The Pies welcomed West Coast forward Quinten Lynch, Hawthorn winger Clinton Young and Carlton defender Jordan Russell into the fold last month, with the first two arriving via free agency and Russell in a trade.
Watch the unveiling of Quinten Lynch, Clinton Young and Jordan Russell at Wednesday morning's press conference on CTV in the video above.
Buckley said there was a targeted approach when it came to recruiting the trio; they had already lost defender Chris Tarrant to retirement, and later, midfielder Sharrod Wellingham to West Coast and forward Chris Dawes to Melbourne.
He also said the additions, plus the experience gained by young players who were given games this season because of injury, set the 2013 team up as tough to break into.
"I think that not only are we better in the medium-long term with some of the young additions we've brought in, I really feel that we're in a stronger position to contend this year and next because of the additions to the list," Buckley said, as the Pies welcomed their new trio on the full list's first day of pre-season.
"We wanted to add to certain areas of our playing list, and clearly these are three guys with a lot of experience in the game with eight years minimum plus, all of them.
"Each of the three players here, if they play at their best and they'll get the opportunity to do that, will make us a better team, I've got no doubt about it."
Lynch arrived in Melbourne last week and will relocate with his family from Perth after Christmas.
He said he was looking forward to seeing snow for the first time during the Pies' Utah altitude camp, which starts next week, and was getting used to driving in Melbourne.
He said the footy decision was "a piece of cake" after realising his future at the Eagles.
"It was just the opportunity to get a couple more years out of footy. I think my body's got a bit of time left in it and I probably wasn't going to get that opportunity over in the west," Lynch said.
"After 11 years at the Eagles, it was a big decision but it came down to my love of the game and a great footy club giving me an opportunity.
"Over there [at West Coast], it was looking more and more likely I was probably going to be a fill-in player.
"It's exciting coming over to be working with big Trav [Cloke] … coming from the west, we saw him as probably the key forward in the competition, [one] who could dominate a game and take massive contested marks.
"There's plenty I can learn off him and hopefully I can help him a little bit as well to find his best form during the year."
Russell, who struggled for senior games in his final year as a Blue with just seven AFL appearances, was hungry for the chance to become a regular contributor.
"I'm really looking forward to hopefully playing 22-plus games next year," Russell said.
"I had eight years at Carlton and really enjoyed my time there … but it was time to move on.
"It was difficult [not to get opportunities this year], but there were a lot of challenges put in front of me and I had a few opportunities and didn't take them.
"That's why I'm sitting here talking to you guys now and looking forward to 2013 and what might be a really good year, hopefully."
Young arrived at the club in October wearing a moon boot after undergoing post-season surgery to fix a foot injury.
He said the recovery was progressing and expected to ramp things up in the New Year.
"Hopefully by January I'll be in full training," Young said.
"I'm still just doing some rehab at the moment but hopefully soon I'll be on the track and getting into it."
Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.
