It’s that time again at SBNation. Our 2018 NHL Mock Draft is underway. Each site will select a player as if they get to choose in the real draft, and every day from now until we run out of teams, the site will post an article about the pick.

Trades are allowed in this mock draft, so there’s no guarantee the picks will be in the expected order:

  1. Buffalo
  2. Carolina
  3. Montreal
  4. Ottawa
  5. Arizona
  6. Detroit
  7. Vancouver
  8. Chicago
  9. NY Rangers
  10. Edmonton
  11. NY Islanders
  12. NY Islanders
  13. Dallas
  14. Philadelphia
  15. Florida
  16. Colorado
  17. New Jersey
  18. Columbus
  19. Philadelphia
  20. Los Angeles
  21. San Jose
  22. Ottawa
  23. Anaheim
  24. Minnesota
  25. Toronto
  26. NY Rangers
  27. Chicago
  28. NY Rangers
  29. St. Louis
  30. Washington/Detroit
  31. Washington/Detroit

We won’t know the order of the last two picks until the Stanley Cup Finals are over, and that says Detroit because they have the Vegas pick.

Yesterday the first two picks were made, and you’ll never guess who Buffalo took!

Day 1 SBNation Mock Draft

NHL Mock Draft 2018: Buffalo Sabres select Rasmus Dahlin with No. 1 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2018: Carolina Hurricanes select Andrei Svechnikov with No. 2 pick

It’s tough finding something new to say about the first overall that isn’t just exclamation points, but Die By the Blade had this to say about Rasmus Dahlin:

Dahlin is really the full package and exactly what the Sabres have been looking for to anchor their blue line for the next 10 years. He’ll slot right into the opening night lineup next season and start to form a pretty good young core with Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, and Casey Mittelstadt.

Things appear to be (hopefully) starting to turn around the for the Sabres. A fan base that has gone through a lot of disappointment the past few years finally has something to get really excited about besides Eichel.

Aw, you’ll have stuff to get excited about, guys, we’ll still visit you. Ask Risto how many times it is this year.

Canes Country had a less obvious choice:

Due to their tremendous luck in the NHL’s draft lottery, the Carolina Hurricanes have their choice of whoever their front office pegs as the best forward come June after Rasmus Dahlin is selected by Buffalo. In our eyes, that choice comes down to Svechnikov and Filip Zadina, with the young Russian getting the nod both in talent and fit for the Hurricanes.

Taking the path less traveled from Russia to the USHL as a 16-year-old, Svechnikov was the league’s rookie of the year for the 2016-17 season. Taking a step up in competition to the OHL this past year, the dynamic winger didn’t miss a beat, topping out at 1.64 points-per-game as he scored the most goals (40) and piled up the most points (72) among rookies in 2017-18. Making the feat even more impressive was the fact that Svechnikov did so in just 44 games.

Today things get less predictable as the next three teams pick, including the evil Habs and the more evil Sens. We’ll update you tomorrow on who they chose.

Until then, have your say: Would you have made the same choice the Hurricanes fans did?

Is Andrei Svechnikov the right choice at second overall?

Yes, can’t mock that.522
No, this is dumb, they should have taken Zadina.61
You’re both wrong, it should have been a completely different player.43