GDT: 2018 NHL Draft Lottery, BUF-CAR-MTL end up 1-2-3

[I am not exposed]

problem with that is we'd have to go 4-4-1 for the expansion again. how'd that work out last time? plus we played borgstrom for nothing and then scratched him thus burning an elc year and forcing us to protect him while missing the playoffs and losing the lottery. wow, yea. so picks 15,34 huh? lol welcome to middle of the roadsville for eternity folks. or at least until the event that shall not be named. speaking of which, carolina is the last team in the world we should be happy got a top 3 pick in regards to that. we need to be rooting for nothing short of miserable failure for arizona and carolinas ticket sales for the forseeable future if we want one of those.

Fair point. Forgot about that.

 

[I am not exposed]

Add Pysyk and Mascherin to that package if need be.

Who ya got in mind?

Maybe a Carolina defenseman if they get Dahlin!

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

@I am not exposed

Byfuglien (least likely)
Spurgeon or Brodin
Faulk
Petry + Pacioretty
Braun + Boedker
Muzzin or Martinez

Just a small list...
As Mr. POSITIVITY pointed out about the expansion draft, some of those guys would be UFAs so we wouldn't have to protect them in theory as their contract runs out the year of that draft

 

[Jakeybonz]

As Mr. POSITIVITY pointed out

mr. REALITY* and anyone we get would have to have just a 1 yr contract which makes it not worth it.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

Buffalo finally. Ok with this they're ages away.

 

[PSLguy]

Still find it hard to understand that the Flyers get to pick ahead of the Cats.

 

[SoupyFIN]

Still find it hard to understand that the Flyers get to pick ahead of the Cats.

Blues pick originally though, Flyers still have their own first after our selection.

 

[EnforceTheLaus]

Bad news: Buffalo got #1

Good news: It’s Buffalo

 

[letsgrowcactus]

Damn. Of course it'd be two teams in our division and also Carolina...
Buffalo's biggest weakness was the D - seems like they now have too much tallent to continue to suck (would be nice though). And WTF did Montreal do to earn a top3 pick?
Carolina only missed this year because Darling was absolutely horrendous. I'm almost happy for them except that's possibly another competitor for the wild card. Why couldn't Arizona or even Vancouver get the pick?
Dahlin in our division. Yipee!!! Ugh.

Well, 15th or not we need to make our pick count. See Boston - Pastrnak went 25th, Debrusk went 14th, McAvoy went 16th and look what they're doing for them in regular season and playoffs. You can draft a star with that pick.
I really hope we can get one of Bouchard, Smith and Dobson but at 15th the odds aren't good. If we need to trade up 2-3 spots to pick the last one I wouldn't be opposed to that.

We're already competing for the playoffs with Tampa, Boston and Toronto, if Buffalo emerges as another threat (as they should, in two years if not next year) that's going to be a bloodbath. At least Montreal should still be screwed in the foreseeable future given their situation at center - unless they somehow trade for one.

Note: That's 7 of the last 9 lottery picks going to the Eastern conference. Lucky us :/

 

[letsgrowcactus]

Bad news: Buffalo got #1

Good news: It’s Buffalo

I mean, you could easily say that about us in 2014. Two years later we had 103 points and won the division. Sure there was some luck involved but still.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

I know our division was awful but this is the worst case scenario for us down the road. 3 of the top 4 from our division and the other will be competing for a spot every year here on out.

Dahlin in Carolina would be kind of funny. Can't think of a more mundane team for him. Not sure who I'm rooting for.

Meh not worried about the Habs and Buffalo needs a ton of work. Most concerning is Carolina with Svechnikov, they're set on d already. New owner is a wildcard though...

I mean, you could easily say that about us in 2014. Two years later we had 103 points and won the division. Sure there was some luck involved but still.

The 2014 Panthers were considerably better than their record (by considerably better I mean like 76-78 point team). Their # weren't bad, the goaltending was a mess though, Markstrom and Thomas killed them.

 

[letsgrowcactus]

Meh not worried about the Habs and Buffalo needs a ton of work. Most concerning is Carolina with Svechnikov, they're set on d already. New owner is a wildcard though...



The 2014 Panthers were considerably better than their record (by considerably better I mean like 76-78 point team). Their # weren't bad, the goaltending was a mess though, Markstrom and Thomas killed them.

Agree that Carolina is a threat.

Re: the 2014 Panthers - was it just goaltending or also defence? Sabres' goalies have pretty similar stats to Markstrom and Thomas.
The Sabers' D sucks, but still, on paper, that team shouldn't be this bad. Is it coaching, bad locker room, I don't know. I just hope they don't resolve it anytime soon because we're already competing with Boston, Tampa and Toronto and the Metro won't give up more than one wild card for the next few years at least.

 

[SoupyFIN]

The 2014 Panthers were considerably better than their record (by considerably better I mean like 76-78 point team). Their # weren't bad, the goaltending was a mess though, Markstrom and Thomas killed them.

