Buffalo Sabres get first overall pick in National Hockey League draft lottery — NewsAlert

TORONTO, ON- The Buffalo Sabres hit the jackpot in the National Hockey League draft lottery Saturday night.

This is some of the best luck sent the Canes way in a long time. “Now, just sit back and relax”. He’ll run power plays, and is a threat to score from the blue line because of his heavy shot.

On Saturday, as the most likely result happened and the Canucks fell to seventh overall in the 2018 NHL Draft, perhaps Canucks fans felt differently.

Hey, they can handle that. And let’s not forget there’s the opportunity for general manager Jim Benning to trade up or move down. Or two of them if you think that class is only four defensemen. It’s frustrating, but the Canucks never had the odds in their favour. Instead, they dropped one spot because Carolina drew into the top three. “And then you see your logo”.

This will be the third time in franchise history that Buffalo will have the first overall selection.

After Dahlin and Svechnikov, the next two top prospects, according to may hockey people, are forwards Filip Zadina and Brady Tkachuk.

It’s nearly a lock that the Canucks will take a defenceman at this point.

Due to the way the draft lottery works, Vancouver would’ve either been pulled to pick ninth, eighth, seventh, or in the top three.

The Sabres finished last in the league this past season, giving the team the best chances in the lottery. “You felt in the building, a lot of quietness coming into the games, but whenever we did something they wanted to cheer, they wanted to be supportive”. “But we look at all of our options every year”. That’s what we did with Boeser at 23 (in 2015) and Pettersson at five (in 2017).

Botterill completed his first year after GM Tim Murray and coach Dan Bylsma was sacked following last season. Most importantly, the Hurricanes won a lottery.

Reminded that the Canes have a 3 percent chance of winning the first overall pick, Waddell said, “I’m a lucky person”. The Sabres drafted center Jack Eichel second.

While Dahlin is NHL-ready as soon as next season, the Wings might still get a player who can come right in and contribute.

It wasn’t so bad.

“Don’t tell me that”, Benning said.