DBTB –
Well, as I have said many times before, let no one claim that I am an unaccountable draftnik who throws out his rankings and then runs for cover, never to speak about it again! I’ve always wanted to have the meteorologists (aka weathermen/ladies) get on TV and announce their accuracy percentages, although that will never happen. But given my situation here at DBTB, I wanted to walk the walk and talk the talk. Or insert favorite cliché here. So here it is, my accuracy metrics for 2026!
This was a tough year for me. The success of the Sabres had me more focused on the Blue and Gold than I had been in a while. That left me less time to focus on the Draft than normal, and that’s reflected in my relatively poor performance as far as predicting things. Granted, it wasn’t SO far off previous years, but it was off, for the most part. So mea culpa, mea culpa!
I know due to a lot of logistical snafus, you all didn’t get to see my final Mock Draft. For the three of you that care. But, just to be clear, I did finish my Mock Draft on the Monday before the Draft. So I was unable to take into account some major events: not the Brady Tkachuk deal, the Will Eklund trade, nor the Bowen Byram trade or the Pavel Dorofeyev deal. Some moves that had a pretty big impact on how parts of the Draft went down, honestly.
Not an excuse, but I would’ve done the Draft a bit differently had I been able to take those deals into account. I might have gotten 2-3 more selections correct had those deals come down a few days earlier. Let me emphasize, MIGHT.
Here we go. This is how I did for each round in terms of accuracy. This is not exact slots, but rather a player that went off the Board in the Round in which I had him going. So I did not have Ilia Morozov going at #20, but I did get him going in Round 1, so that’s one right for me. Just to be
clear about how the scorekeeping went.
Round 1:
I finished with 25 of 32, which is pretty low for me. Usually, I’m up around 27-28 right out of 32 for the first round. But the bunch in the late 1st through the mid 2nd made it tough to pick and choose. As far as the Sabres go, I had Rudolph at #11 in my Mock Draft, and Morozov at #16. I had 5 defenders go off the Board before I had Rudolph getting chosen. Not a great start for me.
Round 2:
I did about standard for the 2nd. Got 11 of 31 (remember, Vegas had to forfeit their 2nd round draft pick due to some silliness with Tortorella and the media) right. Will admit I was surprised by a couple of players that I had for sure going as high as the late 1st that didn’t go in the 2nd. Again, a little below my normal number, but not far off.
Round 3:
Things picked up a little here as I got 10 of 32. Typically, the 3rd is when I start to fall off, but I stayed pretty close to the 2nd round, which doesn’t always happen. And I just missed on a couple guys that went at the end of the 2nd, and a couple more that went at the beginning of the 4th. Could have easily finished with half (16) right!
Round 4:
Speaking of the 4th, this is where things start to go off the rails. And no different this year, as I only managed 7 of 32 in this round. Interestingly, I had Sabres’ selection Olivier Murnieks going at #123 overall, just one spot off from where the Sabres actually chose him. I was close on that one at least!
Round 5:
A decent showing here with 6 of 32, which is especially gratifying since this was the first round of the Draft where multiple guys I didn’t have on my Board started appearing. Guys who I had either removed during the year or never even made it on to my radar got selected in the 5th round. As for the Sabres, their 5th round selection – Doman Szongoth – I did not have getting chosen until the 7th round. So a miss for me there!
Round 6:
Predictably, I went miserable 3 for 32 in this round. I was surprised to see a number of players that I had much higher go in the 6th. Unfortunately for me, the Sabres choice, Dylan Dumont, was not in my Top 200 and I can’t even remember watching him this season. Supposedly, he grew a few inches during the year. Drummondville, where Dumont played, had one goaltender that I caught a couple of times this year, and another late riser in Louis-Felix Bourque (who went in the 3rd round, where I had him going!). Somehow I just flat-out missed Dumont.
Round 7:
Last but not least, I managed a meager 2 of 32 in the 7th round. I did have Sabres’ development camp invite Cohen Bidgood going in the middle of the 7th round, so I imagine they would’ve taken him if they had a selection in the 7th. Always the toughest round to predict, my rather sub-par year for 2026 culminated in a pretty bleak 7th round showing. In 2025, I think I managed to get 5 or 6 right in the 7th round but really struggled in rounds 4-5-6. So I guess it all balanced out in the end.
What this should tell you all is that I barely know what I’m talking about! But I want to thank Calvin, Melissa, Chad, Jedi, and all the DBTB brain trust for giving me a platform to post my draft and prospect blathering for another year. Even a year when our beloved Sabres didn’t care much for the Draft, prospects, or anything other than beating the brakes off Boston and almost squashing Montreal.
As always, feel free to ping me anytime with any questions or comments about the Draft, Sabre prospects, or my (putrid) performance as a prognosticator.
As you know, the cycle that supplies the NHL with an ever-growing pot of talent never stops. So I’ll offer you a quick Watch List for next season, which looks to have some really strong forwards at the top of the Draft (unlike this past year, which really had the blueliners dominating), including a few potential #1 centermen…which always makes a Draft stand out. This is in no particular order, just my Top 32 at this moment in time:
TOP 32 for 2027:
Landon Dupont, 6’0 RHD, WHL
Nazar Privalov, 6’4 RW, RUS
Milan Sundstrom, 6’3 C, SWE
Dima Zhilkin, 5’10 RW, OHL
Sammy Nelson, 6’2 C, US NTDP
Noah Davidson, 6’3 LW, WHL
Tim Kazda, 6’1 W, USHL
Vladimir Shtyrkhunov, 6’0 RHD, RUS
Alexis Joseph, 6’5 C, QMJHL
Carter Meyer, 6’1 C, US NTDP
Dorian Eklund Aspe, 6’4 C, SWE
Andrei Pustovoy, 6’3 RW, RUS
Oskars Lukks, 6’5 LHD, FIN
Oliver Ozgony, 6’3 LW, USHL
Yevgeni Yakunin, 6’3 C, RUS
Jonah Neuenschwander, 6’4 LW, SWISS
Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll, 6’0 LW, WHL
Kohyn Eshkawkogan, 6’0 RHD, OHL
Brock England, 5’11 C, WHL (McGee Favorite!)
Luca Santala, 6’2 C, FIN
Jaako Wycisk, 6’1 C, OHL
Sergei Skvortsov, 6’0 LW, RUS
Boston Tait, 6’2 LHD, WHL
Jaxon Jacobsen, 5’10 C, WHL
Petr Tomek, 5’11 C, CZE
Roberts Naudins, 6’6 LW, US HS
Roman Kolzhevnikov, 6’2 LW, RUS
Loui Karlsson, 5’10 W, SWE
Diego Guttierez, 6’2 RHD, US NTDP
Ryerson Edgar, 5’10 C, OHL
Lenni Kokkonen, 6’2 RHD, FIN
Adam Nemec, 6’0 LW, CZE