On Tuesday, the call went out for readers to submit their predictions as to what the Sabres will do on day one of the NHL Entry Draft, and boy, did you deliver.
The Buffalo Sabres are scheduled to make three selections on draft night: they have their own pick at 9 overall, the Vegas Golden Knights’ selection at 16, and the Florida Panthers’ pick at 28. The contest received 40 entries which resulted in 36 unique predictions for those three selections. There were also two duplicate pairs.
For those who missed the last blog, here was the call to action:
1.) - Entrants must submit their Sabre-centric predictions by 8 pm on Wednesday, July 6.
2.) - Entrants must make one prediction regarding the outcome of each of the Sabres’ individual, first-round pick, for three (3) predictions in total
3.) - Those three predictions must either involve the selection of a 2022 draft-eligible prospect, or include the correct details of a trade involving the pick.
The person who makes the most correct guesses first will win a Buffalo Sabres sticker. Kinda lame, admittedly, but it’s about the bragging rights, really, isn’t it? Also, there is a better prize: Should someone get all three guesses correct, they will win a Dominik Hasek bobblehead which was given out during the final home game of the 2017-18 season. In the unlikely event that two people get the same three guesses correct, the first person to correctly guess the three answers will receive the Hasek prize and the second contestant to submit the correct answers will receive the lesser sticker prize. Also, I hate to do this, but all prizes apply only to the continental U.S. because mailing things overseas gets pretty pricey. But hey, if you happen to visit the States at some point, I'll buy you a beer and hand over the prize in person.
The predictions from the 40 reader submissions were incredibly unique, and there were some very interesting trends contained within, so let’s examine some of the most popular picks. The most popular selections at ninth overall are as follows:
1.) Matthew Savoie, C, Winnipeg Ice (WHL) – 10 votes
2.) Jonathan Lekkerimäki, RW, Djurgårdens IF (SHL) – 6 votes
3.) Cutter Gauthier, C/LW, U.S. National U18 Team (USDP) – 5 votes
Over half of the 9th overall predictions went to those three players, and from there it went wild.
11 readers think that Danila Yurov will go at pick 16. That number is actually higher than any prediction of a player to be taken at first overall. Eight of you think that Ivan Miroshnichenko will be selected with the last pick at 28 overall.
Here are your selections, as made in chronological order:
jcragcrumple (Not Eligible): Lekkerimaki, Lambert, Miroshnichenko
Buff36: Lekkerimaki, Nazar, Bichsel
homiedclown: Lekkerimaki, Lambert, Beck
joshs: Lekkerimaki, Nazar, Chesley
Leninthebuff: Savoie, Kasper, Howard
Powerslave: Lekkerimaki, Nazar, Pickering
Lunaion: Kasper, Yurov, Hutson
MGK1: Geekie, Firkus, Pickering
SyrSabreFan: Savoie, Yurov, Hutson
TomDelongeAva: Gauthier, Geekie, Chesley
Only_A_Ladd: Lekkerimaki, McGroarty, Schaefer
Pegullaville: Savoie, Lambert, Yurov
SDSabre: Savoie, Lambert, Miro
Boss34: Nazar, Howard, (move up 3 spots) Jimmy Snuggerud
Hatboro_Swords: Slafkovsky, Geekie, Chesley
turbo044: Jiricek - after a trade up, trading away the rights to Johnson and 41, Mcgroarty,
Hughes
Fattony1187: Gauthier, Nazar, Yurov
f0neguy: Gauthier, Lambert, Beck
sabrerob: Savoie, Lambert, Gaucher
zdp1189: Savoie, Yurov, Miro
TheSabresTaco: Cutter, Yurov, Miro
HenryHockey: Savoie, Snuggerud, Chesley
mattmoulson: Korchinski, Yurov, Rinzel
lacaprup: Nazar, 16: traded with Krebs to Chicago for Pat Kane, Luneau
Sir Tindoom: Nazar, McGroarty, Buf gets #23, St.L receives # 28, #106, #187 (Miro)
100goalseason: Savoie, Snuggerud, Gaucher
BufBanditsFan71: Kasper, Nazar, Bichsel
Reubenkincade: Kemell, Ostlund, Trade to Canucks for Conor Garland.
IonSabres: Savoie, Lambert, Gaucher
DirtyDan: Savoie, Yurov, Howard
Anderdog: Yurov, Miroshnichenko, Lamoureux
KilkennyDan: Snuggerud, Nazar, Rinzel
J2theZ: Korchinski, Yurov, Bichsel
TaroTsujimoto5: Savoie, Yurov, Miroshnichenko
Stripes77: Cooley, Yurov, Miro
c2rds: Savoie, Snuggurud, Miro
Michael Ghofrani: Gauthier, 14. Yurov, Mesar
Riptheguard: Gauthier, Lambert, Miro
Gr8daygo: Mintyukov, Yurov, Miroshnichenko
lulags: Savoie, Trade for PLd, Goyette at 28
PrinceChill: Lekkirmaki, Kulich, Chesley
Duplicate answers were submitted by a couple of readers, starting with sabrerob and IonSabres who both selected Savoie, Lambert, Gaucher as their respective picks. zdp1189 and TaroTsujimoto5 both chose Savoie, Yurov and Miroshnichenko as their likeliest picks.
Will any of these be right? Who knows!
Thanks for participating and enjoy the draft tonight. As always, may the odds be ever in your favor.
Buffalo Sabres Blogger • 
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