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Buffalo Wins The 2018 Draft Lottery; Will Select First Overall

at CDT | by 11 Comments

The Buffalo Sabres have won the Rasmus Dahlin sweepstakes. Buffalo has one of the most hockey-rabid fan bases in the entire league and their faith has been rewarded with the chance to plant a franchise player on the blue line. After years of suffering with bottom of the standings finishes and placing second in the Connor McDavid race, the Sabres finally have the top choice.

Buffalo’s draw was revealed during the second period intermission of Game Two of the Vegas Golden Knights-San Jose Sharks series, after picks #4-#15 had been revealed earlier in the night. Vaulting their way into the top three was Carolina, who had a 70% chance of picking 12th overall. Instead, the Hurricanes now sit with the second overall pick to add to their collection of young talent, which has implications in terms of getting a chance at selecting a lethal goal scorer in Andrei Svechnikov, Filip Zadina, or Brady Tkachuk.

Montreal’s suffering through the 2017-18 season was eased a bit by getting the third overall pick and a shot at a talent who should be on NHL ice come fall, giving them the goal scorer they so desperately need. They could also go back to addressing the blue line with several high-end options available at the top of the draft, but scoring is a need and Zadina, Svechnikov, or Tkachuk would help with that need.

Dahlin has been pegged as the #1 overall choice for a while now and is projected to dramatically change the fortunes of whichever team won the rights to draft him. Buffalo won that right, tonight.

The top fifteen picks in the 2018 NHL Draft are as follows:

#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- N.Y. Rangers
#10-Edmonton Oilers
#11- N.Y. Islanders
#12- N.Y. Islanders (from Calgary)
#13- Dallas Stars
#14- Philadelphia Flyers (from St. Louis)
#15- Florida Panthers

Buffalo, Montreal, Carolina Early Winners In Draft Lottery

at CDT | by 9 Comments

The Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes each have won spots in the top three of the 2018 NHL draft at Saturday night’s NHL Draft Lottery. Any of the three can win the first overall pick and consensus first-overall pick defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in upcoming draft. The three teams will have to wait until the second intermission in tonight’s game between the San Jose Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights to find out which of them won the lottery.

Buffalo, which has had the best chance to win the lottery in three of the last five years are still in it as the Sabres hope to add a franchise changing defenseman to their core of young players including Jack Eichel. The Sabres drafted eighth each of the last two years. They picked second in 2015 when they took Jack Eichel.

Montreal, who had the fourth best chance to get the top pick also won the lottery and will move up. The addition of Dahlin to their defense could help rebuild their blueline after an injury-plagued season by their top defenseman Shea Weber.

Carolina is the biggest surprise as they had the 11th best chance to fall into the top three. The franchise, flooded with quality young defensemen, would only get richer if they end up with the first overall pick.

Regardless of the top pick, there are several other top players that will round out the top three, including forwards Andrei Svechnikov, Filip Zadina and Brady Tkachuk.

 

Snapshots: Draft Rankings, Pilut, Matthews

at CDT | by 1 Comment

TSN has released a special top-15 ranking prior to tomorrow’s draft lottery, and Rasmus Dahlin remains the unanimous choice for first overall. Beyond that, the trio of forwards Andrei Svechnikov, Filip Zadina and Brady Tkachuk fill out 2-4 while four other defenseman land in the top ten.

There will undoubtedly be plenty of debate in the coming months, but one thing seems certain. Whoever wins the draft lottery tomorrow night will have Dahlin in their lineup come October. That may seem premature, but scouts seem to agree that he’ll be an impact player from day one. Make sure to tune in between the first and second periods of the Vegas Golden Knights-San Jose Sharks tomorrow night.

  • John Vogl of the Buffalo News reports on rumors that Lawrence Pilut has signed with the Buffalo Sabres, adding that a deal can’t be officially announced until the defenseman finishes his stint with the Swedish national team. Pilut, 22, registered 38 points for HV71 in the SHL this season, leading all defensemen. Undersized but talented, he would add some skill to a defense corps in Buffalo that has had trouble moving the puck in recent years.
  • Though there had been some rumors about a potential rift between Mike Babcock and Auston Matthews, both parties denied any problems when asked today during their season-ending media availability. Both men are obviously disappointed by the results of Wednesday’s game 7 against the Boston Bruins, but made it clear that nothing had changed in their relationship.

NHL Central Scouting Releases Final Rankings

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The NHL Central Scouting has released their final rankings for the 2018 Entry Draft, listing the best prospects in both North America and the rest of the world. Though Rasmus Dahlin is expected to be taken with the first-overall pick, there is no consensus behind him on who should go second and even less on who should fill out the top ten.

