"At least we only dropped one spot this year."
That's how Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning summed up the 2018 draft lottery to
Jason Botchford of The Province.
Considering how things usually go for the Canucks, it is a bit of a win for the team to have landed in its most likely draft position. The Canucks were bumped down from six to seven by the Carolina Hurricanes, who moved from No. 11 to No. 2.
It's somewhat bittersweet to see the Buffalo Sabres snatch away that first-overall pick that would have been such a great fit for Vancouver—dredging up memories of Gilbert Perreault and the famous spin of the wheel back in 1970.
That being said, the Sabres have a loyal fanbase and a new management group that could really use something positive to build around. Buffalo could also become the first team to ice a Rasmus-and-Rasmus defense pairing if they match Dahlin up with their incumbent No. 1, Rasmus Ristolainen (who's still just 23). And the Sabres kinda got jobbed when they missed out on Connor McDavid in 2015 despite their last-place finish in the NHL standings.
Hope for Canucks fans that eventually the balls will drop our way?
Or does numbers whiz John Chayka, whose Arizona Coyotes also seem to get burned year after year, have it right?
If you're interested in the minutiae of how the lottery process worked on Saturday,
click here for an inside look from Mike Johnston at Sportsnet.
Dahlin was literally thisclose:
The first three numbers drawn for the first overall pick were 1, 4, 14, in that specific order. After those three numbers were called, Buffalo, Arizona, Vancouver and Chicago each had two number combinations remaining that could’ve seen them win the top selection, while Ottawa had three potential winning combos. No. 6 was called and that meant it was the Sabres that became the lucky team.
Johnston reports that the balls in the third drawing also came up in Buffalo's favour—it really was their year. The subsequent re-draw gave the Montreal Canadiens that third pick.
So here we are: the Canucks hold the seventh pick. There's a collection of defensemen available in that range in the draft rankings, as well as skilled forward Oliver Wahlstrom—who missed the empty net for a chance to tie in the dying seconds of Sunday's gold-medal game at the World U18 Championship. Finland hung on for the 3-2 win and its second gold in three years, while Team USA settled for silver and the Swedes won the bronze.
At this point, Jim Benning isn't ruling anything out.
“There’s good depth in the draft this year for defencemen, so our strategy this year is to take the best player in the first round,” he told Botchford.
“If it’s a defenceman, we’ll take one. But there’s enough depth this year that if we don’t get a defenceman with our first-round pick then maybe with our second-round pick, one of the guys we really like is going to be there and we can get a guy then.”
Benning said he does see a separation between the top seven and the rest of the pack. And while he admits that the Canucks will look at moving up, he thinks it's unlikely.
“The truth about trading up to the top five is that it hardly ever happens,” Benning said. “We will go over all these options. But I don’t want to trade out of the player we really like."
The team to watch will be the Carolina Hurricanes, owners of the second pick. The team currently has no coach, no general manager and a new owner in Tom Dundon who has made it clear that he likes to think outside the box. Would he break with the status quo and deal that second pick for more immediate help for his team?
One positive thing we learned: the Canucks have moved past their long-held position as the NHL's "most-hated" team. Over the last couple of weeks, I heard quite a few people outside Vancouver suggest that the Canucks 'deserved' the lottery win the most this year. The team also got plenty of love when it was revealed that they really did try to send Fin as their lottery representative.
Next year—the all-mascot draft lottery? Now that'd be good TV!
So—moving on. Utica Comets, baby!
After two definitive wins at home, the Comets have one chance to eliminate the Toronto Marlies from the AHL playoffs at Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto on Sunday. Puck drop is at 1 p.m. PT.
The Comets have shown very well in this series, calmly pushing the AHL's best team to an unexpected brink of elimination. If they can get another early lead, they'll have a good chance of finishing the job today.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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