Sabres Ramblings include stories on the Draft Lottery and the World Championship.
By Kris Baker / SabresProspects.com
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Giorgio Estephan (2016, sixth round) notched a first-period assist Tuesday as Lethbridge advanced to the Western Hockey League Eastern Conference Final with an exciting 5-4 overtime victory at Medicine Hat in Game 7.
Estephan, who has been on fire throughout the playoffs but was unable to score in the final three games of the series with Medicine Hat, got back on track with a pair of goals Friday as Lethbridge opened the conference final with a 3-2 victory over Regina.
Estephan made it a 1-1 game at 13:23 of the second period when he glided into a soft spot in the Pats’ defense and buried a one-timer from the right hash marks for his ninth goal of the playoffs.
Estephan would cap the third-star performance with a late empty-net goal.
The teams went right back to work on Saturday, with Estephan logging a minus-one rating in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Pats to even the series at one game apiece.
Estephan has 10 goals and 21 points in 14 playoff contests heading into Tuesday’s Game 3.
Sabres ramblings
The Draft Lottery is this weekend
On Saturday, the NHL will hold the Draft Lottery to determine the first 15 picks of the 2017 NHL Draft, which will be held on June 23 and 24 in Chicago.
The lottery will be televised shortly after 8 p.m. on NBC, CBC, and TVA.
The 2017 NHL Draft Lottery will consist of three drawings: the 1st Lottery Draw will determine the club selecting first overall, the 2nd Lottery Draw will determine the club selecting second overall and the 3rd Lottery Draw will determine the club selecting third overall.
The Vegas Golden Knights are in the mix this year as well. They’ve been assigned same lottery odds as the team finishing the regular season in 28th place.
The allocation of odds for the 1st Lottery Draw of the 2017 NHL Draft Lottery is as follows:
Colorado Avalanche 18.0%
Vancouver Canucks 12.1%
Vegas Golden Knights * 10.3%
Arizona Coyotes 10.3%
New Jersey Devils 8.5%
Buffalo Sabres 7.6%
Detroit Red Wings 6.7%
Dallas Stars 5.8%
Florida Panthers 5.4%
Los Angeles Kings 4.5%
Carolina Hurricanes 3.2%
Winnipeg Jets 2.7%
Philadelphia Flyers 2.2%
Tampa Bay Lightning 1.8%
New York Islanders 0.9%
Eichel and O’Reilly going to Worlds
The IIHF World Championship in Cologne, Germany and Paris, France kicks off on May 5, and Jack Eichel and Ryan O’Reilly will be there. Eichel was added to Team USA on Wednesday and O’Reilly was among the first 18 players named to Canada’s roster.
Goaltending prospect Cal Petersen will also be playing for Team USA.
Zemgus Girgensons has expressed interest in playing for Latvia. Their roster has not yet been formally announced.