Lady luck has smiled to Buffalo Sabres in the NHL Draft lottery since they have landed the first overall pick in this year’s draft. The lottery, held at the CBC studios in Toronto on Saturday night, also awarded the second overall pick to Carolina Hurricanes, while the Montreal Canadiens will get to pick third.
FIRST. OVERALL. PICK! 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/ADWQsdTzZH
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 29, 2018
“It’s awesome. It’s a great feeling,” – said Sabres general manager Jason Botterill after the announcement. “I’ve been asked, leading up to this day, how I felt and I wasn’t too nervous about the whole process. It’s beyond your control the way balls bounce and there’s not a lot you can do about the whole thing.“
It is expected that Buffalo Sabres, who finished the 2017-18 NHL season last in the Atlantic Division, will use the first overall pick on Sweden’s defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. Dahlin is viewed as the most talented individual in the 2018 draft class and a potential franchise-altering player. The 18-year-old Swede even draws comparisons to Detroit Red Wings legend Nicklas Lidstrom.
Buffalo Sabres didn’t pick first overall since 1987 when they drafted center Pierre Turgeon. They will hope to have better luck this time, since Turgeon ended up leaving after four years, despite showing some early success.
2018 NHL Draft will take place on June 22 and 23 in Dallas. You can check out the draft order for the first 15 pick below.
1 – Buffalo Sabres
2 – Carolina Hurricanes
3 – Montreal Canadiens
4 – Ottawa Senators
5 – Arizona Coyotes
6 – Detroit Red Wings
7 – Vancouver Canucks
8 – Chicago Blackhawks
9 – New York Rangers
10 – Edmonton Oilers
11 – New York Islanders (acquired via trade from the Calgary Flames)
12 – New York Islanders
13 – Dallas Stars
14 – Philadelphia Flyers (acquired via trade with the St. Louis Blues)
15 – Florida Panthers
