Most NHL draft prognosticators have the Buffalo Sabres making Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin the No. 1 overall pick this year and the Carolina then taking Russian power forward Andrei Svechnikov with the No. 2 selection.
Don Waddell, the Canes’ president and general manager, did nothing Thursday to dissuade that notion with the 2018 NHL Draft a little more than two weeks away.
Asked if it was safe to assume the Canes would take Svechnikov, Waddell said, “If we were sitting there right now and nothing changes, I would would say it’s pretty safe that’s the player we would pick.