He can’t keep getting away with this.

It is amazing that in back-to-back drafts now, Buffalo Sabres General Manager Kevyn Adams has managed to select a top-five talent that fell right into his lap.

Last year, Buffalo saw Matthew Savoie drop down to No. 9 overall and on Wednesday night in Nashville, with a grin on his face, Adams selected Zach Benson at No. 13 in the 2023 NHL draft.

Benson, a teammate of Savoie’s on the Winnipeg Ice in Western Hockey League, scored a whopping 36 goals and 62 assists for 98 points in 60 games, which is third for a WHL draft-eligible prospect in the last 10 years only behind Connor Bedard and Nolan Patrick.

However, it’s not just about the points with Benson, it’s his speed in transition, hockey IQ making every correct decision with the puck and his attention to detail on defense makes him a well-rounded player. It keeps happening where small, skilled players fall in the draft and Buffalo boasting large forwards such as Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch is glad to take the short kings.

Buffalo avoided overdrafting a defenseman, while both Montreal and Arizona made that mistake at Nos. 5 and 6, with David Reinbacher and Dmitri Simashev, respectively. There will be several defenders for Buffalo to add today in rounds 2-7 and some of them have higher ceilings than the duo that cracked the top 10.

However, the Benson selection is just another case of Adams taking the best player available, which will cause a logjam in the future. But it’s never a problem to have too many talented players. Now there is a chance any of them could be flipped for a defenseman closer to the NHL.

Aside from the Sabres, Hamburg native Quentin Musty was selected at No. 26 by the San Jose Sharks. The former top pick in the OHL draft scored 26 goals and dished out 52 assists for 78 points in 53 games with the Sudbury Wolves this season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins started off the Kyle Dubas era by selecting Moose Jaw Warriors center Brayden Yager at No. 14, going for a player that started the season very high in the scouting community. Yager didn’t use his explosive shot the way many teams envisioned he would in his draft year scoring 28 goals and 50 assists for 78 points in 67 games.

Danny Briere made the pick of the draft by selecting Matvei Michkov at No. 7, the only player with offense in the same realm as Connor Bedard. Philadelphia was certainly not afraid of the Russian aspect of players. It seemed to not be an issue in the draft as Simashev went No. 6, Daniil But was No. 12 and Mikhail Gulyayev was pick No. 31.

Players with plenty of upside today include defenders Beau Akey, Lukas Dragicevic, Hunter Brzustewicz, Matthew Mania, Etienne Morin, Luca Cagnoni, Aram Minnetian, Maxim Strbak, Caden Price, Carter Sotheran, Mazden Leslie; forwards Andrew Cristall, Riley Heidt, Gavin Brindley, Ethan Gauthier, Gracyn Sawchyn, Nick Lardis, Danny Nelson, Kalan Lind, William Whitelaw, Denver Barkey, Ryan Conmy, Carey Terrance, Anton Wahlberg, Emil Jarventie; and goaltenders Trey Augustine, Carson Bjarnason, Jacob Fowler or Scott Ratzlaff.