Buffalo Sabres draft Steal #14

We had back to the current Sabres roster for number 14.  It's amazing that I'm picking a top 20 of all time and the Sabres have been in existence for 38 years yet this will be the second player who is on the current roster.  That makes me feel a whole lot better about what we have coming up trough the ranks.

Ales Kotalik- 1998 (6th round, 168 overall)

I could have probably moved Kotalik up the list a little bit but for some reason I left him at 14.  How many players are drafted 168 overall and go on to become 100 goal scorers in their career?  I'm guessing not many.  There is only one player in the Sabres history that was drafted lower than 168 and has 100 or more goals scored in his career.

Kotalik has always been known as a power play specialist.  He has a dangerous shot from the point and he is a very creative offensive player.  He has scored 31 of his 101 goals while the Sabres were on the power play.  Kotalik had his best season in 2005-2006 when he had 25 goals and 37 assists for 62 points.  He also had four goals and seven assists in the playoffs that season.

Kotalik has received plenty of criticism while playing in Buffalo, the two biggest reasons are defensive play and consistency.  He is a minus 17 for his career and he has been a minus five each of the last two seasons.  He broke in with the Sabres in 2002-2003 and he scored 21 goals as a 24 year-old rookie.  His 21 goal rookie performance gave Sabres fans lofty expectations that Kotalik could not live up to.  He scored 23 goals last season which will give him a pass heading into 2008-2009 but if he doesn't produce look for Sabres fans to call for him to be traded.