Over the years, the Buffalo Sabres have made some really bad mistakes in the NHL Draft when they took a player who didn't work out while others have gone on to have excellent careers. However, there has also been players that were drafted right before the Sabres picks that become the ulimate 'What if'.
These are players that the Sabres might have drafted given the chance and put them much closer to a Stanley Cup than they currently are.
3 players drafted just before the Buffalo Sabres who became superstars
Connor McDavid
In 2015, the Buffalo Sabres came so close to drafting the best player in the NHL currently in Connor McDavid. That year, they had the second overall pick and would end up selecting Jack Eichel, which didn't work out, and the Sabres would end up trading him away.
However, that year there was no question who was going to be first and that was Connor McDavid, who looked like a generational talent and has proven those who believed it right. He has won the Hart Memorial Trophy four times, led the league in points five times and has had 100 or more points in eight seasons.
Matthew Tkachuk
In 2016, the Buffalo Sabres had the eighth overall pick and would select Alexander Nylander, who played in only 19 games for the Sabres before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks. However, two picks before the selection of Nylander was a player who would have been a much better selection.
That pick was Matthew Tkachuk by the Calgary Flames, who had a number of solid seasons for the Flames before being traded to the Florida Panthers, where he went on to win two Stanley Cups and be a big part of their success. If the Sabres had drafted Tkachuk, it wouldn't have guaranteed them a Stanley Cup, but it would have been a really fun line for fans to watch with Tkachuk and Tage Thompson.
Anze Kopitar
In the 2005 NHL Draft, the Buffalo Sabres had the 13th overall pick and selected center Marek Zagrapan. He would spend a few seasons in the AHL but never reached the NHL to make his debut.
For the Sabres, it wasn't even the first player ahead of them that got selected (which was Marc Staal and would have been a great pick) but two picks ahead of him in center Anze Kopitar.
Kopitar has played almost two decades with the Los Angeles Kings and has been their best player for a large portion of his career. He has helped them win two Stanley Cups and been consistently among the team's point leaders each season.
At the time Kopitar entered the league, the Sabres were consistently a playoff team with players like Thomas Vanek, Chris Drury, and Daniel Briere, so adding Kopitar to this group might have been the missing piece to get them over the hump and back into the Stanley Cup Final.