The Sabres locked up another key piece to their team on Sunday, as they re-signed restricted free agent Drew Stafford to a new 2-year deal. Stafford, considered to be one of the brightest young forwards, was going to be in training camp with or without a deal and he was then rewarded with a brand new contract. The financial terms of the deal were not immediately released.In 2009, Stafford improved his numbers by scoring 20 goals and 25 assists in 79 games with the Sabres. I would be expecting to see another improvement in Stafford's game, as he'll likely get a little more ice-time in the coming year.
Before this deal, the Sabres were close to the cap ceiling with 19 players at an approximate cap hit of $52.4 million. Stafford's new deal will likely snuggle the team right up to the cap ceiling, which won't leave a great deal of room for the remainder of their roster spots. We should assume that the Sabres will likely be using some of their homegrown prospects at the start of the year.| Forwards | Defense | Goaltenders |
| Derek Roy | Craig Rivet | Ryan Miller |
| Jason Pominville | Toni Lydman | Patrick Lalime |
| Thomas Vanek | Steve Montador | |
| Tim Connolly | Andrej Sekera | |
| Drew Stafford | Henrik Tallinder | |
| Paul Gaustad | Nathan Paetsch | |
| Dan Paille | ||
| Jochen Hecht | ||
| Mike Grier | ||
| Adam Mair |
The Sabres are looking pretty good going into camp, but they are a team that does struggle with injuries. This makes them a very tough team to have faith in when it comes down to your fantasy team and who you draft. Roy, Pominville, Vanek and Miller are all viable picks, but past them, it's a big of a crap shoot. Be careful when drafting Sabres depth players.
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