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Snow Is A Metaphor For Draft Lottery Day |
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April 15th has a negative connotation for most because it is tax deadline day in the US. The reappearance of Old Man Winter in Western New York and Southern Ontario had only added more misery. For the Buffalo Sabres, this day is a first step towards an optimistic future, as they find out whether they will have the first overall selection in the upcoming Entry Draft when the NHL Draft Lottery takes place in Toronto Tuesday evening.
The Sabres have a 25% chance at winning the lottery courtesy of a league-worst 21-51-10 record, but may be able to select the best forward on the board in Sam Bennett of the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs or Sam Reinhart of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice, even if they lose the lottery. Both Florida(18.8%) and Edmonton(14.2%) are likely to select defenseman Aaron Ekblad if they earn the top pick.
The possibility exists that the Sabres could have two selections in the top five, as they own a conditional first round pick from the New York Islanders as part of the Matt Moulson/Thomas Vanek deal . The condition in the deal included the option to defer the top pick from 2014 to 2015 if the Islanders finished with a top 10 selection.
In spite of the fact that 2015 will be a much stronger and deeper draft class, including gems Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, indications are that Isles GM Garth Snow will exercise the option to defer and keep his top five pick.
New York may have designs on using the first to trade up to snag Reinhart(the brother of current Islanders prospect Griffin Reinhart), who is ranked first by the International Scouting Services, but Snow is buying himself time to lessen the damage of the disastrous Vanek deal by pushing the pick to 2015.
The Islanders have significant cap space available this summer and Snow may actually have the freedom to spend significant dollars as owner Charles Wang looks to make the club a more attractive commodity to buy before their planned franchise move to Brooklyn in 2015, but the deferred pick could be more reason for optimism on the part of the Sabres and GM Tim Murray.
Snow at times appears to be trying to top former Isles GM Mike Milbury as the worst executive in the club’s history. New York is expected to retain coach Jack Capuano for next season and the prices will be exceedingly high in a free agent market short on impact players. If successful, the Isles could give up a pick in the middle of the first round, but based on their history, the Sabres could find themselves with two top picks a year from now.
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