The NHL Draft Lottery will be held on April 28th, when all of the non-playoff teams will find out exactly where they’re picking in June. These lists will help to inform who your team might have a chance at, though obviously anything can happen. The top-5 North American and International skaters are listed below:

North America:

  1. RW Andrei Svechnikov, Barrie Colts, OHL
  2. LW Brady Tkachuk, Boston University, NCAA
  3. RW Filip Zadina, Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL
  4. D Evan Bouchard, London Knights, OHL
  5. D Noah Dobson, Acadie-Bathurst Titan, QMJHL

International:

  1. D Rasmus Dahlin, Frolunda, SHL (Sweden)
  2. D Adam Boqvist, Brynas Jr, SuperElit (Sweden)
  3. RW Vitali Kravtsov, Chelyabinsk, KHL (Russia)
  4. RW Martin Kaut, Pardubice, Czech Republic
  5. D Adam Ginning, Linkoping, SHL (Sweden)

The first thing that many people will notice is Tkachuk’s climb to the second ranked player in North America, ahead of the elite goal-scoring talent of Zadina. Tkachuk’s stock has been rising all season thanks to a strong freshman year at BU and a good World Junior tournament. He could be selected as early as second overall should a team feel more comfortable with him than Svechnikov, who dealt with injury and an underwhelming World Junior performance for Russia.

Bouchard and Dobson experienced similar rises, and have now pushed out some of their American contemporaries. Many scouts have players like Quintin Hughes and Oliver Wahlstrom in the top five across North America, but both find themselves on the outside looking in thanks to huge CHL seasons by the big defensemen. Both Bouchard and Dobson project as excellent two-way options, who could move quickly through development systems to make an impact in the NHL.

One of the more eye-catching rankings is Ryan Merkley’s fall to #45 among North American skaters. The risky defenseman has been called both an elite offensive talent and a locker room trouble by prospect gurus, and will have to show that he is willing to be coached before getting an opportunity at the next level.

Riley Sutter, the latest in the powerhouse hockey family to enter the draft has fallen to #80 among North American skaters, and could end up as a mid-round pick come June.

Poll: Who Will Be The Second-Overall Pick In 2018?

at CDT | by 7 Comments

With just a handful of games remaining in the 2017-18 season, fans of half the league are already looking forward to the first big date on the offseason calendar. The 2018 NHL Entry Draft will start on June 22nd in Dallas, where Rasmus Dahlin looks to be the first name off the board. The Swedish defenseman is almost unanimously at the top of the rankings at this point, after showing off his huge potential by logging big minutes in the SHL, dominating the World Juniors and even suiting up for his country in the recent Olympics.

But after Dahlin, the decision becomes much tougher. For many months the leading theory was that Andrei Svechnikov, the dominant scoring Russian winger would be the second-overall pick, until he suffered an injury and then was forgettable at the World Juniors. Instead, many eyes turned to Filip Zadina who starred at the tournament and continued to wow audiences in the QMJHL on his way to a 44-goal season and a place on many of the league leaderboards. The 18-year old Czech forward can score from just about anywhere in the offensive zone, and does it with enough flair that everyone in the building takes notice.

Another player stood out in the World Junior tournament though, and that was Brady Tkachuk out of Boston University. Tkachuk had already been quietly climbing the draft boards, showing that he perhaps had just as much talent as his older brother—Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk—when he put up nine points in seven games and was clearly one of the most dangerous players for the dynamic Team USA. Tkachuk plays a heavy game and is a well-rounded talent that could now go as high as #2 overall, just as TSN’s Craig Button ranked him on his latest board.

Button isn’t alone in thinking Tkachuk has a chance to go second, but he certainly isn’t the consensus. That’s because there simply isn’t one, with other players like Adam Boqvist and Quinn Hughes even getting some love at the top of draft boards around the hockey world. There are several high-end players in this draft who could be franchise-altering talents, and the second-overall pick is still very much undecided. It might be determined by which team is selected in the draft lottery, and moves up (or down) to select right after Dahlin is off the board.

Who do you think will walk up to the podium after hearing his name second at this year’s draft? Will it be one of the trio of forwards, or a second defenseman? Will Dahlin be knocked off his perch entirely, and end up as a (excellent) consolation prize after someone decides they need help up front instead? Cast your vote down below, and be sure to explain your selection in the comment section.

Who will be the second-overall pick?
Andrei Svechnikov 32.04% (314 votes)
Filip Zadina 30.10% (295 votes)
Brady Tkachuk 29.59% (290 votes)
Rasmus Dahlin 2.76% (27 votes)
Adam Boqvist 2.76% (27 votes)
Quinn Hughes 1.63% (16 votes)
Other (leave in comments) 1.12% (11 votes)
Total Votes: 980

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