BUFFALO, N.Y. — For the first time since 2010, there was no movement during the NHL Draft Lottery, so the Buffalo Sabres remain at pick 11 and the San Jose Sharks stay at No. 1 winning the lottery.
For my money, it didn’t matter if the Sabres won the lottery or stayed at 11. If I’m Kevyn Adams, I’m looking to trade the pick.
There is plenty of high-end talent in the pipeline including Devon Levi, Noah Ostlund, Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen, Matt Savoie, Ryan Johnson, Anton Wahlberg, Vsevolod Komarov, Nikita Novikov, Maxim Strbak and Prokhor Poltapov.
Young players already with the Sabres include Owen Power, Bo Byram, Mattias Samuelsson, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Dylan Cozens, Zach Benson, Jack Quinn and Peyton Krebs.
The cupboard has been more than restocked and it’s time to treat some of this as currency including the 11th overall pick on June 28.
Before Lindy Ruff was hired as coach, players around the NHL didn’t have much interest in waving a no movement clause because for most of the season, the Sabres looked lost, disorganized, and a team that had no accountability. My thought is how much does the hiring of Ruff change that?
If I’m Adams, I’m looking to trade the pick for a top-6 forward. If the player coming to Buffalo is good enough, I’d also be interested in sweetening the trade by adding another prospect if it were the only way to get the deal done. Adams knows he made a mistake last summer sitting on his hands thinking everybody was going to improve. He got a rude awakening when everybody regressed except for Luukkonen, Peterka, Jacob Bryson and Henri Jokiharju.
You never want to over pay in a trade, but a pick and a prospect would be worth it if it landed you the right guy.
It utterly amazes me that two years ago, Dylan Cozens played left wing during the World Championships and led Team Canada with seven goals, but he’s never been tried by the Sabres at left wing. If you get a top centerman, move Cozens to left wing instead of right wing and see if you’d get the same results.
The Buffalo Sabres took the best defenseman in team history with the 11th overall pick. Mike Ramsey was drafted in 1979 and should have his No. 5 already in the rafters at the arena.
I went back 25 years and there have only been a few really good picks taken at No. 11. The best was in 2005 when the Los Angeles Kings drafted Anze Kopitar. In 2003, the Philadelphia Flyers nabbed Jeff Carter and in 2012, the Washington Capitals took Filip Forsberg.