When the Buffalo Sabres don’t have bad luck, they evidently have no luck at all. But it took tanking towards the bottom of the standings to get it done.
Advertisement
“McDavid’s better, that’s all that matters”, said another fan.
It was not just the Leafs who were rewarded for their ineptitude.
After Columbus, rounding out the draft order of the 11 other teams that did not make the playoffs will be Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary, Arizona, Buffalo, Montreal, Colorado, New Jersey, Ottawa, Carolina and Boston.
Unlike a lot of fans, Shanahan only clicked through the online Draft Lottery simulator once.
Burnside: Well, my friend, I have to admit there was nervous anticipation even among the media group watching the draft lottery Saturday night, so I can’t imagine the nerves for the representatives of the three final teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets. Laine possess an unbelievable shot and his scoring touch is among tops among draft eligible players. No one player is going to change a franchise overnight.
To be fair, the Canucks have been adding young pieces in already, such as Bo Horvat and Jake Virtanen, but a pick like this would be key to helping this team move into a new era. Matthews is more low key in interviews and in his overall on and off-ice behaviour. The Leafs have shuffled out core players like Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf in exchange for future assets, including a second first-round selection in June. A No. 1 franchise center is exactly what the Leafs have needed ever since Mats Sundin departed.
The favorite to be selected at #4 is London Knights winger Matthew Tkachuk, linemate of 2015 top pick Mitch Marner. Also part of that team was Olli Juolevi, a big puck-moving defenseman. “That was a pretty tense moment for all of us”. “But we’re at five and we’re going to get a really good player”.
Matthews might not be a saviour.
Matthews would fill an immediate need on the Blue Jackets’ roster after No. 1 center Ryan Johansen was traded to Nashville in January.
Shanahan described Matthews as someone used to a leading role, a centre with good size (six-foot-two, 194 pounds) who can score from the perimeter and from around the net. In January, they helped Finland win gold at the World Junior Championship. The 18-year-old is also set to represent the United States at the upcoming world championship.
“I know that the gap is smaller than when the season started”, Laine told Sportsnet prior to the draft lottery announcement on Saturday. “I wouldn’t put too much pressure on any one player”. The chances are they will get a decent player who is several seasons removed from the National Hockey League.
The remaining 16 picks of the draft will be determined at the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Advertisement
The draft narrative about the “unlucky” Canucks isn’t accurate and probably hasn’t been since 1990 when the team unexpectedly won its arbitration with the league over Vancouver’s fourth-round selection in 1989 of Russian star Pavel Bure, who had been deemed ineligible by the NHL for that draft.
