Marc-Andre Gragnani

Gragnani spent almost all of 2010-11 in the AHL before a rash of injuries necessitated his call-up towards the end of the season. Gragnani's debut in a Buffalo uniform was nothing short of brilliant. In Buffalo's series loss to the Flyers, Gragnani was arguably the best player on the team, netting once and adding six helpers. Gragnani is the must-see Sabre entering 2011-12. If he can be the guy we saw in the playoffs last year, then the Sabres have every reason to believe they have an elite defensive corps. His scoring potential is probably high-risk/high-reward for 2011-12, however, as the Sabres have a lot of talent offensively from their blue line, so the key will be how much power play time he can secure early in the season.

Gargnani is a candidate to take the next step in his career after two impressive season in Portand. A well-rounded defenseman with plenty of game offensively, Gargnani is also very physical and can hold his own in the defensive zone. If he doesn't break camp with the Sabres, Gargnani should be the first defender in Portland to get the call.

Last season Gragnani led AHL Portland's defensemen in scoring with 14 goals and 48 assists. As a former winger, Gragnani has the potential to put up big numbers on offense, but still needs time to refine his defensive play as is evident from his minus-1 rating. Although he is unlikely to win a permanent role on the Sabres roster this season, he should be seeing more time with the team as a depth player.

In 2007-08, Gragnani made a midseason switch from defenseman to left wing. He still needs some polish (as evidenced by his minus-24 rating last season), but he has a hard shot and he has played himself into the discussion the next time the Sabres need to call up a winger.