In his first and only season with the Avalanche, the affable Andre Benoit played in 79-of-82 regular season games and all seven in the playoffs. The 5-foot-11 defenseman amassed career-highs in goals (seven) and points (28 points). He seemed to be an outstanding teammate, certainly liked by all the guys, and a solid pro.
And he didn’t .
So why did he move on to the Buffalo Sabres for a (relatively) measly one-year, $800,000 unrestricted free-agent contract, signed Wednesday? Must be his size (he’s 5-11 on paper only), and the Avalanche’s focus was to get better on the back end. They went bigger and younger by signing free agent Zach Redmond ($750,000) for less than what Benoit made last season ($900,000), and the 25-year-old Redmond is expected to get a shot at replacing Benoit on the power play. The Avs also signed D Maxim Noreau ($625,000) and Bruno Gervais ($650,000, two-way) as UFA D.
So … No. 61 (Benoit) and No. 16 (Cory Sarich) will not be paired together again with their reversed numbers this season … unless, that is, Sarich recovers from his cycling accident and also signs a late UFA deal with Buffalo.
