Spacek missed significant time last season with a knee injury, but was relatively effective when healthy, leading the Habs with a plus-9 in 59 games. Entering the final year of his contract with Montreal, Spacek is a 37-year-old coming off knee surgery – one of three blueliners coming back from surgery. The Canadiens are looking to develop a few young defensemen and it will be at the expense of Spacek’s playing time.
Spacek had a disappointing season last year finishing with a career-low three goals and tying a career-low 21 points. Spacek could have been asked to do a lot with the loss of oft-injured Andrei Markov last year but he seemed to never get into a groove with his new team. Usually he is a mid-30's to mid-40's point guy and if he stays healthy it shouldn't be a stretch to expect those similar numbers this year now that he's more used to his surroundings, plus Markov may miss a couple months after knee surgery.
Spacek tallied 32 points (9G, 23A) in 60 games last season; 22 of those came on the power play. Spacek and offseason acquisition Craig Rivet will form an offensive-minded pairing this season. Rivet is a solid player but not as talented as Spacek's former partner, Brian Campbell. The glass half-full projection says that Spacek will have more chances to make plays this season. The glass half-empty projection says that Spacek's stats will take a hit with a lesser partner.
Spacek performed so poorly last year that he could be traded or even benched this season. In year one of a three-year deal worth $10 million, Spacek stumbled to a 21-point (5G, 16A) season and his ice time dropped precipitously in the playoffs when he was held scoreless in 16 contests. His plus-20 rating was helpful, but should drop along with the Sabres’ record this season. At age 33, he appears well past his prime.
Spacek was a nice acquisition after the Sabres lost Jay McKee to the Blues, but he’s going to a team that already has most of its offense set on the blue line. Teppo Numminen, Brian Campbell and Toni Lydman (and possibly even a healthier Dmitri Kalinin) already are around to hog up the power play time, so Spacek may not be “the PP point man” like he’s been in past stops. In fact, he may even end up on the third pairing if the Sabres choose to let Campbell and Henrik Tallinder continue to develop. Spacek was a good pickup for the Sabres, but we think it’ll be tough for him to come close to last season’s 43 points.
While he is small, Spacek is a good passer and a quality worker on the power play. He should be one of the best offensive defensman in 05-06 for the Hawks.
He had 5 goals and 22 points for Columbus in 2003-04.
