More Offseason: | | | The were a team that their own general manager said was last year. That may have been an understatement at various points last season. The Sabres finished dead last in the league with a 21-41-10 record and jettisoned longtime franchise stars and over the course of the year, thus closing the book on the Sabres of old. It was a dreadful year. But this is a team that knows where its at and it appears they have a general manager with a clear vision for where theyre going. Since Tim Murray joined the staff, he hasnt seemed to have taken a wrong step yet.The Sabres are e sentially in the midst of a brick-by-brick rebuild of a franchise that was flooded with optimism not all that long ago when Terry Pegula purchased the team and promised Stanley Cups and good hockey. Mistakes followed in bad contracts and a lack of vision. But that seems to be a thing of the past with Murray, who remained aggre sive in free agency and has been measured in other moves since he came on in the middle of last season.To be fair, a Ike Obiagu Jersey lot of this rebuild begun with former GM Darcy Regier and despite all of his mistakes, he got the team off to a seemingly positive start on the road to improvement through trades that brought in multiple first-round picks and used those to find potential franchise staples like , and . The latest addition was Murrays however, in nabbing forward Sam Reinhart second overall this year. That's just another step towards improvement. Now the Sabres have a young core with a few veterans mixed in to start really moving forward in the rebuild. Offseason signings and trades brought in veterans who are on board with being part of a restructuring team and let go those that werent ( ). This team still seems a long ways away from competitivene s, but there appears to be a path to future succe s.That makes this core a little bit on the unique side. The Trey Hopkins Jersey Sabres will rely more heavily on their young players that are among the most recent draftees, but they also have a few veteran players on long-term deals that may yet be part of the solution in Buffalo.Core Values: Buffalo SabresPlayers (Age, term remaining on contract): D (24, 5 years), LW (30, 5 years), C Zemgus Girgensons (20, 2 years), C Sam Reinhart (18, 3 years), C (24, 5 years), D Rasums Ristolainen (19, 2 years), C/W (24, 5 years) Total cap hit for 2014-15: $22,094,167 (32% of cap space consumed by seven players)Average age: 22.7Total stats for 2013-14: 71 goals, 93 a sists, 164 points (40% of teams total production)About the CoreMatt Moulson: Though it will ultimately be the youth that proves most important to this core, the fact that the Sabres were able to bring in a highly-productive veteran player on a five-year contract shows that they believe Moulson will be able to help usher in this new era of Sabres hockey. Moulson first came to the Sabres in the trade that sent Thomas Vanek to the . After 44 games, Moulson was flipped to the at the deadline, but came back to the team on July 1 as a UFA. A three-time 30-goal scorer, Moulson brings a veteran top-six forward who can score on a team that may yet have a lot of trouble doing so over the next few years. He also has some limited playoff Jeremy Clark Jersey experience as well, which could come in handy if this team improves rapidly enough. Moulsons joining the team, knowing full well what hes getting into, must also indicate he is prepared to help be a leader and guide the youth movement, which could bring plenty of value in itself. Tyler Myers: Myers is a bit of a symbol of the old Sabres, but hes also just 24 years old and remains a player that should be a vital part of this team through the rebuilding years. After winning the Calder Trophy as the leagues top rookie in 2010, Myers has fallen back to earth a bit. He had 11 goals and 37 a sists for 48 points as a rookie and has yet to match those career totals. Injuries have slowed him down further over the last three seasons. What has made this more difficult is the long-term, expensive extension hes been playing on for the last two years. He may not be meeting his contract just yet, but again, at 24, theres still a lot of time for Myers to regain form and be the No. 1 the Sabres desperately need him to be over the next five seasons. With 138 career points in 318 NHL games, the 6-foot-8, 227 blueliner has definitely shown some flashes in his career of being a top-end player. If he hits his stride again in the next year or two, the Sabres will be a much better team faster than expected. Sam Reinhart: He hasnt played a second of NHL hockey and was only just drafted by the Sabres, but it is quite clear that if the Sabres rebuild is going to work, Reinhart has to be a huge part of it. Selected second overall at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Reinhart is likely to make the Sabres roster immediately. He had 105 points with the Kootenay Ice in the WHL last season and has starred for Canada at both the World Junior and World Under-18 Championships. The playmaking center simply has to hit for the Sabres to keep them on the right track of this rebuild. He appears to have the Freddie Stevenson Jersey most potential for impact among the most recently drafted forwards in the Sabres system and after ripping up the Junior ranks to the tune of 254 points in 203 games in the WHL, he should be an impact player for the Sabres in due time. Zemgus Girgensons: After making his NHL debut last season, Girgensons showed signs of the promise that led him to being selected 14th overall in 2012. He posted 22 points in 70 games for the Sabres as a rookie. With a year under his belt, he should expect more responsibility and will have to rise to the occasion. Having had familiarity with Sabres head coach Ted Nolan for years as Nolan was Latvias Chris Silva Jersey national coach through this last season, Girgensons has a bit of a leg up on his fellow Sabres. With tremendous physical strength, good speed and a high-energy game that matches with a solid skill level, Girgensons could be an impact player for a long time for the Sabres if he continues down this path on his rather rapid development. He could be a leader among the wave of young players with how he plays and the level of respect he has been gaining in a short period of time. Tyler Ennis: Based on the five-year extension he earned this summer, Sabres management clearly believes Ennis is a valuable a set in the rebuilding proce s. He was the teams second leading scorer last season and now has two 20-plus goal seasons under his belt. Hes a difference maker on a team that doesnt have a whole lot of those with a career average of 0.62 points per game. The undersized forward has 166 career points in 267 career games, all played with the Sabres. Quite frankly, they need him to produce and at an