If you missed the first half of this article focusing on the goaltenders and defensemen, check it out here.

Forwards

Jochen Hecht: B+

Hecht gets the highest honor among Sabres forwards because he showed the greatest improvement from the 2008-09 season. He went from 12 goals and 27 points to 21 goals and 42 points. His on ice presence also meant a great deal to the Sabres and this was most evident during the playoffs where he didn't suit up for any of the six games. This season evenly matched my expectations which would explain why I was so down on him last season. Judging by his career numbers, I'm guessing this is about the standard for Hecht and where the bar should be set in terms of next season.

Patrick Kaleta: B-

I really like Patrick Kaleta for several reasons.

- He is always willing to hit and never takes a shift off. -He enrages the opposing announcers. It's always fun to listen to them whine and complain. 

 

-His goal celebration is both fun to watch and irritating for the other team to watch. 

 

  -He knows when to drop the gloves. Despite people accusing him of turtling (which he has been known to do), he usually does that when he knows Buffalo will head to a power play for sure. I'm ok with that. I'd be more ok with that if the Sabres had a semi-competent power play, but that is another discussion for another day. 

 

-He will drop the gloves when needed and he brings it when he does. -His point per game average actually improved this season from last, which is a rare thing for a Buffalo forward to say.

Derek Roy: B-

Roy and Tim Connolly are the poster children for the Sabres season. The two top forwards in terms of scoring, the two biggest goats of the playoffs and the two biggest reasons why they are golfing right now. Roy doesn't have an injury to lean back on like Connolly does, but Roy also didn't play like a complete waste. The effort was there, but the scoring wasn't. Roy is a streaky player for sure, but he is one of the few consistent players among all forwards over an 82 game stretch. He has led the team in scoring for the past three seasons and I'm not sure that is something we can fully ignore. I'd also like to note that he makes four million per season, which is a modest cap hit when compared to the on-ice production that he gives. During the season I was all but advocating a trade of Roy, which I wouldn't be opposed to for the right player (R.J. Umberger). But in the overall scheme of things, I like Derek Roy. It would have to be a really good trade for me to be pleased. In contrast, the other players I'm currently down on could be traded for a bag of warm pucks and I'd be happy. See? Big difference.

Tim Connolly: B-

I have absolutely no idea how I'm grading Tim Connolly so high. Besides Drew Stafford, Connolly was one of the worst Sabres on the ice during the playoffs. By game six, watching him play was vomit inducing. It seemed to me like for every big goal or assist he had, it was making up for a boneheaded turnover that he had earlier in the game. The first memory that instantly jumps into my head was a game against Philadelphia where he turned it over and gift-wrapped a go ahead goal for the Flyers. People (including me) temporarily forget about that because Connolly netted the game winner in overtime so all was forgiven. However, when he doesn't score (like he did in the playoffs), those turnovers and sloppy plays are far less forgivable. His poor playoff performance could be because of the injury he suffered, but I can't say that for sure. All I know is that he has one year left on his contract and I'd be more than happy if Darcy found a team to take him off our hands. Yes, I'm still bitter. However, judging over the entire season his play was good for the most part so I can't let a six game stretch completely destroy his grade despite my anger.

Thomas Vanek: B-

Vanek no doubt struggled for most of the season and his numbers properly reflect that. I've always been one to think that his enormous contract has always affected his play to some degree. Vanek is one of those players who you can visibly see on TV as someone who presses really hard to try and score and then is extremely hard on himself when he doesn't. While I think it's good that he holds himself accountable, sometimes he needs to let it go so it doesn't affect the rest of his game. There is one thing that nobody can deny and it's that Vanek finished the season on an absolute tear and the first round series would've ended differently had Johnny Boychuk not taken a wicked two hand slash to Vanek forcing him to crash into the boards. Vanek scored five goals in the final two regular season games and continued in the playoffs with a goal in game one and game six, his only two full playoff games. There was a brief discussion in the Buffalo media about whether Vanek could be the next captain of the Sabres. Let me just say that they way he ended the season has allowed me to at least consider this possibility, though I'm not completely sold on it yet.

Tim Kennedy: C+

This was Kennedy's first full NHL season and I'd mark it as a success. There were some bumps in the road but I think that is to be expected for most young guys. Kennedy's biggest contributions seemed to happen later in the season when was he was put on a scoring line and allowed to make more plays. For the bulk of the season he was a third line guy which I'm sure hampered some of his offensive numbers. Two glaring things Kennedy needs to work on for next season are his awful faceoff skills and his overall toughness. The game winning goal scored by Boston where Mark Recchi tossed Kennedy to the side like a rag doll to take the puck is forever burnt into my brain.

Jason Pominville: C+

Pominville was third on the team in points during the regular season, but I just don't care. 62 points in 82 games sounds decent until you realize that he is making 5.3 million dollars per season and is signed through the 2013-14 season. This is the standard for Pominville and I doubt the Sabres will ever see him eclipse 70+ points during a season. He effectively parlayed one big playoff goal into two good seasons playing next to Danny Briere into a huge contract. He played the Sabres front office for suckers. Well done Jason. Pominville is the epitome of what is wrong with the Sabres. When the going gets tough, Jason gets going…out the door. Maybe I'm being too hard on Pommers but I can't even remember the last time he scored a "big" goal. If anyone can enlighten me, I'm all for it.

Paul Gaustad: C+

The scoring dropped off slightly for Gaustad this season, but his faceoff percentage allowed most of us to ignore that fact. I'd be fairly surprised if Gaustad weren't elected the next captain of the Sabres when Rivet gives up the C or is given his walking papers in 2011. He is part of the group that includes the three players below him where the scoring touch isn't there, but the effort and heart is. Unfortunately, scoring does a lot towards winning which is why I had to rank some of the others ahead of these guys. It's not necessarily fair, but neither is winning the division and being eliminated in the first round.

