KEY ADDITIONS				KEY LOSSES
Name Doug Houda	Pos. D	From Red Wings		Name Darryl Shannon	Pos. D	To Thrashers

Outlook
Right now, the Stanley Cup finals seem like a faded memory for the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo fans have been besieged with one piece of bad news after another since June.

Buffalo Sabres

		The Sabres have a lot of free agents still unsigned. Dominik Hasek's retirement after the season is hanging over everyone's heads. They will make the playoffs, but consider this: Do they trade Hasek and get young talent for him at the trade deadline? Or do they keep Hasek and try to win in the playoffs? There are some interesting questions. If the Sabres get their free agents signed, they are one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. They've proved that the last two years. The East is so wide open.

With the club still licking its wounds from a controversial goal in Game 6 of the finals, goaltender Dominik Hasek announced this will be his final season. And don't forget that the Sabres enter the season with key players still unsigned as restricted free agents -- Miroslav Satan, Curtis Brown, Jay McKee and Rhett Warrener.

Hasek is expected to be fully recovered from August hernia surgery to lead the Sabres for one more campaign. Once again, he'll play 60 or more amazing games while Dwayne Roloson and Martin Biron serve as backups. Biron, however, is being primed as the successor to Hasek, so don't be surprised if he wrestles the backup spot from Roloson at some point.

The Sabres have plenty of question marks at the forward slot. Leading scorer Satan and Curtis Brown (16 goals) are sitting at home as restricted free agents without contracts. Captain Mike Peca and left wing Michal Grosek enjoyed career years last season; however, without Satan and Brown, the Sabres will struggle to best 17th place showing in team offense last season.

That said, some young players will be given a shot to make an impact with the club. The sleeper among forwards could be right wing David Moravec. Though 26, he was just taken in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft (218th overall). He played with Hasek on the gold-medal winning Czech squad in the 1998 Winter Olympics at Nagano and could contribute right away.

To make matters more precarious for the defending Eastern Conference champs, the Sabres are a bit unsettled at defense, mainly because McKee and Warrener remain holdouts. Right now, Buffalo can at least count on Jason Woolley, Richard Smehlik and James Patrick to provide some stability on the blueline.

A lot will have to come together for the Sabres to make it back to the Cup finals. In fact, the club is by no means a cinch to even make the playoffs. But plan on Hasek pulling one more trick out of his sleeve before he says bon voyage.

'98-99 NORTHEAST STANDINGS
TEAM	W	L	T	Pts.
Ottawa	44	23	15	103
Toronto	45	30	7	97
Boston	39	30	13	91
Buffalo	37	28	17	91
Montreal	32	39	11	75

The bottom line
Better or not: Not
By how much: 3-5 fewer wins
Most improved: Curtis Brown
Most valuable: Dominik Hasek
Biggest disappointment: Dixon Ward

Charles Avellino is a lead NHL researcher for ESPN.