With a top-two draft pick just about in his back pocket, Sabres General Manager Tim Murray is starting to come clean about tanking to satiate his obsession with phenom Connor McDavid.
"I watch him too much and I think too much about him," Murray told the New York Times. "I wish I could help myself."
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Murray's squad has been working hard in recent days to fulfill his blueprint for last place. Meanwhile, McDavid, a consensus future NHL superstar and odds-on favorite to be the first player off the board June 27, has been leading OHL Erie into the playoffs.
With Erie, Pa., about a 90-minute drive from Buffalo, Murray has had the luxury to frequent McDavid's junior games all season long. He even attended the Otters' playoff opener Thursday instead of staying home to watch the Sabres lose to the Coyotes — the only other team, barring any lottery surprises, that poses a serious threat to stealing McDavid.
"This guy I call our franchise-changing player," Murray said of the 18-year-old Ontario native, who scored 44 goals and 120 points in 47 games this year.
Murray also shared his regret over how this season's plunge for rights to draft the prodigy has affected current Sabres players.
No matter, though. It's all part of the master plan.
"You go through a year like this, it’s tough," Murray told the Times. "I feel bad for our players, I really do. It’s been a tough year. I’m the type of GM, as everybody can see, I’ve traded away a lot of good players for the simple fact we have to get better. Our time’s the future."
Buffalo and Arizona play once again Monday. Should the Sabres succeed — which is to say, should they lose in regulation — last place is a virtual lock with six games to play and an eight-point cushion in hand.
That'll give them a 20 percent chance of drafting McDavid and, with fellow future star Jack Eichel as the consolation prize, a 100 percent chance of mission accomplished.