Mike Grier: C+

I was very happy when Buffalo brought Grier back last offseason and I'm just as happy that they already signed him for next season. Who says the Sabres aren't proactive with their free agents? He is definitely showing his age as there were times during the season where it looked like he was skating through molasses, but when it came to be playoff time, it was Grier that was lying down and taking a puck in the head for the good of the team. I love players that are willing to do that and I'm fully convinced that if 80% of the roster played with that kind of desperation, we'd be discussing their second round matchup right now. Alas, there is only one Mike Grier. At a 1.2 million dollar price tag, I would be very upset Darcy didn't do his best to bring him back.

Matt Ellis: C

I could probably write the same paragraph for Matt Ellis and copy/paste it below for Adam Mair. If it weren't for jersey numbers or faces, I probably wouldn't be able to tell these two guys apart. They finished with almost identical numbers across the board, except Ellis frequented the penalty box much less than Mair. I said it multiple times during the season when the team was struggling, but if Mair and Ellis had more offensive ability, that line would've been great. I couldn't tell you how many times they created scoring chances and odd-man rushes just by busting their ass, but it usually didn't result in much since they don't really have a scoring touch. Both are unrestricted right now so it will be interesting to see how the Sabres handle the idea of bringing them back or replacing them with younger guys of the same ability. I'm fine with either option really.

Adam Mair: C-

Early in the season Adam Mair was put on waivers and nobody in the NHL wanted him. Then due to injury, Mair was inserted into the roster and did his best to prove the Sabres wrong. For the longest time he didn't prove anything as he was basically a pylon on the ice that never contributed. However, about two-thirds of the way into the season Mair came around and started chipping in some goals and some pretty big fights. That momentum carried over into the playoffs where he was one of the more noticeable Sabres (which isn't saying much for the stars of the team). If there is one good thing I can say about Mair, it's that he definitely gives a crap when he steps on the ice. I just wish his attitude and work ethic transferred over to other guys on the roster. A lot of players would've packed it in after being placed on waivers but Mair eventually responded.

Drew Stafford: D-

Off the top of my head, Stafford had one good game this season. It was a mid-season game against Pittsburgh where he sparked a comeback while Buffalo was down 3-0. He scored on a penalty shot, and then added a second goal before Buffalo finally finished off the comeback and won the game 4-3. The most surprising thing about this game wasn't that Stafford actually contributed to a win, but that he was chosen to take the penalty shot after recently being a healthy scratch. This was Lindy Ruff's way of saying, "I just scratched you, now prove me wrong." Stafford did, and then promptly crawled back into his shell. I hate the fact this he is signed through the 2010-2011 season. There isn't one Sabres player that I dislike more right now than Drew Stafford. Go away.

Tyler Ennis: Incomplete

The first of four incompletes, Ennis only played in 10 regular season games for the Sabres and all six playoff games. Ennis had nine points in those 10 games, which is easily the best point per game average on the team, although who knows if he could keep up that pace over a full 82 games. Postseason hockey didn't seem to affect him as he had four points in six games which tied him for tops among the Sabres. In the early stages Ennis seemed to struggle quite a bit on the road compared to home games, but that seemed to factor out towards the end of the postseason. The Buffalo front office has already said that Ennis won't be guaranteed a roster spot once training camp kicks off and he will have to earn his spot, which is a move I love. Don't allow him to be comfortable with his position. Make him work harder and ensure that he earns it. Ennis has the potential to be a real game breaker for the Sabres. If he becomes a star for the Sabres, people might always remember the 2008 draft for Buffalo.

Nathan Gerbe: Incomplete

Gerbe only played in 10 games for the Sabres so is also being given an incomplete. I'd be shocked and disappointed if I weren't handing out grades to both him and Ennis next offseason. In those 10 games, Gerbe had two goals and three assists, which would give him an average of .5 points per game. Hypothetically speaking, that average stretched across an 82 game season would be 41 points and be good for sixth on the team for the forwards. I can live with that, especially if he gave the effort we've seen so far night in and night out. Sometimes it's not all about scoring, but it's about the effort, which is the main reason that Drew Stafford has become completely useless.

Raffi Torres: Incomplete

It would be easy to classify the trade at the deadline for Torres as a failure, but I'm not ready to go there. He definitely didn't bring much scoring over with him from Columbus, but I liked his game quite a bit during the playoffs until he became a healthy scratch midway through the series (a move that still confuses me). Still, 14 games is a small sampling and I believe it's even harder to judge those games when they were late in the season. Some players take a long time to adjust to a late season trade and Torres appeared to fit that description quite well. People tend to forget that Stu Barnes went 17 straight regular season games after his trade to Buffalo before finally scoring in the playoffs. Granted Barnes actually scored in the playoffs and Torres didn't, but Torres also didn't have much of a chance. Either way, Torres is definitely gone this offseason and rumors have pegged him to Toronto. I look forward to him scoring in bunches against Buffalo, since that is what most ex-Sabres tend to do. (See Satan, Miroslav)

Clarke MacArthur: Incomplete

MacArthur is the fourth and final incomplete from the Sabres forwards. He played in 60 games which is more than enough to earn him an actual grade, but because he finished the season in Atlanta I see no point in grading him. He started out the season on fire but quickly fell back to Earth and became an inconsistent scorer and a defensive liability while on the ice. By the time he was traded, I was relieved to see him go.