"I'm pretty excited," Skinner said. "We made some pretty good moves, I think, through free agency and trades, and it's only made me more excited to get going. … We should try to build on some of the things we did early last season that paid off. We didn't sustain it long enough and we want to change that."
Buffalo will be counting on the growth of young players, including forwards Tage Thompson, 21, and Victor Olofsson, 24, center Casey Mittelstadt, 20, and Dahlin, 19, who sparkled last season as a rookie. He had 44 points (nine goals, 35 assists), moving him past Bobby Orr for the second-most by an NHL defenseman before his 19th birthday (behind Housley). Dahlin's 35 assists led rookie defensemen and ranked second among NHL rookies behind center Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks (38).
Vesey said he is looking forward to seeing what the Sabres can accomplish.
"Buffalo was right there for so long (last season)," Vesey said. "They fell off at the end, but I think this is a group on the cusp of doing something special, and I'm hoping and excited to be a part of that."
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