The next player we’ll look at in this series that reflects on great individual seasons of the past was a player that only spent a few years with the Buffalo Sabres. He was a defenseman that was probably undervalued during his brief three-year stint with the club. That player is Jaroslav Spacek.

The Czech defender signed a three-year deal with the Sabres before the 2006-07 season. He was part of the team that made the run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2007 and was a key piece tot he blue line the two years after that.

Two-way Defenseman

The focus here will be on the 2008-09 season, which was his final year with the team. Spacek was a defenseman that contributed at both ends of the ice. He had a great shot that was dangerous on the power play and was one of the better impact defensemen in the offensive zone that season. He recorded eight goals and 45 points during the 08-09 campaign. He was 20th among all defensemen to play at least 300 minutes in points per 60 at on 5 on 5, according to Evolving Hockey.

In the twins’ goals above replacement model (GAR) he ranked 17th among all defenders in even-strength offense and overall he was at the top of the league in GAR that season, as you’ll see int he chart below.

At the other end of the ice, his impacts were just as good. He moved the puck well and was good positionally. His primary partner during the 2008-09 season was, at the time, a young defender in Andrej Sekera. That duo led the Sabres blue line.

Personally, I never fully appreciated Spacek during his time with the Sabres. The shot was his calling card, but I don’t remember thinking of him as a solid two-way defender. There’s an argument that could be made that Spacek was one of the top free-agent signings the Sabres made over the last 15 years. He was a good player in each season of his career which is rare to see from a free agent signing.

The primary reason that Spacek didn’t get the appreciation he deserved was due to the team missing the playoffs in two of his three years. They put together back to back 90 point seasons in his final two years, but never got close to that Conference Finals run from his first year in Buffalo.

Stay tuned to see who’s next in our look back at great seasons of the Sabres past.

Data via Hockeyviz.com and Evolving Hockey