SABRES FINALLY GETTING ANOTHER STAB AT NO. 1 PICK
Buffalo expected to pick Sweden’s Dahlin after winning draft lottery on Saturday
It was a victory the Buffalo Sabres needed badly.
Make no mistake, they had to admit they were a little nervous in the final moments of the NHL’s draft lottery.
The Sabres were thrilled to learn they’ll have the No. 1 pick in the draft June 22 in Dallas after their number came up in the lottery Saturday night at the CBC studios.
It’s only the third time in franchise history the Sabres will get the top selection. The first time was in 1970 when the organization picked the legendary Gilbert Perreault and the last time was 1987 when Buffalo took Pierre Turgeon.
The Sabres had an 18.5 per cent chance of getting the top pick going into the lottery, but that doesn’t guarantee success. The Sabres, who beat out the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens in the end, now have the right to select Swedish defenceman Rasmus Dahlin, the top-rated player in the draft, but general manager Jason Botterill wasn’t in the mood to tip his hand while speaking with reporters afterward.
“We want everybody to show up in Dallas,” said Botterill. “We’ll keep that (to ourselves). We’ll go through our interview process and we made a lot of changes to our amateur (scouting) staff last year and they’ve done a great job preparing things and we’ll go through our meetings. “They’ve got to know these guys very well and now it’s important for me to get more involved in the process — not just watching these players, but getting to know them as well.” Botterill has seen plenty of Dahlin to know he can be a difference maker, and that’s why there’s very little chance Buffalo is going to stray from making him the No. 1 selection. He even spent time last season in the KeyBank Center, the Sabres’ home rink, when he suited up for Sweden at the world junior championship. When the Sabres fired general manager Tim Murray last spring, they were supposed to take a step in the right direction under Botterill, and that was hardly the case. In fact, you could easily argue the club looked worse this season. This is an opportunity to give centre Jack Eichel a generational talent to play with in Dahlin.
“We knew developing different habits and developing a different culture there’s certainly going to be hiccups and bumps along the way,” Botterill said. “This is a good day and we’re going to bring in a player who’s had a history. If you look at any of the top players, they have a history of being successful.
“That’s what we need more and more of in our organization is those people who have the experience of winning and are excited about trying to win at the NHL level.”
Botterill added the onus is on the club to put the support system in place to help their No. 1 pick have success. Botterill believes the teams behind the Sabres will do just fine selecting the likes of forwards Filip Zadina of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Halifax Mooseheads, Andrei Svechnikov of the Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts and Boston University’s Brady Tkachuk. “There’s quite a few guys at the top of the draft who have the opportunity to step in right away,” Botterill said. “Just look at players nowadays. I know it’s cliché, but it’s a young man’s league. These players come in having skill coaches, strength coaches at such a young age and I think they’re very mature stepping into the NHL.
“I thought Nico (Hischier) played a big part in the success of the New Jersey Devils this year and it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s four or five guys playing in the NHL from this year’s draft.”
The people in Buffalo haven’t had a lot to cheer about, especially where the Sabres are concerned, and Botterill is hopeful they’re buoyed by this news. “I hope they’re ecstatic,” said Botterill. “They’ve been extremely supportive. You felt it in the building. There was certainly a lot of quietness coming into the games, but whenever we did something well, they wanted to cheer, they wanted to be supportive.
“Hopefully, people in Buffalo have been excited the past few days. You look at what (Buffalo Bills general manager) Brandon Beane and his group has accomplished by getting a quarterback (Josh Allen) and having a successful draft. Now, with us winning this lottery and bringing in a really good player in June, hopefully fans in football and hockey are very excited right now.”
This is a good day and we’re going to bring in a player who’s had a history. If you look at any of the top players, they have a history of being successful.