Sabres make it official, draft Dahlin with No. 1 pick

DALLAS - He's been called a generational talent and a franchise-defining defenseman. He's been referred to as the consensus top prospect in the game, the best on the blue line since Denis Potvin entered the league in 1973.
Now, finally, you can attach one more label to Rasmus Dahlin: Buffalo Sabre.
Dahlin was selected by Buffalo with the first overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft on Friday, confirming what those in the hockey world considered to be a given since before the season began. He becomes the third No. 1 pick in franchise history, joining Gilbert Perreault and Pierre Turgeon.

Jason Botterill had laughed off a question early on Friday asking to confirm that Dahlin would be his pick, but was there ever any doubt? Botterill spoke glowingly about the impression Dahlin made during his interview at the Scouting Combine, where he impressed Sabres brass with a critical self-assessment.

Dahlin has maintained that same humility at every step throughout the draft process. He's quick to shut down any notion of being a franchise savior, but the coolness with which he handles any situation - be it a media scrum or defensive-zone breakout - suggests he's up for any task that lies ahead.
"Ice cube," Sabres owner Terry Pegula told The Instigators on Friday when asked to describe his interactions with Dahlin. "I don't think any of this bothers him."
Perhaps his maturity is a byproduct of these last two seasons, the majority of which he spent in dressing rooms with men twice his age. He began playing in the SHL, Sweden's top professional league, at age 16. He was the youngest player at the Olympics in February.
"If you didn't know how old he was, you would not say that that was a 16-year-old defenseman," Craig Button, TSN's director of scouting, told Brian Duff. "It's one thing to have the obvious skills and to be able to master the game, handle the puck, skating. But his ability to understand what he can do and what he can't do, that's very uncommon for most players at that age.
"He's got a poise about him and an understanding of how he can make the play that is right in front of him at any time."

Fans have taken notice, even in Dallas. Mark Wrobel, a Lackawanna native who moved to Dallas 21 years ago, was in the stands at American Airlines Center with his son Matthew, both wearing custom-made Dahlin Sabres jerseys.
The elder Wrobel is old enough to remember when the Sabres won the right to draft Perreault in 1970. Winning the lottery in May, he said, felt "equally good."
Scouts feel Dahlin will be ready to step in on the left side of the Sabres' defense on opening night next season. He'll step onto the ice for the first time as a Sabre when development camp opens at Harborcenter next week.
In the meantime, fans can enjoy the outcome of an important day in franchise history, one that could potentially lead to many more.
"I want to make one thing perfectly clear," Pegula said early Friday. "We're going to win today in the draft, but our goal is to start winning later in the year."