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Oilers GM 'couldn't be more excited' after winning NHL Draft Lottery

Bill Streicher / Reuters

Edmonton Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish was predictably ecstatic upon learning his team won the NHL Draft Lottery.

“Absolutely thrilled, couldn’t be more excited,” MacTavish told Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal on Saturday night. The GM is in Switzerland for the World Under-18 Championship.

"I don’t know if I’ve been any more excited in my hockey career," MacTavish said. "It’s 2:30 in the morning over here and when we got the news, all you could hear was the yelling in the rooms (of Oilers scouting personnel).”

Edmonton finished with the third-worst record and had an 11.5 percent chance of winning the lottery. The Buffalo Sabres and Arizona Coyotes, who each had higher odds, will draft second and third overall, respectively.

MacTavish, who refused to confirm that he will draft McDavid.

“I won’t say anything now out of respect for the player and his family."

MacTavish referred to both McDavid and projected second-overall pick Jack Eichel as generational talents.

"We’re going to enjoy this for now," the GM told the Oilers' official website

"It’s a pretty special night for all the Oilers fans. It’s a game-changer for the franchise. I feel great for the players and I feel really good for the fans. We’ll enjoy that for an evening and then figure out how this all works going forward.”

MacTavish has no plans to trade the pick.

“What's less than zero? ... No chance," he said.

McDavid piled up 120 points in 47 regular-season games for the OHL's Erie Otters. Eichel registered 71 points in 40 contests for Boston University.

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