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Ep. 46 - Sabres Offseason Part 2: Forward Thinking
35 Plays1 year ago
Join the boys as they deep dive into the Sabres forward ranks. We break down who is off the roster from last year and address what glaring needs we see in the lineup. We focus on trades and free agency to find the right players to round out the roster. If you want thoughts on Jeff Skinner, this is the place to be.
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:09
Speaker
You're listening to the Let's Go Buffalo podcast. Your new favorite podcast for everything, bills and saber.
00:00:22
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? You're listening to the Let's Go Buffalo podcast, your favorite podcast for all things Bills and Sabres with the pals Nigel and Jake again this evening. Episode 46 coming at you. Quick reminder to follow our social medias. You can find us at the handle. Let's go Buff Pod. That's Buff with two F's on Instagram, X, TikTok and YouTube.
Text from Tom and Work Chatter
00:00:50
Speaker
Let's say hello to my partner in crime here, Jake. Let's get your live reaction. Please go look at what Tom just texted the group. I certainly will. Very entertaining for me because we just had this conversation. but we did for some he's clairvoyant he he knew that we were talking about me forgetting to to pause the opening music for the loop around so i got it today tom thanks for the reminder and well done by you jake i appreciate it i appreciate that yeah do i'm good i'm good other than getting bullied by my friends i'm good what else is new uh yeah man i'm i'm great how are you doing today
00:01:29
Speaker
I'm great, bro. Great Tuesday at work with ah I have no more students for the rest of the school year band stuff is like done so it's just like all of the trillion end of the year horrible terrible monotonous things like inventory and cleaning instruments and cleaning instrument cases and trying to get the instruments back from the kids and it's just It's just essentially herding cats for the next three weeks. so ah Not to crazy fun times, but it is what it is. It's all right, I guess. I believe that, yeah. Herding cats is a great way to put that, I think. Yeah. Get a bunch of students together. Pretty accurate. Well, brother, should we enjoy ourselves a nice little bit of rush here? I think we should. End of the work day. let's Let's get into it. Hell yeah, buddy. Ready? Three, two, one.
00:02:21
Speaker
Hell yeah. What do you got there, buddy? I have a Voodoo Ranger IPA. Ooh, dude, I actually have one of those in my fridge, and I didn't get it. How we how funny would that be if we grabbed the same beer? that would have been That would have been sick, dude. I would have loved that. That's not happened yet, but no maybe. What did you end up grabbing today? I grabbed myself a lovely little Troggs beer, just their flagship perpetual IPA. That's a good one. That sounds lovely. I didn't know that was their flagship. Yeah, I think it is. I think it's their flagship IP. I'm not positive. f flagship IP. Maybe not their main flagship. um But it's a great pair. I believe that they have some other good ones. Yeah, really good stuff. All right, dude. Shall we get in? Shall we involve ourselves here?
Sabres' Forward Needs
00:03:13
Speaker
Yeah. So we talked goalies and defense last week. Set us up. what are we What are we broaching today? We are going to be discussing the, well, actually before we, before we just got here like 10 minutes ago, we thought today was just going to be wingers and then we chatted about it. um And we decided we're just going to lump all of the forwards together for this episode because next week there may be a slightly special surprise podcast coming at you guys. So Stay tuned for that. um But and then the following week, we're going to have to talk about the draft. So we decided that today we are going to just lump in all the forwards to finish up our sort of quick little state of the roster situation in terms of forwards on the savers currently, but also forwards um that are in the system.
00:03:59
Speaker
So, this is ah this is a tough kind of conversation to have because we acknowledge that on a lot of teams, including the savers, centers and wing wingers will change positions regularly, right? So, like, there might be times where Taysh Thompson ends up being on the wing or whatever. um So we acknowledge that. For this exercise, um we are going to call Tage Thompson, Dylan Cousins, Peyton Krebs, and we think he's probably going to be off the roster, but just in case Tyson Jost, we're considering those four guys centers because that seems to be where they primarily play 99.9% of the time with the Sabres. So we're going to call those guys centers.
00:04:41
Speaker
Um, but yeah, we just wanted to get ahead of anybody, you know, being like, well, you know, guys don't always just play the way we recognize that we've been watching hockey a long time. We know, but in order to do exercises like this, sometimes you got to get a couple concrete things in there. Am I right, Jake? A hundred percent correct. And the other thing we know that guys like massive off, for example, play center a hundred percent of the time for a hundred percent of the games that he's in, in junior. He's not going to be a center at the NHL level. He's, he's probably going to switch to wing. That's why we're, we're, we're doing all the forwards positions be damned. We're putting them in the blender today. Yeah. So I, Jake, I'm going to, I'm going to ask you, here do you want to just, do you want to follow the planning doc as is, or do you want to jump down and actually do like discussing the, like our potential roster?
