TORONTO — Nathan MacKinnon showed off some deft general manager skills Thursday night.
MacKinnon, one of the four captains at the 2024 NHL All-Star Game player draft, had the No. 3 selection but found a way to land the guy at the top of his board. He drafted his former idol-turned-friend and fellow Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, native, Sidney Crosby.
“It was very important. My lifelong dreams have come true now,” MacKinnon deadpanned. “No, It will be cool to play with him in an all-star game. Yeah, we’ve got some good leadership on the team now. Hopefully, we can win.”
Nikita Kucherov, whose 85 points is one ahead of MacKinnon for the league lead, was the No. 1 pick by the GM combo of Jack and Quinn Hughes. Toronto’s Auston Matthews took his teammate, William Nylander next. That left Crosby for MacKinnon.
It turns out there was a little bit of pre-draft maneuvering involved.
“I asked Quinn and Jack if they wouldn’t draft (Crosby),” MacKinnon said. “Their request was that I didn’t take (Brock) Boeser. There are so many Canuck players here. It was hard not to take any of them. It was all fun.”
MacKinnon, his assistant captain Cale Makar and their celebrity co-captain Tate McRae, selected Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev with their second pick.
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