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Our player discussion series continues with a pair of UFA defencemen #24 Tyson Strachan D (30-year-old UFA) Buffalo 46/0/5/5/-30/44 #61 Andre Benoit D (31-year-old UFA) Buffalo 59/1/8/9/-19/20 Two defencemen whose careers epitomize the term fringe journeyman, this pair ended up spending the entire season in the NHL last year. Strachan has played for nine teams in nine pro seasons, with last year marking his first season played entirely in the NHL. Benoit's tally is nine teams in 10 years, with a 27-point campaign for Colorado in 2013-14 marking a surprise breakthrough for him. Both were in and out for the Sabres last year, at times in top-four pairings, at times in the press box. Strachan is a slow-footed stay-at-home type with some jam to his game. Benoit is a smaller puck-mover. Each was probably signed to be depth filler and ended up playing more than they would have under different circumstances. Will either be back to fill a depth role again? Or will the Sabres move on, consigning them to the franchise record books as footnotes in a forgettable season? Links to the rest of the series: Anders Linback: http://forums.sabres...nders-lindback/ Pat Kaleta: http://forums.sabres...patrick-kaleta/ Johan Larsson: http://forums.sabres...-johan-larsson/ Matt Hackett: http://forums.sabres...1-matt-hackett/ Andrej Meszaros: http://forums.sabres...ndrej-meszaros/ Phil Varone, Zac Dalpe, Jerry D'Amigo: http://forums.sabres...e-dalpe-damigo/ Mikhail Grigorenko: http://forums.sabrespace.com/topic/23354-roster-review-25-mikhail-grigorenko/

Next up in our player discussion series: #41 Andrej Meszaros D (29-year-old UFA) Buffalo 60/7/7/14/-13/36 There was a time Meszaros was a big, highly regarded young defenceman who strung together three consecutive 35-point seasons with the Ottawa Senators. The sky seemed to be the limit. Two disappointing seasons in Tampa turned into two rebound seasons in Philadelphia, turned into two seasons where injuries rendered him irrelevant. When Tim Murray signed him to a one-year $4 million contract it seemed like a decent gamble on both sides. The Sabres had the cap space to overpay on a one-year deal for a guy who had received a Norris trophy vote just three years before. Meszaros gave up security to get paid more this year than he would have received anywhere else. Both sides were betting he could shake off the hurts and rebound into a solid NHL defenceman, setting himself up for a better UFA deal this summer. By anyone’s estimation, Meszaros got off to a horrible start to the season, looking slow afoot, making frequent poor decisions and seemingly picking up a minus nearly every game. He quickly became Sabrespace’s favourite whipping boy, a status he never really relinquished, even though he had seven goals and was a respectable -3 over his final 50 games. Virtually everyone seems to believe he is gone. The question is does Tim Murray feel the same way? Links to the rest of the series: Anders Linback: http://forums.sabrespace.com/topic/23313-roster-review-35-anders-lindback/ Pat Kaleta: http://forums.sabrespace.com/topic/23321-roster-review-36-patrick-kaleta/ Johan Larsson: http://forums.sabrespace.com/topic/23326-roster-review-22-johan-larsson/ Matt Hackett: http://forums.sabrespace.com/topic/23335-roster-review-31-matt-hackett/

Next up in our player discussion series #31 Matt Hackett G (25-year-old UFA) Rochester 7/5/3 2.75 .905 Buffalo 0/4/1 4.32 .884 A stellar run to the Calder Cup finals in 2011 with Houston, followed the next year by a 12-game stint in Minnesota where he compiled a .921 save percentage, marked Hackett as an emerging prospect. When he was acquired in the Pominville trade, some fans thought he might be Ryan Miller’s heir apparent. It hasn’t worked out that way. His first full season in Rochester was pedestrian at best. He struggled holding his emotions in check and eventually lost his hold on the number-one job to unheralded rookie Nathan Lieuwen. His average failed to crack the Mendoza Goalie Line of 3.00 and his save percentage was below the magic number of .900. A marginally better brief performance in Buffalo that year was cut short by a serious knee injury and his bid to rebound this year was hampered by tenderness in that same knee. When a games-played technicality made him a free agent this summer, some pointed fingers at coach Ted Nolan, suggesting he sat Hackett against the wishes of GM Tim Murray and cost the team an asset. Others wondered if Hackett’s performance with the organization made the discussion moot, since he wasn’t going to be offered a contract anyway. Does Hackett have the mental and physical toughness for professional hockey? Was his early promise a mirage? Have three consecutively worse seasons cost him his Sabres opportunity? Have they stalled his NHL career completely?

Somebody made a great suggestion a while back about doing a series of individual player discussion threads to keep the hockey talk moving through the offseason. I figured if I want to read them, I may as well create them too. I'm will start a new thread about another Sabres player every couple of days running through the next few months. We can have at it about what we like about this player, what we don't, and how we see him fitting in to this team in the future. It might be a great opportunity to see what the forum consensus is about our roster. I'll start with our free agents, move on to the veterans under contract and finish up with prospects and new acquisitions as we get closer to next season. To kick things off: #35 Anders Lindback G (26-year-old UFA) Dallas 2/8/0 3.37 .875 Buffalo 4/8/2 2.76 .924 Lindback arrived in the NHL as part of an emerging trend for goalies: the big Scandinavian picked outside the early rounds. He spent his first two years shining as Pekka Rinne's backup in Nashville, making scouts around the league wonder if he could duplicate Rinne's success. Tampa believed, shipping two seconds and a third to the Preds for his services with the idea of making him their number one keeper. Instead, they got two years of disappointing performances. He lost his job to Ben Bishop and the Bolts did not offer him a contract last summer. He found work as a backup in Dallas, but his play there was so spotty that when Buffalo acquired him in a deal for Jhonas Enroth, many dismissed him as a contract dump at best. Others, pointing to his league-worst stats, said his real role was to ensure the success of the Sabres' tank. But Ted Nolan rode him hard and he responded very well, posting far superior numbers to his two predecessors in the Buffalo crease and adding an element of puckhandling, as he kept the Sabres in a number of games. The question is which version is the real Lindback. Did his post-deadline play has earned him another NHL shot? And will that shot be in Buffalo?

Jagr just signed a 1 year contract according to NHL website with Florida no great surprise.

Player two in the offseason roster review series: #36 Pat Kaleta RW (28-year-old UFA) Buffalo 42/0/3/3/-11/36 No one doubts Pat Kaleta bleeds Buffalo Sabres blue. We've seen it many times as he's thrown his face in front of elbows, fists and pucks. The question is whether he has any more blood to give. The team's most veteran player after nine years here, Kaleta played just 42 games this season after playing just five the year before and just 34 the season before that. During those three seasons, he scored a total of one goal. He has played more than 60 games just once in his career. In some ways, Kaleta's presence in the lineup this year could be declared a victory in itself. He overcame major injuries, league disciplinary troubles and a paralyzing reputation as a cheap-shot artist that threatened his ability to play the game. He carved his NHL career as a feared hitter, a good penalty killer and an instigator with a great knack for drawing penalties. All of those qualities were seen less often from him this year. Does he still have the wheels to hold off challenges from this team's many prospects? Have his injuries become too much to ignore? Will this team repay his years of dedication with another contract? Or is it time to move on?