Roster Changes and Contracts
00:05:33
Speaker
That's just i want
00:05:35
Speaker
Guys, the things in this planning doc are structureless. Yeah, let's jump where we want to. What jumps out to you? Start us off. i So i I almost want to discuss where we see the depth chart heading into next season. Taking into consideration, guys, we don't think you're going to be on the team anymore. Like, Gergensen's, like Tyson Jost, you know, situations like that. um I kind of want to start there. What do you think? Is that okay? Yeah, yeah let's do it. All right. Great. So, so we've identified a couple needs heading into next year um that with that word that I want to start off by talking about.
00:06:12
Speaker
And um we think, first off, a top six winger is is a massive, massive, massive need for this team. So as the depth chart is laid out right now, I probably should start with that. We have Blank at left wing, Tage Thompson and Alex Tuck. Second line is Paterka, Cousins, Quinn. We like that. Third line is Skinner, Blank, Benson. Fourth line is Greenway, Crabs, Blank. Right? So, and and I want to get ahead of something here, too. I'm not married to, like, anybody in the bottom six, aside from Zach Benson. any If any of those guys weren't on the team to start the year, I would be okay with that. Like, if Greenway's not here or whatever, because I think the bottom six needs a major retooling. But we're kind of operating right now under the assumption that that is what the depth chart looks like.
00:07:05
Speaker
Sorry, I want to get it in front of anybody. Yes. very bit than us too We don't think this is what opening night lineup will look like. This is who is in the system right now and trying to identify where some needs are and how they might get built. Yes, thank you. so So the blank spots that we have right now are that top line left wing with Thompson and Tuck. Third line center with Skinner and Benson. And then we also are are picturing somebody new um on the fourth line at right wing right now. ah Bottom six forward. Yeah. Yeah. So from the list that we have on here, Jake, of all the forwards that played games for the Sabres this year, and I'm not going to go down that entire list right now, unless do you feel like we really should?
00:07:54
Speaker
Now from that list, can you, can you pick out guys that you are pretty sure won't be on the team next year? Yeah, definitely. Well, low hanging fruit, Victor Olufsen has come out. He's said he's gone. He's trying to bridge and and he should be for him and the team. He's gone. Uh, I think, I think Eric Robinson is a probably not going to be retained. I would say if he is, he's, he's like the 13th forward. Yeah, yeah, perhaps. I think maybe between him and Jost, I think I'd rather resign Jost. I feel differently about that. That's interesting. That is interesting. Okay. But I think one one of those two is gone. Can we agree on that? Totally. It's part of the conversation. yeah so Yeah, I think those guys are gone. And then Gergensen, he's he's the longest 10 year member of the team, but he's rumored to be trying out free agency. We'll see. I feel like we heard that rumor whenever his last deal was up last year. So
00:08:55
Speaker
I don't know i feel like he might actually be gone this time do yeah feel the same yep we're we're in complete agreement so to like gurgenson's olevson either or both, Eric Robinson and Tyson Jost. Yeah. So I think we're pretty much ah agreed that those four will not be on the team next year or God. And that doesn't include forwards that were traded away at the deadline. Casey Middlestat and Kyle Pozo. I don't think either of those guys will be back. Middlestat definitely not.
00:09:28
Speaker
poo maybe could see coming back. I know he liked his time here a lot, but I think if he wins the Cup of Florida, I also wouldn't be surprised if he retires. And I think that's exactly what's going to happen. I think i don't think there's any chance admin 10 is going to be able to hang with Florida. I'm not even sure they're going to win a game. They might squeak out one, but based on those first two games, dude, I don't like their chances at all. I think Oki is going to win a cup and right off into the sunset. So I'd be thrilled for him if that happens, but I would too but i think so. there's There's another two guys that played pretty major roles for the team that are gone. So there's, there's a lot of opportunity to to turn over the structure of the forwards, which is welcomed because you mentioned it last week. We tried the don't touch anything hands off approach and it it did not work. Um,
00:10:20
Speaker
So yeah, yeah but a lot of those guys are in the bottom six ah that we talked about being gone. And I think that's the focus, one of the focuses for the team, a third line center. is imperative and just getting in some newer established players that can round out your bottom six and provide some scoring punch down the lineup um is paramount for their success next year. For sure. um In terms of forwards when it comes to the cap, dude. I mean, man, oh man, aside from Jeff Skinner's contract, which is egregiously bad. I get why it it is what it is. Like when he had that monster season, your hands were kind of tied. You almost had to to pay him. Um, outside of that, dude, these contracts, assuming that this past season was an outlier for Dylan cousins are so unbelievably reasonable. Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:20
Speaker
I agree. I mean, really, Tage Thompson at 7-1 is a steal. Cousins assuming that last year was an outlier, like I keep saying. 7-1 should be appropriate for him um with what I often think he's going to end up offering in the two-way game. Alex Tuck is an absolute, is absolutely adapted under $5 million. um And the rest of these guys, Jordan Greenway, $3 million, I think that might even be a little steep for him. But yeah, it's just such a, such a reasonable group of contracts for the forwards. Do you have any thoughts there, Jake?
