For the first time in a long time, there is optimism about the Buffalo Sabres. This year there are stakes – expectations, even.

There is too much talent on the roster to not make noise as they transition from being everyone's favourite pesky upstart to a future bona fide NHL powerhouse.

They brought most of the players ushering in this new era of Sabres hockey into the fold via the draft, and their development into everyday NHLers has taken a bite out of the standing of their system.

That they could graduate Owen Power, Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, trade away Erik Portillo, and still land comfortably in our top-10 suggests even more reinforcements are on the way though. Some of them with the potential to develop into core players in their own right.

And we're going to go throu