NHL Draft heading to Buffalo in 2016, according to report

All of the NHL Draft hype is currently about where Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel will land on a Friday night next June in South Florida; but the 2016 crop is pretty good as well. Those future stars of the league will hear their names called in the city of Buffalo, according to the Buffalo News.

The paper broke the story on Friday that NHL comissioner Gary Bettman will be in Buffalo on Monday to announce that the city will host the 2016 entry draft.

Once McDavid and Eichel know their futures, the attention will shift to the 2016 class, which will see names like Auston Matthews, Jakob Chychrun, Sean Day and Max Jones atop the draft board.

This is all part of Buffalo's masterplan of hosting every major hockey event going forward, it seems. Last month, they hosted the USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game. Currently, the city is slated to host the 2015 U-18 Women's World Championships, then the International Paralympic Committee Ice Sledge Hockey World Championship in May, followed by the next two NHL Combines.

First Niagara Center first hosted the NHL Draft back in 1998, which saw Vincent Lecavalier go no. 1 overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Sabres take defenseman Dmitri Kalinin with their first pick at no. 18.

The 2016 Draft will be hosted by an Eastern Conference team for the sixth straight year. That trend could continue into 2017 if the Toronto Maple Leafs have their wish of hosting every major NHL event that season come true.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy