André Benoit

[henchman21]

Sabres fan here, in peace!

Looks like he played a bunch with you guys and put up a few points! What role did he play for you guys?

Is he an NHL guy now? Or is he an AHL guy?

Thanks!

He played mostly a top 4 role and on both PK and PP units. That was probably playing him too much and there were the mistakes that came along with that. Barrie also started to take some of the offensive minutes away from Benny as well.

Play him as a bottom pairing player that gets spot duty in the top 4, and the Sabres will be thrilled to have him. In that role with PP time he will put up 25-30 points and provide a solid 16-18 minutes a game.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Benoit is a solid 3rd pairing guy. The problem is he got exposed playing too many minutes here.

Certainly an NHL defenseman, and I wish him well. He seemed like a nice guy, and it's always a good story when a guy who waited so long to get to the NHL makes it.

 

[Steerpike]

Edit: nothing to add

 

[Zman5778]

Excellent to hear that he can play the PP. Aside from Myers, Ristolainen and Pysyk (the latter two still need to "prove" they can stick), we weren't sure who the other PP defenseman was going to be or if we needed to stick a guy like Stafford on defense.

Thanks for the scouting reports.


Good luck this year....I'm rooting for you guys (especially if it keeps the Blues out of the playoffs...lmao)!!!

 

[chet1926]

Excellent to hear that he can play the PP. Aside from Myers, Ristolainen and Pysyk (the latter two still need to "prove" they can stick), we weren't sure who the other PP defenseman was going to be or if we needed to stick a guy like Stafford on defense.

Thanks for the scouting reports.


Good luck this year....I'm rooting for you guys (especially if it keeps the Blues out of the playoffs...lmao)!!!

I'm glad Buffalo gave him a contract, he is a decent 3rd pairing/2nd unit PP guy. He was very useful for us last season and played pretty well in the playoffs. It was just a numbers game with him were hoping some of our younger guys are getting ready to make the leap to the NHL in the next year or 2, so all the fringe guys with contract coming up are most likely gone.

I'm sure you'll enjoy Benoit as long as you realize that he is a 3rd pairing guy and nothing more. Not overly quick, plays smart, little under-sized, makes good passes, decent shot if he gets it through, not overly physical but doesn't get pushed around. If you expect more than a 3rd pairing guy you are going to be let down.

I wish him luck, I was kind of hoping we'd bring him back as a depth guy.

 

[JoeSakic13]

Excellent to hear that he can play the PP. Aside from Myers, Ristolainen and Pysyk (the latter two still need to "prove" they can stick), we weren't sure who the other PP defenseman was going to be or if we needed to stick a guy like Stafford on defense.

Thanks for the scouting reports.


Good luck this year....I'm rooting for you guys (especially if it keeps the Blues out of the playoffs...lmao)!!!

Yeah I think he'll ideally be put on the 2nd PP (with I'd say Rasmus) and 3rd D pairing guy that could potentially play 2nd D pairing too (ideally you want him with a guy like Gorges or Myers). Should be a good fit out there, so good luck to him and we'll see you in December.

 

[CoachBadkitten]

Sabres are my 2nd favorite team, glad to see they got him.

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

Benoit is a solid 3rd pairing guy. The problem is he got exposed playing too many minutes here.

Certainly an NHL defenseman, and I wish him well. He seemed like a nice guy, and it's always a good story when a guy who waited so long to get to the NHL makes it.

The problem was that we were forced to play him in a different role. Early in the year when he was with Sarich he was pretty good. Sarich sucked, but Benoit was solid. And he was still playing the same minutes. But then later on with new partners he was forced to be the "stay at home, shutdown" guy. He couldnt use his o skills as much and was asked to be the guy taking on the biggest d role on the ice. And when paired with Holden he was on his off hand even. Benoit was kind of used as our utility guy. He was the guy being asked to play with various partners on various lines and placed in various roles depending on the partner.

The guy is a good 2nd pair Dman if his partner is the one taking the heavy defensive load.

 

[ORLY]

Would rather have him over Sarich, Wilson, and Guenin. Really want those 3 moved.

 

[Flanagan]

Would rather have him over Sarich, Wilson, and Guenin. Really want those 3 moved.

You realize Sarich is no longer a part of this team right?

 

[HockeyFan100]

Would've liked to have him back if it meant not giving up picks for Stuart

 

[Foppa2118]

NHL guy I'd say, he solidified that with us. He's a decent offensive Dman but not a PP QB. A good depth player to have. Good quy, nothing flashy but generally gets the job done. There were a few bad games and mistakes of course but he was generally solid. We would have been ok having him back especially in a depth role. Played second or third pairing for us depending on who his partner was at the time, more of a third pairing guy but he can spot up.

I don't know, his second half of the season really put his NHL career in jeopardy I think. D men like him have very little margin for error and constantly have to prove themselves. He's smart to have just taken the job with Buffalo rather than getting too picky. Depth defenseman screw themselves over ever year doing that and find themselves in Europe.

Seemed like a good guy though, wish him luck.