00:11:53
Speaker
They are yeah similar to the defense. It's going to get expensive very quickly. with quin Quinn and Paterka are up after this year. They're both making about 800,000 this year, 100 million. those Those numbers are going to jump. um i I hope they re-signed both of those guys longer term. um And they've proven that they're willing to do that with players like Thompson and Cousins. I think both of those guys. Paterka in particular to me is a is a core member of this team and he should be
00:12:24
Speaker
twin I think is as well. He's had some injury history and some some rockiness to start his his career. When he's been in and and playing, he's looked phenomenal. He's been incredible. The injury history is what gets gets me a little concerned to hand out an eight year term. ah hundred percent Anyways, point being, you're correct yet. The cap situation is good. The Skinner boat anchor is not great. I think we should we should dive into Skinner a little bit more. But let's talk about Dylan Cousins. You brought him up and you said, if if the if this last season was not the norm, if it was an aberration, do you think that's true? Which which Dylan Cousins are we getting this fall for this fall?
00:13:03
Speaker
i I am going to go ahead and give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that this past season was was an outlier because the prior season, while it was, I mean, I think the prior season is is where you can expect him to be. Maybe not quite that much, but what you get what Dylan Cousins is ah is a really, really, really good two-way game. I think two years ago what did he have like 35 or 36 goals was it was it around there maybe 30 31 31 okay so yeah in the 30s which i think is probably it's probably his peak um i think he like peaked pretty early um but this past season he regressed so much i don't think that is where his game is going to be i really really really think that
00:13:49
Speaker
I mean, he's 23 years old overnight. He started making $7 million. dollars I think that pressure probably got to him. I'm being honest. Yeah. him and the rest of the team they talked about that yeah you know So I'm going to go ahead and give him the benefit of the doubt and and assume that, well, maybe, you know, he's not a lock for 30 goals every season. I think 20 to 25 is probably more where we can expect him with a really strong defensive game. and probably you know even with that 20-25 goals somewhere between 16-70 points is where i'd like to see dylan cousins i think yeah and i think you're right i think that's attainable it seemed it seemed like he was a little snake bitten last year uh and and wasn't it just it he looked and felt like a different player than he had the year before so i
00:14:35
Speaker
I hope he can kind of cobble together a bit more consistency like he had the previous season. So yeah, for sure. If you're, if you're able to bank on him for 25 goals a year and, you know, chip in 30, 40 assists, I'd be happy with that too. Yeah, absolutely. we Where do you, where do you stand on the idea of a Jeff Skinner buyout? That's a good question. Yeah. I've seen not from anyone in the team or anything, but just fans talking about buying out Jeff Skinner. I, I don't, I don't love the idea of buying him out. Um, I don't, I, I don't love the idea of buying him out unless there you can sell me on specifically what you're going to do with those games dollars and
00:15:25
Speaker
how you're going to deal with the recapture penalty that happens after the fact. I just I don't think he's enough of a liability to buy him out entirely like is is he worth $9 million? dollars No, I don't think anyone is going to argue with that. But he was signed for is what but the team handed to him. It's not it's not his fault that he he's making $9 million. dollars But yeah, i don't think I don't think he's struggled enough to warrant a full buyout. He's got three more years left. um I think
00:15:58
Speaker
you could entertain that more as the contract gets older and you start feeling more of a cap crunch. But as far as a raw buyout, I'm typically opposed to that. if if if you're gonna If you need to move on from a player for salary reasons, I'd rather find a way to to trade them away rather than just a raw buyout. um And i think I think you could. I think if you wanted to move on from Skinner, you could move on from him in a trade. You'd have to sweeten the deal a bit or include some other player with him. Um, but I don't think he's a boat anchor of a player where he's, he's unmovable because of that contract. And that's, that's when you should buy out a player as if they are unmovable, like suitor and Parisi's contracts in Minnesota. Like those were, those were untradable, untradable contracts, you know? So I don't know. Do you agree? What what are you, do you have different thoughts on Skinner?
