Top prospect Connor McDavid excited for draft-eligible season: 'It's been a long summer'

Connor McDavid has a good chance to be selected first overall at the 2015 NHL Draft, but there is still a season of hockey to be played before he gets that chance.

For McDavid, that season begins this week with him as the only draft-eligible player at the Canadian national junior team's summer development camp. McDavid is skating alongside players he watched get drafted in Philadelphia in June and he told NHL.com he is more than ready for his turn.

I'm excited. It's been a long summer, and watching these guys go through the process of getting drafted and the excitement and all that stuff, it makes you feel a little bit left out, a little bit jealous. I'm the only undrafted guy here. Jealous isn't the right word, because they're all my friends and I'm very happy for them, but at the same time you want to be there and you want to go through it with them. But my time will come soon.

McDavid feels ready for the spotlight and scrutiny that comes with a draft year, having dealt with elevated media attention since entering the OHL a year early as an exceptional player. McDavid's agent, NHL legend Bobby Orr, gave him the most important piece of advice: "don't read too much about yourself."

"When he tells you something, you follow it to a tee," McDavid said. "That's good advice."

McDavid is also gaining insight from former first-overall picks like offseason training companion Steven Stamkos and 2014 first-overall pick Aaron Eckblad, who McDavid considers "a great friend."

Despite being the only undrafted player at summer development camp, McDavid is also one of 10 returning members from Canada's 2014 world junior roster. He is expected to be on the team again when the 2015 tournament gets underway in Canada in December and his performance there could help solidify his position as the front-runner of the 2015 draft class.

McDavid enters the season competing for the top pick with players like Jack Eichel of the U.S. National Development Program and Pavel Zacha, who played in the top level of the Czech league as a 16-year-old last season.