"Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier doesn't see a logjam along the Buffalo blue line, he sees a deep pool of talent.

That pool of defenders got deeper Tuesday when the team agreed to a four-year, $11 million contract with Andrej Sekera, a deal that helped both sides avoid a salary arbitration hearing that scheduled for Monday.

"The conversation with Allan Walsh, his agent, has always been focused on getting a deal done," Regier said. "I think the contract actually reflects the case that he had in arbitration. Statistically, for the points that he had, he was going to do very well in arbitration. What this provided us with was a longer-term contract at what we felt were very good numbers and the belief that he would step up and not only provide the consistency, but I think we'll see a lot of growth in him as well."

Sekera scored three goals in 76 games last season while posting career highs in assists (26), points (29) and plus-minus (+11). He played in just two postseason games because of an upper-body injury.

"I'm really happy everything came together," Sekera said by phone from his offseason home in Slovakia. "When you see the team, how it's built, and what changes were made and you see the ownership working and doing everything to help you be a winner, I'm pretty sure every single guy on the team is very excited about next season."

Sekera has played four-plus seasons with Buffalo after being a third-round draft pick of the team in 2004. The 25-year-old has 12 goals and 55 assists in 233 career games."