No surprise: Connor McDavid goes No. 1 in NHL draft

SUNRISE, Fla. – Connor McDavid’s favorite hockey player is Sidney Crosby. His favorite non-skating athlete is LeBron James.

He’s now in their club, forever to be known as a No. 1 pick.

McDavid’s journey toward widely expected NHL superstardom officially began Friday night when the Edmonton Oilers grabbed him with the top overall selection in the draft. No player has entered the league with such hype since Crosby a decade ago, and McDavid’s level of celebrity within the game already may rival what James was dealing with when he joined the NBA in 2003.

“It was even better than I expected,” McDavid said. “It’s so exciting to hear your name called. It was unbelievable.”

Crosby and James proved the buzz surrounding them was worthwhile, and now McDavid gets his turn. The Oilers haven’t reached the playoffs since 2006, a far cry from when Wayne Gretzky dominated the NHL and Edmonton won five titles in a seven-year span from 1984 through 1990.

No pressure, Connor.

“The Edmonton Oilers have such a historic history,” McDavid said.

He’s their future.

“We’re lucky to have him,” Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli said.

Buffalo took Hobey Baker winner Jack Eichel of Boston University with the No. 2 pick, another no-surprise move. Eichel had 26 goals and 45 assists in 40 games this past season.

“I think Buffalo is heading in the right direction, as a team and as a city,” Eichel said. “There’s a lot of positives and I want to be a piece of the puzzle. Buffalo wants success and they want success soon and it’s going to happen.”

Arizona used the No. 3 pick on center Dylan Strome – McDavid’s teammate with the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters, finishing this season with nine more points but in 21 more games. Toronto took Mitch Marner at No. 4, making it four straight centers to lead off.

Defenseman Noah Hanifin went No. 5 to Carolina, so with Eichel that meant two U.S. players were top-five picks for the first time since 2007. Center Pavel Zacha went sixth to New Jersey, defenseman Ivan Provorov seventh to Philadelphia and Columbus grabbed defenseman Jack Werenski with the eighth pick.

A pair of right wings rounded out the top 10, Timo Meier to San Jose and Mikko Rantanen to Colorado. That meant left wing Lawson Crouse, who some thought would be a top-five pick, fell to Florida at No. 11.