From what I remember Thomas kept us in a lot of games the team had no business being in, Markstrom was brutal though.

 

[floridada]

buffalo lost out on ekblad? they lost out on draisaitl. edmonton basically won back to back lotteries.

I'm talking about 2014. Sabres finished in last place, but we won the lottery and drafted Ekblad.

 

[FrolikFan67]

buffalo has Dahlin at top D, Eichel at top center. when you have a foundation of a true #1 d and a true #1 center? youre in good shape. i cant imagine theyll be terrible for too much longer.

sucks montreal got in there but at least theyll wind up with another winger and not a d or center. granted an awesome winger.

i feel bad that carolina cant nab a center but theyll get an incredible winger.

 

[Jakeybonz]

I'm talking about 2014. Sabres finished in last place, but we won the lottery and drafted Ekblad.

yea I know, it was just my way of making fun of ekblad. for this draft I'm pretty sure we'll end up with smith, farabee, or wilde. all look fine but none will change our middle of the roadness.

 

[GrumpyKelly]

I see Buffalo a bigger threat long term.

They got their 1C and now not only 1D but apparently a generational talent. On top of that they can slide O'Reilly to 2C, also MIttelstad coming along.

Sure, they lack a lot of complementary pieces but those are much easier to get. Carolina has neither 1C or a 1D.

 

[EnforceTheLaus]

I mean, you could easily say that about us in 2014. Two years later we had 103 points and won the division. Sure there was some luck involved but still.

We haven’t finished bottom 10 since, Buffalo hasn’t moved

 

[iam76]

I thought round 2 wasn't affected by lottery? I am seeing we dropped to 36 on draftsite.

 

[SoupyFIN]

buffalo has Dahlin at top D, Eichel at top center. when you have a foundation of a true #1 d and a true #1 center? youre in good shape. i cant imagine theyll be terrible for too much longer.

Idk if I'd call Eichel a true 1C, he's a very good offensive player, but the other areas of his game are seriously lacking. Sabres saving grace is a top5 defensive player in the league in ROR, who they can match up against the opposing team's top line and play Eichel against lesser competition.

Funnily enough Dahlin is sort of in the same boat, but they don't have a ROR equivalent on defence. There's going to be a steep learning curve for both of those guys until that organization becomes a winning team.

I thought round 2 wasn't affected by lottery? I am seeing we dropped to 36 on draftsite.

That site probably isn't aware of the rule, or they have the order generated automatically and haven't set it to 1st round only.

2nd round (and beyond) 100% is not affected by the lottery.

 

[letsgrowcactus]

We haven’t finished bottom 10 since, Buffalo hasn’t moved

I meant Buffalo could be where we were then. Yes they finished last this year, but with Dahlin and other pieces (Mittelstadt) they should improve. We drafted 1st in 2014 and two years later won the division. Similarly, the Sabers might continue to suck, or this might be the piece that finally pushes them to becoming relevant. They desperately needed help on defence - now they got some.

 

[Jakeybonz]

I meant Buffalo could be where we were then. Yes they finished last this year, but with Dahlin and other pieces (Mittelstadt) they should improve. We drafted 1st in 2014 and two years later won the division. Similarly, the Sabers might continue to suck, or this might be the piece that finally pushes them to becoming relevant. They desperately needed help on defence - now they got some.

buffalo was already supposed to be relevant this year. I def. think they'll be the 4th best team in the atlantic in 2 yrs. which makes us 5th. I see the panthers as an 88-96 point team for the next 5 yrs. unless we spend the cap in which case we could be a 100 point team for a couple of seasons but there's almost nothing that could put us at the top of the division with this core. we'd need magical things to happen.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

buffalo was already supposed to be relevant this year. I def. think they'll be the 4th best team in the atlantic in 2 yrs. which makes us 5th. I see the panthers as an 88-96 point team for the next 5 yrs. unless we spend the cap in which case we could be a 100 point team for a couple of seasons but there's almost nothing that could put us at the top of the division with this core. we'd need magical things to happen.

So Borgstrom, Tippett and Heponiemi are all busts and don't help this team take the next step at all? Outside goaltending, what is wrong with our core? The only magical thing happening is you predicting the next 5 years

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

If Housley isn't right coach or if they don't hire the right coach, Buffalo isn't going anywhere. And if Boughner stagnates as a coach, we won't be going anywhere. But if Boughner improves as a coach, we could do some good things.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

From what I remember Thomas kept us in a lot of games the team had no business being in, Markstrom was brutal though.

I mixed him up with Ellis. Ellis and Markstrom combined were 1-11-3 with a .850 sv% and a GAA over 4.

Clem, Lu, and Thomas were 28-34-5 (again not great but that would have had us drafting like 5th). Ellis and Markstrom were who we needed for the tank.