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Buffalo Sabres: It is 2021 NHL Draft Lottery day

By Jacob LeBlanc

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - FEBRUARY 24: The NHL logo is seen on a goal in a game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers at Wells Fargo Center on February 24, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - FEBRUARY 24: The NHL logo is seen on a goal in a game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers at Wells Fargo Center on February 24, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) /
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Today is the first significant event of the Buffalo Sabres 2021 offseason. The 2021 NHL Draft Lottery is set to be held tonight at 6 pm EST. The Sabres are looking to put their disastrous season behind them and focus on the future. And if they can secure the number one overall pick tonight, that will build some good momentum going into the offseason.

Since Buffalo finished the season with the least amount of points, it is impossible for them to pick any lower than third in this year’s NHL Draft. They currently have the best odds at securing the first overall pick with a 16.6% chance. They have a 15.0% chance at the second overall pick and a 68.4% shot at the third overall.

The Sabres are looking to secure the number one overall pick for the first time since 2018. They used that pick to select Rasmus Dahlin. If Buffalo is able to win the draft lottery this year, it will only be the fourth time in franchise history that they have gotten the number one overall draft pick.

Buffalo should be entering the draft with the strategy of drafting whoever is the best available player at their pick. Obviously, this is the easiest when you have the first pick, as they could pick whoever they have at the top of their draft board.

There are 16 teams that have a shot at getting the number one overall pick. Those odds are listed below.

Sabres- 16.6%

Ducks- 12.1%

Kraken- 10.3%

Devils- 10.3%

Blue Jackets- 8.5%

Red Wings- 7.6%

Sharks- 6.7%

Kings- 5.8%

Canucks- 5.4%

Senators- 4.5%

Coyotes- 3.1%

Blackhawks- 2.7%

Flames- 2.2%

Flyers- 1.8%

Stars- 1.4%

Rangers- 1.0%

Next. Draft lottery begins meaningful Sabres offseason. dark

Date: Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Time: 6 pm EST

TV Channel (USA): NBCSN, NHL Network

TV Channel (Canada): Sportsnet, TVA Sports

Streaming: NBCSports & fuboTV

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