00:16:51
Speaker
I see, I feel like it is untradeable, unless you retain, unless you retain 5 million of that or maybe four. And at that point, keep the player, keep the player. Sorry, I agree. I don't want to trade him at all. Like I don't think, not because I think he's ah at the peak of his career, but I don't, I'd rather insulate him a bit more. They acquire a top six forward like they're rumored to be doing and push him a little bit deeper in the lineup, where I think he can still be effective.
00:17:31
Speaker
i don't need I don't need him off the roster. Here's I, so I, I am very much, I do very much have the itch for him to be off the roster. And here's why I am feeling very, very, very concerned that we are about to pay a player $9 million dollars a year to be in our bottom six. And I say that because I don't think I could in a laboratory build a more anti Lindy rough player than Jeff Skinner. I mean, this guy this guy has no two-way element to his game at all. He's an absolute defensive liability. And that concerns me with a coach like Lindy Ruff, who is, I mean, like he'll just like he'll just fucking scratch a guy and not think to two ways about it. And I feel like Jeff Skinner is going to be a guy that ends up being scratched by by Lindy Ruff to the tune of $9 million dollars a season.
00:18:23
Speaker
I just don't think with with this new coach like I just don't think I don't think that's gonna go well that relationship maybe I'm completely wrong and it's totally fine and what he needs is exactly what you just said which is just to be a little bit further down the lineup I just can't get myself to a spot where I feel like Lindy Rupp is gonna be like yeah I want Jeff Skinner on the ice a bunch That's that's the big concern that I have and it would just be so nice to get rid of because like if if you were gonna pay Jeff Skinner now What he's worth. What do you pay them four and a half to five and a half? somewhere in there it Depends which season of just getting talking about to cuz cuz not like easy the year before he he had a great year, right he was he was impactful playing with tuck and Thompson so
00:19:16
Speaker
Let's, let's say he's a, yeah let's say he's a UFA right now. He's looking for a new contract right now. What are you giving him after? Yeah. Okay. Fair enough. After last season, I think he probably earned five to 6 million on the open market. That's, I had five in my head, five, ah like five years or excuse me, two years, 5 million. I would pay Jeff Skinner right now. Fair enough. Yeah. I mean, he's 32. He's not, he's not. ancient. It's not part of the impact. And he still skates super well, dude. His edge work is really cool. He's got that. He's got that really, really, really unique skating style that, I mean, he does still do really well and it gets him around guys. I've never seen anybody skate the way Jeff Skinner does. It's so weird, but it works for him. So I just, yeah, I don't know, man, because he's still, I mean, he's still played with really good players last year.
00:20:15
Speaker
You know, and yeah and and his and his production dropped so much. I mean, so many players did. So I guess it's not fair of me to pick out Jeff Skinner. I just, you know, so I see somebody making the argument of like, why are you bullying Jeff
Financial and Salary Cap Considerations
00:20:29
Speaker
Skinner for this season? He added not Dylan Cousins. Well, I see a lot more two way value with Dylan Cousins than I do Jeff Skinner. Oh, yeah. A hundred a hundred percent. i he He is very one dimensional. He needs to be put in. air and And that was the biggest issue with Ralph Kruger and his utilization of Jeff Skinner is that he didn't he didn't put him in areas to succeed. So I i i believe fully that Lindy Ruff is a far better coach than Ralph Kruger.
