Just one day after the Edmonton Oilers won the lottery and secured the top pick in June's NHL Entry Draft, top prospect Taylor Hall discussed how the ping-pong balls fell with the media.
"It unfolded well," he said. "Those are two teams that are very storied [franchises] and two teams that I would love to play for."
Hall, whose Windsor Spitfires open their OHL Western Conference final series with the Kitchener Rangers on Thursday, remains neck-and-neck with Plymouth Whalers centre Tyler Seguin on top of most scouts' rankings. While Seguin holds top spot in the Central Scouting Bureau's final rankings, Hall is at the summit of TSN Insider Bob McKenzie's draft rankings released this week.
Hall was able to get the better of Seguin in one regard last week, when his Spitfires completed a four-game sweep of the Whalers.
He believes that his strong performance in the playoffs can help him achieve his goal of being the first player selected in Los Angeles on June 25.
"Whether I go one or two, it doesn't matter to me," he explained. "But hopefully through these playoffs I'll be able to show Edmonton that I'm their guy and I can go number one."
While the Oilers remain tight-lipped as to which way they are leaning, general manager Steve Tambellini knows that being able to draft a player of either Hall or Seguin's ability will greatly help a franchise that is struggling.
"This is a huge opportunity for this organization going forward," said Tambellini during Tuesday night's NHL Draft Lottery show. "I think it perfectly fits the moment of where we are as a hockey team, as an organization. We're in a rebuild type of phase with this group. This is a huge building block."
