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Buffalo Sabres Lose Draft Lottery, So Does Connor McDavid

By Tim Redinger

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The NHL draft lottery is over, and for the Buffalo Sabres – that means we will be drafting second overall and will most likely be taking Jack Eichel.

Not a bad consolation prize, seeing as in one year (his Freshman year) the kid has a pretty impressive NCAA career doing just about everything except winning the National Championship.  Something that could drive him to go back for one more year with the Terriers, but he will most likely go pro.

Eichel going back to Boston definitely changes the dynamic. I don’t think even with Eichel in the lineup the Buffalo Sabres are going to make that strong of a push for the playoffs. I see them ending up the 2015-201 NHL season the way the Philadelphia Flyers or New Jersey Devils ended up, a chance late in the season, but not able to hold off the teams that can make an honest push for the playoffs. There won’t be talk of another Buffalo Sabres tank next season that is for sure, but with the new Draft Lottery process where the top three draft picks are going to be lottery eligible, not making the playoffs next year but being in more hockey games is an alluring picture.

So the Buffalo Sabres might not make the playoffs next year without Jack Eichel because he want’s the National Championship.  I think he will go pro because he will want to put to rest the whole idea that McDavid is better than him.  I have been saying all along – they are in separate leagues, there isn’t a comparison because they are playing against different types of players.

If there is any doubt that the NHL draft lottery is fixed, that should be let go at this point – but the NHL is missing out on an opportunity for this to be a much bigger media event. Why not broadcast the entire thing from start to finish? Certainly they started getting in the right direction by releasing the numbers for each lottery eligible team.

You could turn the lottery in an hour long special, with a new ball being pulled every fifteen minutes, and then analyzing the remaining balance of teams. The NHL could get something right here, with only a little bit more effort. Sure it takes away the whole “envelope” surprise thing – which I will admit, when Bill Daily struggled to get the Carolina Hurricanes card out of the envelope – I thought, here we go, conspiracy theory because the Hurricanes won it because the card is different some how.

The Buffalo Sabres didn’t get cheated out of the first overall draft pick because they “tanked”.  What the Buffalo Sabres did was a two year process.  They didn’t just up and decide, well we aren’t making the playoffs this year, lets mail it in the rest of the way.  They were bad all year.

What does this mean now for Connor McDavid?  Well with the Buffalo Sabres there wasn’t as much pressure on him.  He was joining a team where there wasn’t a number one overall draft pick, so yes he was still going to be the “guy” on the team, but he would have a young prospect pool of players around him.  In Edmonton, he gets to play in the shadow of a legacy.

For the Edmonton Oilers, who have been unable to build a team around a number one draft pick, and after picking three straight number ones – will this change anything?  Certainly they have more offensive talent on their team than any other team, but offense is not going to win you everything.

I don’t buy the you can’t market the kid in Edmonton angle, because it is the 21st century.  Twitter will have this kid doing backflips for the NHL.  Certainly the East coast will miss out on a lot of his games because they will be played at the latest game times, but they will have no problem marketing the kid, and 97 Oilers sweaters will have no problem selling.

I spent a few minutes on Twitter after the announcement was made and ripped the Edmonton Oilers pretty good.  The NHL has missed the boat here because the Edmonton Oilers have not been able to use a first round draft pick to make their franchise better in years.

McDavid is a different kind of prospect – so maybe that will change.  He didn’t look happy at all when he was interviewed knowing full well he will be donning an Edmonton Oilers sweater later this summer in Florida.

The Buffalo Sabres have Jack Eichel in their organization (presumably) – and life will be better when hockey rolls around because of it.

Next: Hodgson Turns In Another Disappointing Season

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