Maybe we get lucky next lottery and get #1 to take Dahlin when we miss the playoffs by 1 point......Just kidding. The Sabres will never win a lotto.
I'm ready for whatever tomorrow. I have 100% faith in Botterill and will be pleased with whoever he picks,be it a forward or defenseman. Even if Heiskanen, Makar AND Liljegren are all gone in the first 7 picks and he takes Valimaki or another dman I'll be ok with it. He knows what to do.
I'm guessing depending on how the first 7 shake out that we are either drafting Timothy Liljegren, Owen Tippett or Cody Glass. And I'd be ecstatic with any of them. I feel Tippett is being undervalued in this draft. By far the best pure goal scorer, he has the speed and sniping ability to be a 30 goal scorer in this league. Part of me wants Tippett bad assuming Makar and Heiskanen are gone. I'm just picturing a top line of Nylander-Eichel-Tippett demolishing teams for a decade+. The speed/skating that a line featuring those 3 would possess is just insane. I could see all 3 of them being perennial 30+ goal scorers with Eichel putting up 90-100 points a season. I'd be happy with Glass also, I think he's going to be a very nice high end 2C, a guy who just produces.
The only player I do not want is Rasmussen. And not just because of his name. I'm not going to front and make it seem like I actually have seen extensive viewing of the draft prospects. Besides the WJC and a few memorial cup games the biggest extent of seeing these players in action is on YouTube. So I'm mainly going off scouting reports/online videos to assess them, but Rasmussen just does not impress me. Tippett on the other hand I really like. I think he has all the talent to be a consistent 30 goal scorer. Maybe he does have a slightly higher then you'd like bust factor for a top 10 pick. I'd still roll the dice on him. If Kane isn't going to be extended then we need a premier pure goal scorer and Tippett and his skating, speed and shot is exactly what I want on my top line riding shotgun with Eichel.
I have faith in you Botterill. For the first time in a very long time I have faith in the Sabres GM. I can't explain how amazing it feels to have an actual competent high caliber GM in charge instead of that ****ING buffoon Tim Murray. Thank god Pegula fired him, I couldn't stomach another Murray draft and his asinine trades.