Richard Smehlik had a good first two seasons in the National Hockey League, where the Czech blueliner scored 72 Points. A knee injury took him out of half of the 1994-95 season and the entire 1995-96 season, but he returned, albeit with less of an offensive touch.
Larry Playfair was not your typical hockey pugilist.
Before Jocelyn Guevremont became a Sabre, he was an All-Star with the Vancouver Canucks and was on Team Canada for their 1972 Summit Series win. The Defenseman might not have been an All-Star with the Sabres, but he arguably had his best NHL years in Western New York.
Doug Bodger was a 16-year veteran of the NHL, whose second team was the Buffalo Sabres, who acquired him in the transaction that sent Goalie Tom Barrasso to Pittsburgh.