ALBANY — Though 20 of the 27 players on the current roster spent all or part of last season with the Albany River Rats, it’s the names that are missing that stand out the most.

From between the pipes to behind the bench, the 2008-09 Rats have several big questions to answer.

Can Justin Peters and Daniel Manzato together compensate for the graduation of top AHL goalie Michael Leighton? Is there enough scoring to replace departed stars Keith Aucoin, Jamie Johnson and Brandon Nolan? Will the sudden and unexpected loss of Troy native Matt Murley have an impact? How will the club respond to new head coach-GM Jeff Daniels, running his own team for the first time?

“Coming back here, all the guys are really friendly. It’s a good feeling in here,” third-year forward Mike Angelidis said. “We’re a lot younger than we’ve been in the past, but I think that’s a good thing. Guys are all hungry to move up, and the only way to get ahead is to produce. The core guys we’ve had the last couple of years are still here, and I think that’s going to be big.

“Our goal is to make the playoffs and get past the first round. We can’t just settle on doing well, but getting knocked out in the first round. We have to settle on winning the championship, and if we don’t do that, we failed, that kind of attitude. We have to be very confident every game we go in, and stick together and not let teams push us around.”

Albany hosts Bridgeport Saturday night at 7 at the Times Union Center to kick off its 16th American Hockey League season. It is the first time since 2004, and only the fourth time in franchise history, that the season opener comes at home. The Rats are 7-6-2 all-time in their first game,

including 2-1 at home.

“I’m excited about our team,” said Daniels, who comes to Alb­any after four years as an assistant coach with its NHL parent team, the Carolina Hurricanes.

“I think we’re well-balanced. I think our defense is going to be the key. We’ve got some veteran guys back there that can move the puck and hopefully, create some offense from the back end.

“Up front, we don’t have a guy that’s going to go end-to-end with it. We’re going to have to score by committee. I think the guys here have that potential, and it’s a matter of putting them in the right roles. We’re going to be stressing getting the puck to the net and going to the net for those so-called garbage goals. At the end of the game, they all count.”

With Johnson (58 points),

Nolan (48) points and Aucoin (45) all gone, Jakub Petruzalek is Alb­any’s top returning scorer, netting 14 goals and 31 points in 78 games last season.

He is joined up front by returnees such as Jerome Samson (21 goals), who has been slowed by injury, Pat Dwyer (13), Angelidis (11), Nicolas Blanchard (11), Joe Jensen and Cohoes native Marc Cavosie. Signed to a 25-game pro tryout contract, Cavosie is a former Calder Cup winner who sparked the offense down the stretch and in the playoffs after being recalled from the ECHL.

Dwight Helminen, a 32-goal scorer in the AHL for Hartford in 2005-06, is a key addition, along with rookies Harrison Reed, Clarkson product Nick Dodge and Stefan Chaput. Bobby Hughes can be an impact player if healthy.

Murley, Cavosie’s former RPI teammate, was expected to shoulder much of the offensive load, but left the team Wednesday to play in Russia.

“It’s a big loss for us, but we have to find a way to win games without him,” Petruzalek said. “Somebody’s got to step up. We have a real young team this year, and it’s going to be up to us. Who’s going to step up and show more skills, more defense. I think it’s just a question of time.

“We have to figure out who can do what. We’re going ot go out there and be excited about every game, play physical hockey and high-tempo games.”

On defense, Casey Borer and Mark Flood return from season-ending injuries to help anchor a group that also includes Bryan Rodney, Brett Carson, Noah Babin and Tim Conboy, a late addition from Carolina. Carson led Rats rear guards in scoring with 24 points; Flood was tops with 10 goals.

Benn Olson, Ryan McGinnis, Jonathan Paiement and Brett Bellemore provide size and depth in back.

“It seems like early in the season, defense is going to win games,” said Rodney, one of the last cuts of training camp. “We have some exper­ience on the back end and we’re all comfortable with each other, no matter who’s playing. Early on in the season, we’re going to take that responsibility on our shoulders, and let the offense kind of grow as guys kind of grow and get more comfortable with each other.”

Peters and Manzato had outstanding ECHL seasons last year, both playing in the annual All-Star game. Manzato helped lead Las Vegas to the Kelly Cup finals, and Peters wound up back in Albany as Leighton’s backup down the stretch, going 7-3, 2.70, .904 in 11 games. He also spent his entire rookie season of 2006-07 with the Rats as Tyler Weiman’s understudy.

“I definitely think we are a good team and a hard-working team,” Manzato said. “I’m sure it will be a good year for us. For one thing, I think we will be hard to play against.”

With only seven games this month, Daniels plans to give both netminders some work.

“It’s not a lot of games, and I don’t want them sitting around for a long period of time,” he said. “Hopefully, someone steps up and proves that he’s the No. 1 guy.”

After missing the Calder Cup playoffs for an AHL-record six straight years, all under the watch of the New Jersey Devils, Albany has qualified for the postseason in 2007 and 2008 since Carolina took over operations.

Last year, the Rats battled for the East Division lead until the

final month of the season, settling for third with 43 wins and 93 points — the most for the franchise since 1998-99.

Including last spring’s seven-game series with Philadelphia,

Albany teams have not advanced past the first round since 1997-98.

“It’s to the point now where if we’re not making the playoffs, we’re very disappointed,” Dwyer said. “It’s a must for us to make it to the playoffs. Now, after two years of jusst making it there, we’re not going to just be happy with that.

“We want to win, and we want to go as far as possible. That’s the mentality we have now, and it’s nice to be part of the group that brought that back to the city.”