Climbing Back On The Horse: Featuring, The Buffalo Sabres

Ryan Miller will obviously return as the number one guy for Buffalo next season. It was an up and down season for Miller, but who can complain when a guy plays 76 games and finishes with a 2.64 GAA and a .906 save percentage? The Sabres will probably look to shop the free agent market in search for of a decent secondary goaltender who can play 20-25 games in relief of Miller. Among the free agent goal-tenders this summer fit to back up Miller, Johan Hedberg, Johan Holmqvist, Alex Auld, Ty Conklin, and Dan Ellis would fit the bill nicely. Seeing as how Nashivlle will probably do anything and everything in their power to bring back Ellis, who was better than great for them in their first round playoff exit against Detroit, the Sabres next best bet would be Conklin. Conklin, a former Saber himself, was fantastic during the Penguins while number one goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was out with a high ankle sprain. If the Pen's cant find a way to sign Conklin, I wouldn't at all be surprized to see him backing up Miller.

Resign: Daniel Paille, Paul Gaustad, Clarke Macarthur, Dmitri Kalinin, Teppo Numinen (should he decide to return)

Free Agent Needs: Offensive Defencemen, Physical-Defensive Defencemen, Veteran Two-Way Defencmen 

Possible Trading Block: Tim Connolly, Jaroslav Spacek

Top Rookie: Nathan Gerbe 

There's no doubt that the Buffalo Sabres have talent. They-re a team that thrives on speed, passing, and their ability to score goals. They have a fantastic coach in Lindy Ruff and a cup-determined General Manager in Darcy Regier. The Buffalo Sabres franchise has yet to win a Stanley Cup despite its recent success in past years. Regardless of the fact that they didn't make the playoffs this year, with the young core of players they have and a world class Coach that has already molded them into contenders, its only a matter of time before the high scoring Buffalo Sabres introduce themselves to Lord Stanley. Many people thought it would be another five years until the Sabres reached such an accomplishment after losing "irreplaceable" veteran scorers Danny Briere and Chris Drury.

 
I guess you can say Derek Roy and Jason Pominville redefine "irreplaceable"

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