Some of them could be interesting future options on the third pairing. Novikov is probably closer than not IMO - flashes some good mobility and ability to move a puck crisply, but his bread and butter is playing hard defense around the crease and the walls. Johnson is their top matchup guy from my viewing, very steady, very heady... super boring in the way you might not notice he's there but you don't notice the other team either. Unlike last year, they are using him on LD exclusively this year after trying hard to see if he could play his off-hand side last year (and then on his recalls). But with how terrible Buffalo plays team defense, I don't know how these guys will make a difference. The problems are so often how shit the forwards are at being back that I don't know how shuffling bottom pairing D around will improve that. The forwards need to commit to being good in front of their own netminder and in their own zone instead of whatever crap they've practice since Granato took over and encouraged them to fly the zone too soon.