Buffalo Sabres: 2018 NHL Mock Draft Post Draft Lottery Edition
By Austin Owens
While the first edition of our 2018 NHL Mock Draft’s was focused on the whole league, this version will give some love to those teams that missed out on playoffs
The second edition of our 2018 NHL Mock Draft will go through each team involved in the lottery. We look at which teams rose, and which fell after the lottery balls decided each the fate of several franchises who are looking for a turnaround of their fortunes after rough seasons in 2017-18.
After missing out on the first-overall picks several times over the past five years, the Buffalo Sabres finally won the ultimate prize and now have the chance to take Rasmus Dahlin, a franchise-changing defenceman, first overall come June.
Some team’s jumped up in the draft while others fell. With that being said, let’s take a look at who landed where and who those teams could end up with in the draft.
Rasmus Dahlin. player. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Defence. Frölunda HC (SHL). 1. 12
Not much to say about this pick. You know who it’s going to be already. The only thing that had to be determined was his destination.
There’s no way for Buffalo to mess this up. There’s has always been one player at the top of this class. Dahlin and Rasmus Ristolainen will provide the Sabres with two solid pillars on the backend to build around.
Dahlin is the best defensive prospect to come out of the draft in a long time. Even Erik Karlsson didn’t have this type of hype, and he’s the easiest comparison to Dahlin. What makes him so special is his play on the defensive end, which is a cherry on top considering what a star this man is when he has the puck.