Sabres follow last place-finish by landing No. 1 pick

The Buffalo Sabres finally won something on the heels of a season in which they endured mostly losing.

A franchise which became the NHL’s first to finish 31st in the standings following this year’s addition of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights came away a winner in the draft lottery held in Toronto on Saturday night.

After center Ryan O’Reilly acknowledged two weeks ago that a losing culture crept into the Sabres’ locker room, perhaps landing the No. 1 pick could provide motivation, general manager Jason Botterill told The Associated Press by phone.

“We talked about change, and everyone assumes that’s like bringing in new players or bringing in new coaches, but it’s also changing things, how you go about your training,” said Botterill, who took over in May after GM Tim Murray and coach Dan Bylsma were fired.

“Hopefully this gets them that much more excited,” he added. “We’re bringing in a No. 1 overall talent to this group. And my guess it’s going to give our coaches a jump. And it’s certainly going to give our players a little jump.”

The Sabres will pick first for the third time in team history, and first since selecting Pierre Turgeon at No. 1 in 1987. Buffalo also lands the top pick after losing the lottery each of the previous two times the team finished last and settled for the No. 2 selections in both 2014 and ‘15.

“I certainly know the disappointment from those couple of years, but what people have to understand is we brought in excellent players in those years,” Botterill said, referring to Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart. “But there always is that excitement and that attitude, the No. 1. And I’m very happy for our group.”

The Carolina Hurricanes made the biggest jump in the draft order by moving from the 11th spot to 2nd. Montreal also shook up the draft order by moving up one spot and will select third.

The Hurricanes and Canadiens moved ahead of Ottawa and Arizona. The Senators dropped from the second slot to having the fourth pick, and Arizona dropped from third to fifth.

The Sabres finished 2545-12 and ranked last in numerous offensive categories. They extended their franchise-worst playoff drought to a seventh straight season and went 11-25-5 at home to match the fewest victories in team history.

Buffalo became just the eighth last-place finishing team to retain the first pick by winning the lottery since it was introduced by the NHL in 1995.

This year’s draft will be held at Dallas on June 2223.