Every year, all 30 teams gather at the NHL Entry Draft to make decisions that are likely to have long-lasting effects on their respective organizations. However, it is far less frequent that a draft comes along that ends up changing the league forever. It looks like the 2015 NHL Entry Draft could be one of those.

Not since the peculiar 2005 draft -- held at the end of the lockout-erased season -- when Sidney Crosby was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins has there been a prospect as highly anticipated as Connor McDavid.

The Erie Otters center with blinding speed, quick hands and an offensive sense that blows most players in his age group and beyond completely out of the water, is going to go first overall. Looking at the way Crosby has impacted the game as a whole, and the exposure the NHL has enjoyed in the years since, there's no telling what heights McDavid can take it to when the torch is passed.

The Edmonton Oilers, a once-proud franchise, are going to have something to be proud of again. Even though McDavid's overall league impact could be limited by being in Edmonton (not often on national TV in the US), he's going to make news, turn heads and he's going to force people to watch. Heck, he might even get the Oilers on TV more on the US side of the border with how exciting he can be.

That could be one of the great tests of his impact. Crosby went to a sleepy Pittsburgh market that was just waiting to be awoken. He completely changed not only the Penguins, but helped create an intensely passionate hockey culture in Western Pennsylvania that is shown through the rapid growth in youth hockey and soaring ticket sales and TV ratings.

McDavid doesn't have to wake up Oilers fans, though. He'll go into a market as passionate as any. It will be what he does for the rest of the league that will make his career all the more interesting to watch. Wayne Gretzky eventually had to go to Los Angeles to make the larger impact on the game we'll always remember him for. But even when he was in Edmonton, more than just hockey fans paid attention.

Sports fans gravitate toward excellence. As valuable as parity can be in local markets, the national audience as a whole wants to be wowed, or needs to be wowed to tune in. That's what McDavid brings. Watch any highlight video of him and you'll see immediately that he is a different brand of player.

McDavid put up 120 points in 47 games last season. He would have potentially broken OHL scoring records had he not broken his hand in a fight in November. Though his Otters fell short in the OHL playoffs, McDavid had 49 points and averaged better than a goal per game in 20 postseason contests. He is a freak.

There's excitement in every shift and even if there's an adjustment period for the Ontario teenager, there's going to be something to watch.

Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel could end up being the new faces of the NHL one day. (Getty Images)
Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel could end up being the new faces of the NHL one day. (Getty Images)

But this year, hockey fans are getting spoiled. On top of McDavid, there's Jack Eichel. He will almost assuredly be heading to a hockey market that has suffered far longer than even Edmonton. The Buffalo Sabres have never won the Stanley Cup and just endured one of the worst seasons in NHL history.

In the midst of a painful rebuild, Eichel resets the clock for the Sabres. Their futility last season is going to provide them a light at the end of the tunnel, even if the last-place team lost out in the lottery on a shot at McDavid.

The talented center out of Boston University has also shown himself to be a different brand of player.

Eichel has been hailed as the best American-born prospect since Patrick Kane for some; others go as far to say he's the best since Mike Modano, who went first overall in 1988. He became the second freshman ever to capture the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as college hockey's best player, the first since Paul Kariya in 1993. He, too, is a freak.

The rangy, 6-foot-2, 200-pound centerman had 71 points in 40 games for Boston University and led the team to the cusp of the national championship. At the end of the season, USA Hockey called to have him play at the World Championship. He was among Team USA's best forwards and drew matchups against some of the NHL's biggest stars overseas, including Evgeni Malkin for a game in which Eichel absolutely shined. Despite having one of the youngest rosters the US has ever brought to that tournament, they took bronze with Eichel among those leading the way.

There really hasn't been anyone like him in college hockey in decades, and that includes current stars Jonathan Toews, Phil Kessel and Zach Parise, who all made impressive impacts as freshman at the NCAA level.

Eichel could end up being a new face for the league, with his Boston-area roots, being in an American market that is a TV ratings behemoth and the undeniable skill set that he brings to the table. His biggest challenge is playing the role Sabres fans so desperately want him to play -- savior.

His arrival in Buffalo signifies the moment where the tides turned for the organization. If the team can successfully build around their new centerpiece, perhaps it will be a contender in a few years (it won't happen overnight). Making Buffalo successful again is good for the league.

These two players are coming in with hype that is going to be difficult to match. It's important to remember that they're just teenagers and have years to go before they can start putting their names next to some of the best players of today. But there's a wide belief that these players are more than ready for the challenge, that they will deliver on their promise and that they will change the league.

Think back to 2005-06. Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby both made their NHL debuts. Both instantly became two of the best players in the league. Ovechkin notched 52 goals and 106 points. Crosby had 102 points. They were the shot in the arm the league so desperately needed coming out of such a dark period.

Just like it has been Crosby vs. Ovechkin for all these years, it's going to be McDavid vs. Eichel for quite some time. They have a built-in storyline. Whether they asked for it or not or even if they don't consider themselves rivals, that perceived conflict exists in the public realm. It's one extra wrinkle in an already compelling tale built around their enviable talents.

Now the league doesn't need a shot in the arm. The interest in the NHL has seemingly never been higher post-lockout (both of 'em). There's a bigger audience for McDavid and Eichel to play to. In looking back at the impact Crosby and Ovechkin had and continue to have, where will players like McDavid and Eichel take the league next?

It's tough to know now, but it seems certain that the NHL will be forever changed after Friday night.