NHL Draft 2015: Pre-Lottery Order and Top Prospects to Watch

The 2015 NHL entry draft won't take place until late June from the BB&T Center, the home of the Florida Panthers. Saturday marks a key stop on the journey to draft day, however, as the lottery will take place to determine the winner of the first overall selection.

While picking No. 1 is always a nice consolation prize for a team that missed the playoffs, it's an even bigger deal this time around. A rare talent is available in Connor McDavid, and fellow top prospect Jack Eichel isn't far behind in terms of becoming a franchise building block.

In other words, there will be two extremely delighted front offices after the lottery. It's set for Saturday night at 8 ET on NBC in the United States and CBC in Canada. Let's check out the initial order and odds (per TSN) and then examine some of the top prospects.

Pre-Lottery Order and Odds

Pick	Team	No. 1 Odds (%)
1	Buffalo Sabres	20
2	Arizona Coyotes	13.5
3	Edmonton Oilers	11.5
4	Toronto Maple Leafs	9.5
5	Carolina Hurricanes	8.5
6	New Jersey Devils	7.5
7	Philadelphia Flyers	6.5
8	Columbus Blue Jackets	6
9	San Jose Sharks	5
10	Colorado Avalanche	3.5
11	Florida Panthers	3
12	Dallas Stars	2.5
13	Los Angeles Kings	2
14	Boston Bruins	1

Top Draft Prospects

The Top Two

You have to go back more than a decade to find another forward duo who generated as much hype as McDavid and Eichel in the same draft class. In 2004, the Washington Capitals landed Alexander Ovechkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins followed with Evgeni Malkin.

Those two superstars have combined to score 1,597 points in 1,347 regular-season games. It gives you a sense of how highly regarded the top two prospects in this class have become.

Of course, there's no such thing as a guarantee when it comes to a draft. A player might never reach his full potential, or injuries could derail a potentially terrific career. But McDavid and Eichel are as close as it gets to a lock in terms of having long, successful NHL careers.

Erik Brady and Kevin Allen of USA Today passed along comments from Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray about the situation. His franchise has the best chance to win the first overall pick after finishing last in the standings.

"They're both very good prospects. I've seen both guys quite a few times. They both play a high-paced game," Murray said. "They play with speed, they play with skill and they play with sense. Both guys should be top-end NHL players."

The Sabres are in an ideal position. Based on current lottery rules, the most a team can drop down through the lottery is one spot. So even if they aren't fortunate enough to get No. 1, they are definitely going to get No. 2.

McDavid holds the slight edge over Eichel, mostly because of his otherworldly hockey sense.

This is a very deep class of prospects, and the top six or seven picks are all possible stars at the next level. But when it comes to reading the game and making plays instinctively, he's a step above Eichel and two steps above the next tier of incoming players.

That's why McDavid scored 120 points in just 47 regular-season games for the Erie Otters this season. His understanding of the game is far more advanced than most players at the junior level, and that showed on a nightly basis.

He's even drawn comparisons to Sidney Crosby, whom he could eventually replace as the league's top skater, as noted by the NHL:

Eichel isn't far behind. He's another player a team can expect to spend the next decade or more serving as its top-line center. He plays a more physical game than his fellow top prospect, which could help him make a smoother transition to the next level.

Both players have extremely bright futures and should make an immediate impact in the NHL. McDavid just has a touch more long-term potential.

The Second Tier

Those teams drafting early but not inside the top two are still going to get rock-solid prospects. Their contributions likely won't come as quickly, and they may never reach the same level McDavid and Eichel should, but there are players capable of becoming vital assets for their new franchises.

Noah Hanifin, the draft's top defenseman, headlines the next group of prospects.

The Boston College standout is an effortless skater with terrific acceleration. It allows him to join the rush and still have enough speed to make up ground getting back on defense. He projects as a reliable defender with some serious offensive upside. A future power-play quarterback.

He has a lot of competition when it comes to who's going to come off the board third, though. Mike Morreale of NHL.com provided remarks from Central Scouting's John Williams about how close the evaluation was once the discussion moved behind the top two.

"I think it was a lot closer than what we expected at the beginning of the year," Williams said. "Players have made a case for themselves and at [numbers] three, four, five and six. There's a good group of guys there. If you look at the top 10, it's a really good group compared to some other years. That's just the way it is sometimes and I think you can see it flipping back and forth from now until draft day for sure."

The other players heavily involved in that debate are forwards: Dylan Strome, Mitch Marner, Lawson Crouse and, the top European skater in the class, Mikko Rantanen.

Strome probably didn't get as much attention as he deserves because he played on the same team as McDavid. He ended up leading the OHL in scoring since his coveted teammate missed some time and is a terrific distributor from the middle.

Marner steadily rose up the draft rankings thanks to a massive jump in scoring during his second season with the London Knights. He went from 59 points in 64 games to 126 points, including 44 goals, in 63 games. He's still a bit raw, but an intriguing talent on the rise.

Andrew Sykes of The Scout is bullish on the center's future:

Crouse is a different type of player. While the main attraction to the others mentioned is their offensive skill, he's a two-way power forward capable of playing a variety of different roles. He can fill a top-six spot or play on the third line and get a lot of time on special teams.

Finally, Rantanen has the physical tools to succeed but is still developing his offensive game. He's been playing in Finland's top league for a few years, which is top competition for a teenager, but he's showcased good progress along the way.

Things begin to taper off a bit after that. It's still a deep class, though. So there are players who will be drafted outside the top group who could still end up having terrific value over time. Travis Konecny and Timo Meier are a couple of names that come to mind.

It bodes well for teams with multiple picks in the opening round.