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Next up, last season's leading scorer: #63 Tyler Ennis RW (four years left at $4.6 million per, age 25) Buffalo 78/20/26/46/-19/37 It was never thought of in those terms when it happened — probably not even by management — but Tyler Ennis may have been the first asset acquired in the tank. He was taken in the 2008 draft with the 26th pick, originally San Jose’s that came to Buffalo in the Brian Campbell trade. The pick was acquired as part of a new Sabre policy of auctioning off core UFAs rather than letting them walk without compensation. Undersized and thought by some to be a gamble when he was picked, Ennis has proved detractors wrong, scoring more NHL goals than all but two players selected in his draft year. He registered 20 goals and 49 points as a rookie. Since then, he has been remarkably consistent offensively, scoring at a similar points/game rate every season, even as he was being constantly shifted through all three forward positions. Despite similar numbers, last year was considered a bit of a breakthrough by some observers, as Ennis led the team in scoring. Part of that was an impression of consistently high effort, part of it was the sense he was winning more battles and turning over the puck less, part of it was the fact he was the only payer on the team capable of consistently creating offence. Heading into this season, he seems to found a permanent home as the team’s top RW. Surprisingly, circumstances have made him a veteran who will be counted on to be a leader. Fans are speculating whether his game can grow further as the team adds more talent to the top six. Links to the rest of the series: Anders Lindback: http://forums.sabres...nders-lindback/ Pat Kaleta: http://forums.sabres...patrick-kaleta/ Johan Larsson: http://forums.sabres...-johan-larsson/ Matt Hackett: http://forums.sabres...1-matt-hackett/ Andrej Meszaros: http://forums.sabres...ndrej-meszaros/ Phil Varone, Zac Dalpe, Jerry D'Amigo: http://forums.sabres...e-dalpe-damigo/ Mikhail Grigorenko: http://forums.sabres...ail-grigorenko/ Tyson Strachan, Andre Benoit: http://forums.sabres...han-and-benoit/ Mark Pysyk: http://forums.sabres...w-3-mark-pysyk/ Tim Schaller: http://forums.sabres...9-tim-schaller/ Matt Ellis: http://forums.sabres...-37-matt-ellis/ Cody Hodgson: http://forums.sabrespace.com/topic/23431-roster-review-19-cody-hodgson/

Next up, the most expensive player in Sabre history #90 Ryan O’Reilly F (one season left at $6 million per, then 7 more at $7.5 million per, age 24) Colorado Avalanche 17/38/55/6/-5/12 Whatever your feelings are about O’Reilly – and everyone in the hockey world has them — he did accomplish something almost unheard of: he made the NHL immediately as an 18-year-old second-round draft pick. In the past four seasons O’Reilly has averaged nearly 60 points over 80 games. He doesn’t take penalties and he never gets hurt. Everyone agrees he is a fine hockey player. They divide on whether he is an elite two-way leader and complete player who can be plugged into a variety of roles and situations and excel, or a good but greedy second-line mercenary who puts his pocketbook ahead of his team and lacks the game-breaking offence to ever be considered a first-liner. The Sabres bet heavily on the former and the early returns weren’t good when he allegedly drove drunk into a Tim Horton’s within days of his acquisition. He arrives next month with a lot to prove, but definitely is a huge element in the anticipation for the coming season. Links to the rest of the series: