Offseason Roundup: Buffalo Sabres

Over the next month, theScore's NHL editors will review all the offseason moves for each team around the league. 

The Buffalo Sabres were the poster team for futility last season, finishing with a league-worst 52 points and scoring fewer than two goals per game. The Sabres entered full rebuild mode at the trade deadline, dealing away their captain, Steve Ott, and their franchise goalie, Ryan Miller, to set the stage for an offseason full of buyouts and draft picks.

Offseason Overview

Buffalo began the offseason by exercising both of its compliance buyouts to rid the team of Ville Leino's disastrous contract and Christian Ehrhoff's disgruntled attitude. Leino was dead weight with 10 goals in 137 games, but Ehrhoff was the team's ice-time leader and his buyout left a massive hole on the Sabres' blue line.

The team attempted to fill that hole by trading for Josh Gorges and signing Andrej Meszaros to a one-year, $4.125-million contract. Buffalo also brought back Matt Moulson at $5 million per season after trading him at the trade deadline and signed veteran Brian Gionta to a three-year deal with a $4.25-million cap hit.

The Florida Panthers won the 2014 NHL entry draft lottery, leaving the Sabres to select Sam Reinhart second overall. Buffalo then used a trio of second-round selections to add Brendan Lemieux, Eric Cornel, and Vaclav Karabacek to its prospect cupboard.

Reinhart - a natural center - has a good chance to crack a Sabres lineup that was extremely thin down the middle in 2013-14, when Cody Hodgson led the team with 44 points. Reinhart recorded 105 points in 60 games in the WHL last season.

Even with the new additions, the Sabres did little to address their goaltending situation. Trading Miller at the deadline made sense from a rebuilding standpoint, but Buffalo isn't likely to move out of the Atlantic Division basement without a reliable option in the crease. 

Key Additions

• Matt Moulson
• Brian Gionta
• Andrej Meszaros
• Josh Gorges
• Sam Reinhart

Key Departures

• Christian Ehrhoff
• Ville Leino
• Cory Conacher

2014-15 Outlook

It's hard to envision the Sabres getting worse after a 52-point season, but they won't be much better with their projected roster. They're rebuilding in Buffalo, and this is what rebuilding teams do: lose.