MacArthur Avoids Arbitration; Sekera Signs Multi-Year Deal

by David Oleksy on Jul 20, 2009 5:46 PM EDT

The Buffalo Sabres announced today that they re-signed restricted free agents Clarke MacArthur and Andrej Sekera. MacArthur was set to be the first restricted free agent to have an arbitration hearing this season but he signed a one-year deal with the Sabres before the hearing began. Sekera signed a reported multi-year deal which means that he will be under contract for at least two seasons.

The MacArthur deal is a one -year deal that will make him a restricted free agent again next season. I have not been able to confirm the terms of the Sekera deal outside of Sabres.com reporting it is a multi-year deal.

Signing both players is a key statement by the Sabres ownership that are willing to spend money to win hockey games. The Sabres are going to be well above their self-imposed budget and still have a couple of players that aren't under contract. Drew Stafford is possibly the biggest name free agent on the team and he remains unsigned.

Say what you will about Clarke MacArthur but his signing is important for the Sabres chances in 2009-2010. He scored a career high 17 goals in just his first full NHL season. He needs plenty of work to become a more complete player but he has scoring abilities that many players don't have. He is always in a great position to score and finds the back of the net when presented the opportunity.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Clarke MacArthur	71	17	14	31	-4	56	5	0	0	2	108	15.7

If MacArthur works hard in the off-season and becomes a more physical player he could take over a game. He scored 17 goals this season without ever getting his nose dirty. His lack of commitment was obvious and frustrated Lindy Ruff to the point that C-Mac spent a lot of time in the press box as well as the third and fourth lines.

If he decides that he wants to play every shift this season there is no reason that he can't score 25-30 goals. He has the talent to be an everyday top six forward but it depends on him and his desire to succeed.

Signing Andrej Sekera was just as important as the MacArthur signing if not more so. Sekera has the potential to become one of the elite defensive players in the entire league. That is saying a lot for a guy that was a minus 11 last season.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Andrej Sekera	69	3	16	19	-11	22	1	0	1	0	84	3.6

Last season was the first full season for Sekera and he had the unfortunate circumstance of suffering an injury that forced him to miss a considerable amount of time. He played well before his injury but never fully recovered and struggled the second half of the season.

Sekera was a dominate offensive force while playing in Juniors and the Sabres hope he will regain that form. They have not asked him to be anything more than a defenseman before this season but with the departure of Jaro Spacek he is expected to play a more offensive role. In the past he has been compared to a Brian Campbell but more responsible in his own zone.

There is still more work to be done this off-season but the Sabres showed they are committed to winning with the signings today. They didn't bring in any new players but they committed to a couple of players that will be important to the teams success this season.

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Signing both players is a key statement by the Sabres ownership that are willing to spend money to win hockey games.

Not sure I’d reach the same conclusion about two RFA signings….I think they worried they would lose with Macarthur in arbitration and have to walk away entirely so…..Overall, I’m pretty ambivalent about the Macarthur signing. I think this year will be telling for him. I’ll chalk last year up to a fluke b/c many players on the team had down years, but if he’s no stronger on the puck this year, I think they’ll let him go to arbitration next year (I think he’d still be eligible) and see where it goes.

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jul 21, 2009 7:41 AM EDT reply actions

This signing doesn’t necessarily make them a better a team but it does prove they are committed to winning. The $50 million self-imposed cap is always talked about and they are now well over that cap. If they weren’t committed to winning they wouldn’t have signed either player.

D.O.
www.diebytheblade.com - An SB nation destination for Sabres fans everywhere

by David Oleksy on Jul 21, 2009 10:12 AM EDT reply actions

but it does prove they are committed to winning

Not sure Clarke MacArthur means you are committed to winning. They don’t need to break the bank to win, but they’ve had the same problem for two years in a row and all they’ve done this year is bring in a marginal defenseman after losing (arguably) their best defenseman this offseason. If Darcy makes some trades here, I’ll be the first to applaud (if they bring back capable bodies), but I don’t think you can call these contracts committed to winning. I think it just means they are committed to not being Phoenix. Hope sells and Buffalo, and if they can just change some of the faces, they could sell hope. Here’s to hoping it happens.

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jul 21, 2009 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions

MacArthur is still a young player who had 17 goals while playing mainly on the third and fourth line. If he becomes more consistent and plays on the top two lines he could be a great signing.

If he plays exactly like he did a year ago it is still a good signing. The Sabres showed q committment to winning because they could have easily let him leave as a financial decision.

D.O.
www.diebytheblade.com - An SB nation destination for Sabres fans everywhere

by David Oleksy on Jul 21, 2009 2:32 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Spacek had more offensive talent but Montador is more physical and better in his own end. We got better on the blue line where needed to while saving money, I can’t say that’s a big move.

MacArthur had 17 goals as a rookie. If we are going to make the playoffs we need secondary scoring and he will come cheaper than any potential FA we could have signed. Although I do think the Sabres are kicking themselves in the ass with the deal Kotalik signed. He’s worth $1 million a year if only for the shootout.

by SabreBowie on Jul 21, 2009 7:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Agree

I agree with this entire post until Kotalik. He signed for $3 million per season for three seasons ($9 million total). He is not any where near that good.

D.O.
www.diebytheblade.com - An SB nation destination for Sabres fans everywhere

by David Oleksy on Jul 21, 2009 11:19 PM EDT up reply actions

Also

wasn’t 50 million last years self-imposed cap? Why would we think that when all of their salaries (except Vanek’s) would be going up that they wouldn’t talk about raising that number? Have they actually talked about what kind of budget they are operating under for this coming season or no?

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jul 21, 2009 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions

they aren’t going to increase the budget because of the economy. I know that I won’t be increasing my budget, why would the Sabres increase theirs? They have to be ready for a decrease in revenue moving forward and be cautious of what they are spending.

D.O.
www.diebytheblade.com - An SB nation destination for Sabres fans everywhere

by David Oleksy on Jul 21, 2009 2:27 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions