VANCOUVER — Welcome to another NHL Draft weekend, where dreams are made for 18-year-olds and teams set the stage for big deals. Our annual reminder is in place that this is not the NFL, where teams can reset their roster and get multiple starters out of one draft.
In this NHL Draft, only presumptive Nos. 1-2 Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko are likely to play in the NHL this year. The Sabres have the No. 7 pick and, by all accounts, will get a good player no matter who they take.
But that kid can't be expected to contribute anything on the NHL level in 2019-20 and perhaps in 2020-21. The hope is that the pick doesn't go all Alex Nylander on the Sabres and still give them nothing by 2021-22. Futures are sure tough to wait for when the present is so glum.
The start of this draft will clearly be troubling to the Sabres and their fans. The New Jersey Devils are expected to take Hughes while the New York Rangers ostensibly will follow with Kakko. That's two teams in the Eastern Conference who didn't make the playoffs this year and are trying to climb back into the postseason who are now adding elite star power up front.
The Rangers finished two points ahead of the Sabres last season, the Devils four points behind. And they're both going to instantly get better. The Rangers also picked up defenseman Jacob Trouba this week in a trade with Winnipeg. Another huge move.
Sabres General Manager Jason Botterill likes to be stealth on what he's up to. He's reportedly settled up qualifying offers with his key restricted free agents (Evan Rodrigues, Linus Ullmark, Jake McCabe, Zemgus Girgensons and Johan Larsson). While many GMs have spoken to the media this week and several also did so Thursday evening, Botterill demurred until his annual draft day session that will be held here Friday morning.
Botterill doesn't have to jump feet-first into things here and his recent past shows he won't. He traded Ryan O'Reilly to St. Louis last year on July 1 and acquired Jeff Skinner from Carolina on Aug. 2. Plenty of seeds were set on draft weekend but the actual deals were not consummated.
Botterill is likely to have similar thinking this weekend. He needs help up front, topped by a No. 2 center, and he ultimately has to decide what to do with Rasmus Ristolainen. That minus-41 rating is like a flashing neon Vegas marquee but there's plenty of teams out there who think the Sabres have screwed up the big guy so much that he simply needs to get out of Buffalo to get better.
Mike Harrington Short-term issues staring at Sabres on a weekend built for the long haul Rasmus Dahlin a unanimous choice for NHL All-Rookie Team Robin Lehner's life, Masterton Award are textbook case of perseverance Rasmus Dahlin third in Calder voting; Ryan O'Reilly wins first career Selke More Stories And there's perhaps a good deal of truth in that. Still, it's heartening to hear that Botterill was asking coaching candidates — including Ralph Krueger — what their thoughts were on fixing Ristolainen during his interview process.
Ultimately, the decision has to be made if Krueger's system, along with continued work from assistant coach Steve Smith, will be enough to salvage the Buffalo career of a player who's done far too much losing since he arrived on the scene in 2013.
And if the decision is made to move Ristolainen — something this corner was in favor of last year instead of trading O'Reilly -- Botterill has to learn from last summer's folly. This is too valuable a player to deal for futures and cap scraps. If Ristolainen goes, quality NHL talent must come back. No more Berglund-Sobotka entries. No fourth-level prospects like Tage Thompson.
As troubling as the NHL roster construction has been, Botterill and his crew seem to have done an exceptional job at drafting the last two years. Another strong draft could really put the Sabres in good stead in a couple of years. Of course, another 76-point season would really turn up the heat on Botterill and that's his big dilemma.
GMs in this sport have to operate out of a long-term prism but Botterill has to be feeling the need for some immediate success next season. The depth the Sabres lack at forward can be fixed some by the promotion of a Victor Olofsson and perhaps the Hail Mary that Nylander figures things out. But the GM needs outside help and that's going to be a key point to watch the next few weeks.
Biggest Sabres draft sidelight to watch: They've insisted it was just the luck of the draw that they haven't taken any Canadian juniors the last two years. There are other teams out there wondering. We'll see how that situation plays out again this weekend. The Sabres are known to be high on center Trevor Zegras and right wing sniper Cole Caufield, both of whom are Americans.
No anti-Canadian issues there. Those are just good players. It will be in later rounds where we see the real philosophy coming through.
It's like a lot of things around the Sabres starting this weekend. There's plenty of wait and see in the picture. You hope it's not too much.
Story topics: Buffalo Sabres / Jason Botterill / NHL Draft
