Sharks Gameday: Where Should Connor McDavid End Up?

Not on your dumb team

By stace_ofbase Apr 3, 2015, 6:41am PDT

As you all probably know, Connor McDavid is the dude projected to be the first overall pick in the upcoming draft because well, he's unreal. Since Sidney Crosby is bad now, it's imperative that someone come in and take his place as The Best Player In The World. The only problem is that we have no idea where he could quite possibly end up.

There have been several teams #TankingForMcDavid this season, some have been tanking the whole time, others are making that mid-to-late season push, but there's only 4 or 5 actual true contenders.

Carolina Hurricanes

Currently sitting at 67 points, the Canes have a 8.5% chance of getting the first overall. Their tank was strong in the beginning of the season, but then going on a random eight game winning streak at the end of 2014 ruined their chances. I wouldn't want McDavid to end up on the Canes for several reasons--okay maybe only one but whatever. The Canes are very uninteresting, probably the most uninteresting team in the NHL (which is hard to be if you're in the same league as the Blackhawks). I don't think that having McDavid is going to make a world's difference for them and people will probably forget that he exists if he's there.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Currently sitting at 64 points, the Maple Leafs were in a PLAYOFF SPOT like 4 months ago. Holy shit. The tank is strong with this one. They currently have a 9.5% of getting first overall--unless the Oilers win out their last four games, I can't see positioning changing for the Leafs. Anyway, back to the idea of Connor McDavid in Toronto...NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE. NOPE. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE. Not happening.

Edmonton Oilers

Oh Edmonton. you big bumbling bunch of idiots. The Oilers are currently an 11.50% chance of going first overall and have 59 points. If it had to be anyone, I guess I would want it to be Edmonton, but I would kind of like to see a promising young hockey player actually succeed. Being picked by the Oilers is basically a death sentence.

Buffalo Sabres

Currently the worst team in the league with 52 points, the Sabres have a 20% chance of drafting McDavid. Buffalo wouldn't be a horrible team to get picked up by. Even though they are dead last, I personally think they'll be out of the bottom 10 in a couple of seasons. Picking up Evander Kane was huge, and you have to think even more is coming this offseason. Buffalo will be just fine, especially if they land McDavid.

Phoenix Coyotes

Probably the most surprising tank of them all, the Coyotes are currently sitting at second-to-last in the league with 54 points with a 13.50% landing first overall. I know that the Coyotes really fell off after their Western Conference Final appearance in 2012, but second-to-last..I don't buy that shit, Phoenix. I know you guys have Shane Doan and he makes everything awful, but still. Anyway, I know that Phoenix is a division rival and all, but I would prefer McDavid to be in Phoenix. First off, as I previously discussed, the Coyotes are bad but are full of shit about how bad they really are. It wouldn't take too long of a rebuild for them to be back in playoff contention again (considering the Pacific Division is shit now).

Another reason I would want to see McDavid in Phoenix is because it's still a struggling yet growing market out in the desert. The Yotes actually landing a player who is something special and in fact a rarity because of how good he is, could really help bring in a whole new set of hockey fans. Look at Pittsburgh, they were about to lose their team twice because nobody wanted to go to their dumb games. They drafted Mario Lemieux, they got insanely popular and then when he left, no one wanted to go again, until they drafted Crosby. Now they're a 'booming' hockey market. No one cared about LA until Gretzky came to town, and his popularity caused California to get two more teams.

What I'm really trying to say is that, the Coyotes getting McDavid would actually be pretty great, and it would also prevent a NHL team from going back to Canada, so you know. Go Coyotes tank.

Gameday!

San Jose Sharks vs. Phoenix Coyotes

7:00pm PST

Sad Asshole Patrol Center

CSN-CA

Prediction:

Coyotes continue to tank hard, Sharks continue to make their push to be eliminated on the last day of the season.

Setting the Tone:

Tweet of the Day:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>If Arizona gets McDavid, I am calling a fixed draft lottery. A team that is next to bankrupt gets the next best. Yup rigged.</p>— Tank nation (@primaries1970) <a href="https://twitter.com/primaries1970/status/580029135852032000">March 23, 2015</a></blockquote>

waaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh

Awfulesome Hockey Tattoo of the Day:

/never stops swooning