from Scott Burnside of ESPN,

Who knows how good this Sabres team can be. The Eastern Conference is pretty wide open. Could they be playing meaningful games in January or February, perhaps beyond?

For that to happen, Lehner has to be the real deal. Kane has to stay healthy. Eichel has to be as good as advertised. The defense has to come together under Bylsma. That's a lot of questions.

Still, for the first time in a long time, the questions are are colored by something akin to unabashed, unbridled optimism.

"You get a lot of pats on the back, and we haven't done anything yet," Murray told two reporters after the team's on-ice workout.

"Last I saw, we finished 30th and we're trying to improve and I think on paper we've improved. There's a lot of variables. New coaching staff. How quickly we gel with a lot of new guys. Two new goalies that didn't play here last year at all. I think there are a lot of question marks.

"We're excited about the questions, obviously, but we have to see what we do here. I'm confident we're going to get a lot better. I'm just not quite sure what that means."

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