Connor McDavid is the consensus No. 1 pick in the June draft. (Vaughn Ridley, Getty Images)
The second-best thing that can happen today in hockey is that a team can go up 2-0 in a playoff series.
But the most important thing is one non-playoff team will land a franchise prospect in the draft lottery (8 p.m. ET, NBC).
That would be Connor McDavid, who has been anointed a generational player.
The Buffalo Sabres won this year’s sweepstakes. They have the best odds – at 20% – of winning the lottery, but if they don’t, they get fellow generational player Jack Eichel at the June draft with the No. 2 pick.
McDavid had 120 points in 47 games for the Erie (Pa.) Otters this season and recently scored five goals in a playoff game. Boston University’s Eichel won the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s top player.
“(Because he is older), Jack may transition quicker and sooner,” NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr told USA TODAY Sports’ Kevin Allen. “But Connor isn’t going to take long because he continues to show something new all of the time.”
The Arizona Coyotes have the next best odds at 13.5% and history on their side. The 29th-place team has won the last three lotteries.
“Everybody knows Connor McDavid,” Coyotes GM Don Maloney told the Arizona Republic. “He’s the real deal. He’s so terribly talented and good. … I think Jack Eichel is close, as well. He’s a really talented, strong, first-line, All-Star level center-ice man.”
All 14 non-playoff teams have a shot at winning the lottery, and that includes traditional powerhouses Los Angeles (2%) and Boston (1%), who fell just short of making the postseason.
Because of the importance of the lottery, NHL.com will upload video of the drawing after it is complete.
Your games today
Detroit at Tampa Bay, 3, NBC or NBC Sports Network
Minnesota at St. Louis, 3 NBC or NBC Sports Network
Pittsburgh at N.Y. Rangers, 8, NBC
Winnipeg at Anaheim, 10:30, NBC Sports Network
Follow the rest of USA TODAY Sports’ in-depth NHL coverage at nhl.usatoday.com.
