Steve Begin, C (T-Cgy); Joel Bouchard, D (FA-Pit); David Cullen, D (FA-Min); Andy Delmore, D (T-Nas); Chris Drury, C (T-Cgy)
Keith Ballard, D (T-Col); Denis Hamel, LW (FA-Ott); Francois Methot, C (FA-Wsh); Peter Ratchuk, D (FA-Europe); Rhett Warrener, D (T-Cgy)
Martin Biron is the best goaltender the Buffalo Sabres have right now, but he needs to finally live up to his potential.
Biron took a step back in his progression last season, temporarily losing his No. 1 status, but he's still a dependable goaltender who has all of the skills necessary to be an elite-level starter in the NHL.
The 26-year-old netminder seems to work better when he's pushed, and he'll get a lot competition from Mika Noronen and Ryan Miller. Both played well in limited roles last year and could take over as the main man in nets down the road.
For a time, Miroslav Satan was the Sabres' only true offensive threat. Not any more. The new-look Sabres aren't going to overwhelm anyone with their goal-scoring ability, but the opposition will need to do more than shut down Satan to win the game.
General manager Darcy Regier was a busy man over the past eight months, picking up all the necessary components to ice two solid scoring lines. Chris Drury was obtained from Calgary and has all the makings of a future captain, while Daniel Briere is capable of hitting the 30-goal mark again in his career.
Defence has never been a problem for coach Lindy Ruff's team. Every player is expected to be defensively responsible, and this is no exception. Aside from power-play specialist Alexei Zhitnik, the defence corps is a reliable but rather unspectacular bunch. Andy Delmore was brought in to add some offence on the blue line.
Satan is probably one of the most underrated players in the game today. Although he has played on some pretty weak teams over the past two seasons, the 28-year-old winger has managed to put up some impressive numbers (averaging 74 points). Now that he has a solid supporting cast, expect Satan to take that next step and become an elite player.
