Young and any team personnel -- must remain sequestered in that room until after the winner has been revealed on live TV, without any ability to communicate with the outside world. While everyone in that room will know which team has won the lottery as soon as the ping pong balls come out of the machine, only one senior league official there will be able to pass along that information to other league employees, who in concert with television production people, will reveal the outcome for the world to see.



McDavid said he will be happy to go to any of the 14 teams in the lottery, and he no doubt means that.



For years now, ever since it became apparent McDavid was a generational talent who would generate incredible buzz, the player has gone out of his way to ensure everyone knows he'll play for any team that drafts him. There'll be no attempt to call his shot, just as he didn't try to avoid going to a weak Erie franchise that took him No. 1 overall in the OHL draft.



"It's always been important to me to not be 'that guy,'" McDavid said. "My Dad told me that when I was going into the OHL. There was all sorts of talk about me skipping out on Erie, going somewhere else, and it was my Dad who told me, 'You don't want to be that guy.' I am grateful to him for that advice because it's so true, he was so right. The last three years in Erie have been the best three years of my life. I've always said I would be happy and honoured to play for any team. I have always felt strongly about that."



Fair enough.

That said, the kid is only human and if there are 14 possibilities, there have to be some that may, for one reason or another, be preferable to others. McDavid, of course, isn't going to go into any specifics on that but it's not difficult to draw our own conclusions.



"At the end of the day it's the NHL, it would be awesome to go anywhere, any team," McDavid said. "But yeah, there are a couple of places you maybe think about more. It's not for me say but, obviously, the fact I grew up in Toronto as a Maple Leaf fan speaks for itself. Maybe you think about some places that are a little closer to home or whatever..."



Buffalo is another club McDavid would likely favour. It's just up the interstate from Erie, Pa., his home away from home for the last three years, but still very close to his Greater Toronto Area home in Newmarket.



"But to be really honest, personally, I'm wide open," McDavid said. "I really am. It honestly doesn't matter to me. Whichever team it is, it will work out for the best."



Strome, along with the other prospects at the top end of the draft -- No. 2 ranked Jack Eichel won't attend the lottery but will be available to media via conference call, while No. 3 ranked Noah Hanifin and No. 4 ranked Strome will be in Toronto -- also have a vested interest in the lottery outcome.

Strome is from Mississauga, Ont. He, too, grew up a Maple Leaf fan and even though his older brother Ryan is playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the New York Islanders, Dylan could easily envision himself playing for his hometown team.



Toronto currently owns the fourth overall pick. If the Leafs win the lottery, they'll obviously take McDavid. If they don't win the lottery, they'll pick either fourth or fifth, right around where Strome is expected to be chosen.



"It's all very exciting," Dylan said from the shotgun seat. "It's going to be fun."



As a player, McDavid is notoriously superstitious, going to great lengths each pre-game to duplicate successful routines. Will he have any good luck charms or routines ready for Saturday night?



"I am very superstitious," McDavid acknowledged, "but I'm superstitious for games. I'm not sure what lottery superstition even would be. So I'm just going to go have some fun and enjoy it."