Every year, it seems, one position takes the spotlight during the opening day of NHL free

agency. When the league's signing season began at noon Thursday, it quickly became clear this

summer's position of interest was going to be defense.

It had a significant effect on the Buffalo Sabres' blue line.

The Sabres, as expected, lost their two unrestricted free agents, as Toni Lydman signed

with the Anaheim Ducks and Henrik Tallinder made his way to the opposite coast, agreeing to a

pact with the New Jersey Devils. In between, the Sabres made a move of their own. They

welcomed defenseman Jordan Leopold to the organization, signing the 29-year-old away from

Pittsburgh with a three-year, $9 million deal that will pay him $3 million each season.

The trio was part of an 11-man defense corps that swapped one uniform for another.

"What we saw was just a real shift of a large number of defensemen moving from one team to

another," said Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier, who knew he had little chance of retaining

Tallinder but was hopeful of keeping Lydman. "I started off with the expectation that we would

have to acquire a defenseman."

Leopold became a quick target. The Minnesota native totaled 11 goals and 15 assists with

Florida and Pittsburgh last year. The Penguins acquired him via trade, and he recorded four

goals and four assists in 20 games. He had no points during eight games in the postseason,

which was interrupted for seven games by a concussion suffered during the opening round

against Ottawa.

Leopold, who won the Hobey Baker Award as the top collegiate player in 2002, signed with

Buffalo after speaking with fellow University of Minnesota product Thomas Vanek.

"I'm excited," Leopold said by phone. "Right when I found out Buffalo was interested, I

talked to Tommy Vanek, gave him a call, and my wife talked to his wife. We talked about the

area. I've got three kids [6- and 4-year-old girls and a 1-year-old boy], and it's one of

those spots I really don't know much about, but he filled me in and I was real excited and

intrigued after that."

The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder has 40 goals, 95 assists and 190 penalty minutes in 436 games

with Calgary, Colorado, Florida and Pittsburgh.

"We acquired a defenseman with very good mobility and puck-moving skills, as well as some

offense," Regier said. "We're excited to get him. He had 11 goals this year. That was

something that we're going to look to him to continue."

Leopold is not the No. 1 power-play quarterback the Sabres were in search of, but he is

capable of handling special-teams duty. Although he had just one goal and one assist on the

power play last season, he recorded six goals and 11 assists on the man-advantage with Calgary

in 2003-04.

"We think we've got at minimum a secondary player in that position," Regier said. "We also

think that Tyler Myers will grow in that area, as well."

Said Leopold, who turns 30 next month: "All those things are earned through training camp

and through the year. Who knows where they see me on that, but if called upon I definitely

feel I can contribute somewhat."

Tallinder received the top deal among the three players. The 31-year-old, who had played

with the Sabres since 2001-02, agreed to a four-year, $13.5 million deal.

"It's mixed feelings," Tallinder said by phone from Sweden. "It's a great feeling to get a

contract, and I'm happy to be joining the Devils. At the same time, it's kind of sad, you

know? It's been eight years in Buffalo — eight great years in Buffalo — and it's

kind of sad to leave that behind me now.

"I talked to my agent for the first time today, and my agent had talked to Darcy a couple

days ago, I think, but it wasn't really a fair kind of a proposal to me, so I kind of knew

then they weren't ready to pay the amount of money that maybe other clubs would do. I

think my agent also called and asked if they were interested in matching, but they weren't

ready to pay that amount."

Lydman, a Sabres regular since 2005-06, also was sad to be leaving Buffalo. He signed a

three-year, $9 million deal with Anaheim after the Sabres offered him a two-year contract.

"I would have liked to stay, but two years was their offer, and Anaheim offered three

years, so that was the biggest thing," Lydman said by phone from Finland. "The term was the

only thing I was worried about, and they offered three years and I said, "That's it.'"

Regier has said since February he thinks prospects Mike Weber and Marc-Andre Gragnani are

ready to jump from the minor leagues to the NHL, and the general manager reiterated that

stance Thursday night.

"We're comfortable with where we are, and we'll have to see how it plays out over the

summer whether we can improve in those areas," he said. "You'll see a continuation of the

free-agent market through [today] and beyond, but as generally happens, [opening day] is the

big one, then it slows to a trickle. I think you'll see that, then I think you'll see a

secondary trade market come in. We'll follow that closely to see if we can do something in

those areas to make this team better."

Tallinder was one of two impact defensemen signed by the Devils. They also agreed to a

six-year, $25.5 million deal with hard-hitting shot blocker Anton Volchenkov. Ottawa signed

veteran point-producer Sergei Gonchar to a three-year, $15.5 million contract, while

Pittsburgh got a pair of point men in Paul Martin (five years, $25 million) and Zbynek

Michalek (five years, $20 million).

The first signing of the day — just seconds after the noon whistle blew — was a

familiar face. Former Sabres goaltender Martin Biron signed a two-year, $1.75 million deal

with the New York Rangers to back up Henrik Lundqvist. Biron was the first of seven goalies to

find new teams. None joined the Sabres.

"I spoke with Patrick Lalime's agent. We'll meet again [today]," Regier said. "As I said at

the season-ending time, we have a goaltender in the minors now [Jhonas Enroth] that's very

close to playing. I believe he can play in the National Hockey League, at least play some

games in the National Hockey League. The question for us is whether we're going to put him in

that backup role or we're going to find someone else in that backup role."

A few notable forwards signed on Day One of free agency — Colby Armstrong joined

Toronto (three years, $9 million), Saku Koivu stayed in Anaheim (two years, $5 million) and

Matt Cullen went to Minnesota (three years, $10.5 million) — but big names such as Ilya

Kovalchuk and West Seneca's Lee Stempniak are still unsigned.

"We were pursuing a couple of forwards that we had offers in on, and we had hope that they

would decide to play in Buffalo. They've chosen to play elsewhere," said Regier, who will

continue his search and didn't rule out a roster-shaking trade. "We're open to it, but there's

nothing sitting on the front burner at this time."