Connor McDavid was drafted by a surprising club before becoming an NHL superstar

Years before he was an NHL superstar, and a year before he was even drafted first overall by the Edmonton Oilers, Connor McDavid was a part of another rather surprising draft.

In 2014, when McDavid was 17 years old, playing for the Erie Otters in the OHL, he was selected by Medvescak Zagreb in the KHL draft. The Croatian team playing in the international but predominantly Russian competition didn't pick him first overall like the Oilers did in the NHL Entry Draft a year later. McDavid went 77th overall.

Why this late? The KHL franchises used the later positions in the draft to get rights for up-and-coming NHL stars, even if the chances of them coming to play in the KHL were slim. If McDavid's career took a nosedive early on, Medvescak would have had the first right to negotiate with him.

McDavid wasn't the only North American star drafted by a KHL club, either. Stanley Cup winners Nathan MacKinnon and Aaron Ekblad were both drafted by Vityaz Podolsk in 2011 and 2013, respectively.

Unsurprisingly, KHL franchises calling dibs on these superstars didn't lead to anything. All three of the players mentioned are well-established NHL superstars who won't be leaving the league in a hurry. Medvescak's rights to McDavid's theoretical signature expired when the player turned 22 in 2019. Funny enough, Medvescak wasn't even a part of the KHL at that point as the franchise left the league in 2017 to play in the Balkan IHL.

"Reserving" players like this seems to work out better in North America, specifically in soccer. MLS franchises submit lists of stars from outside the league they would like to bring in one day. When those players, like Marco Reus, Thomas Muller and Lionel Messi, do decide to join, the franchise with the so-called Discovery Rights is the first one to negotiate with them. Even if the players end up signing elsewhere, the team with the Discovery Rights gets financial compensation. When Reus signed with the L.A. Galaxy, the Californian outfit had to pay $40,000 to FC Charlotte for his rights.