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2015 Sabres Offseason Changes: Who’s in, who’s out?

The Buffalo Sabres 2015 offseason was certainly as busy one. Between free agency, the draft, and the changes both behind the bench and in the front office, it was hard to keep track of who was coming and who was going.

Luckily, you don’t have to, as we’ve compiled a list of all of the major changes taking place in the Sabres organization over the past few months. Because we love you and want you to be happy.

It should be noted that this list only comprises players expected to compete for an NHL spot, and leaves out prominent AHL additions like Cal’O`Reilly and Evan Rodrigues, or players already in the organization who will challenge for roster spots such as Mark Pysyk. It also does not include players traded mid-season (like Tyler Myers and Zach Bogosian) with the exception of Evander Kane, because he did not play after the trade.

Without further ado, let’s check out the additions.

Who’s In

Jack Eichel
Ryan O’Reilly
Evander Kane
Sam Reinhart
Cody Franson
Robin Lehner
Jamie McGinn
Carlo Coliacovo
Matt Donovan
David Legwand
Dan Bylsma
Russ Brandon

It’s crazy to think what a huge influx of talent the first seven names on this list bring to the Sabres – I see two already established top-end talents, four potential future All-Stars, tons of power play potential, a hopefully legitimate starting goalie, and one future all-world cornerstone. Add in the upgrade at head coach that the Cup-winning Bylsma bringsand some depth on defense, and I’m not sure any team has had a bigger influx of talent in one summer as the Sabres.

Who’s Out

Nikita Zadorov
Mikhail Grigorenko
Cody Hodgson
Andre Benoit
Andrej Meszaros
Tyson Strachan
Zac Dalpe
Anders Lindback
Ted Nolan
Ted Black
Joe Batista

Addition-by-subtraction is the name of the game here. Getting rid of dead weight such as Benoit, Meszaros, and Hodgson, and trading Ted Nolan for Bylsma should give the Sabres a far better roster from top-to-bottom than they had last year. The addition of so many established NHLers also means the Sabres won’t have to force AHL players like Jerry D’Amigo and Tim Schaller into roles they simply couldn’t handle. The loss of Zadorov could potentially hurt down the road, but thinking about just this upcoming season, the Sabres came out the clear winner of the summer.

Who’s the biggest addition to the team? Who’s the biggest subtraction, in either a good or bad way? Did we miss anybody? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.