00:21:02
Speaker
i like i yeah I hope you're wrong about their relationship and him potentially just scratching Skinner. That would be a mark of a bad coach to come in and just say, well, I can't use this player. What what the fuck is he good for? I'm going to scratch him. that's I don't I don't think it would go like that But I think you know 20 games into the season if Jeff Skinner isn't isn't back checking his balls off Lindy Rupp is gonna be like fuck this guy. He's gonna he's gonna put him on the bench, you know Maybe I don't know. I mean he's he coach of a super rush oriented and offensively minded Devils team recently He's maybe not the Lindy Rupp we sucks I to from from Buffalo you could be totally you could be I
00:21:51
Speaker
it It concerns me. I think we're not arguing that it's a concern for sure. and yeah so ah just Just out of curiosity, I pulled up the buyout calculator for the contract. If it was bought out two today or before the draft, before before next season, and yeah um the it looks like the buyout cost for the cap it was would be one and a half million next year. four and a half million in 25, 26, six and a half million in 26, 27, and then would drop off to two and a half million for the next three years. So you're talking about a six year cap hit for this guy that peaks at six and a half million in 26, 27. So in three seasons, it peaks at six and a half million for a dead cap that's just gone. And that's kind of when I envision
00:22:49
Speaker
them needing to spend more, uh, to, to get there. So, so you're really only save it. You're saving two and a half million at that point. When at that, at that point you could, you could, you could, I don't know what happens when you buy them out then, or you try to trade one year of the contract. It's a lot more, how many more years does he have on this deal? Three years. He's got three years left on the contract, including this coming season. Yes, sir. ah Oh, yeah. yeah pretty three years left I mean, look, it's not great. I think i think he can still be effective. like I don't know. And and also, like when that deal is up,
00:23:28
Speaker
um I don't know, it it becomes hairy when you need to re-sign Tuck, for example, in two years. Tuck is going to be worth six and a half, easy. Oh, ah more more than that. that a Probably, yeah. um so You got two years left of tuck and then you need to resign him and that'll be Jeff Skinner's last year I think I think personally keep Skinner keep him on the team for now Reevaluate next year reevaluate the year after I envisioned like when you need to really give Alex Tucker raise for example, then you're in the last year and you Platoon him off elsewhere depending on his
00:24:10
Speaker
You know efficiency on the ice. Yeah, that's an interesting one to see how all that plays out um For sure and keep keep in mind that the nine million is is gross. It's disgusting. I agree It's it's too much for him. It was signed when it's signed. It was signed in 2019 the cap really hasn't risen much at all since then. It's been pretty flat. it's it's a black to it's about to go up. Yeah, it's rising four, or four and a half million this year. I anticipated going up similar clips every year. So it's going to, it's going to get less and less yucky as the cap rises and eventually it'll be off the books. I just, it it doesn't make sense. He's not, if you can convince me that there's a a significantly better player that we can put in, in a,
00:24:58
Speaker
in his position and not need that cap, then i'm I'm interested. But I just don't think it makes sense to spend assets to get rid of a player that really isn't fundamentally dragging down your team. like is he is Again, i'm not I'm not saying he's the best left-winger in the league, but he's not he's not he's not useless. he's not He's not dragging the team down, in my opinion. No, he's he's not that I just, i got I do get pissed off watching him back check and play defense. I just, I can't help it. I like, when I, like that's, that's when your effort needs to be at the highest and he just doesn't. And that to me, like but to to the tune of $9 million dollars a year, I'm like, go ahead. Take the number out, take the number out. Yeah. he beat But he's he can score. It doesn't, I don't know. It doesn't, like, it doesn't bother me so much that he,
00:25:52
Speaker
is a one-dimensional player. the The thing that he does well is score. It bothers me a lot less when he's put in the pocket than that, which he didn't do last year, but two years ago, I definitely wasn't pitching like this. Agreed. Yeah. And and when, yeah, when when he was scoring 40 goals, he was the, yeah everyone was like, i pay him down, pay him down. It is up right now, but yeah. Like i I hear you, like I hear you that it's, frustrating to watch him as a defensive player, because that's not what he's good at. He's not a defensive player at all. But yeah if he's able to be effective offensively, it doesn't bother me at all. It just, it doesn't strike me as a, as a, and this is obviously,
00:26:39
Speaker
we could You could argue about how much this is relevant to the Sabres in particular. But it doesn't strike me as a playoff style of play. right like Look at the way the Florida Panthers play defense right now. like like Can you picture? And maybe maybe the playoffs make Jeff Skinner changes too. You know, who who knows the guy's never played at the playoffs. I don't think, I
Prospects and Trade Strategies
00:26:58
Speaker
think he still hasn't played a single playoff game, which is crazy, but yeah um maybe maybe, you know, that triggers something new in him. I don't know. I just, you know, when I watch a team like Florida and everybody's so like just ready to sacrifice everything for defense and it's, I get a sustain the cup finals.
00:27:18
Speaker
it's not game 40 in you know February or whatever. Tuesday night in Winnipeg exactly exactly like that's a bitch I can I can understand not wanting to get down in front of a slap shot on that game but I don't know um we've go ahead last last thing on Jeff Skinner then we should keep moving. I agree with you maybe he he wouldn't be the most the most effective playoff performer but i think he would be an extremely entertaining playoff performer given how much he yaps at all players and shit i think i think he'd be he'd be fun to watch the playoffs it's a shame he hasn't made it
00:27:55
Speaker
Dude, okay, speaking, okay, what very last thing, I swear. This is my billion dollar idea, okay, dude? Because I know I would pay a fortune for this, and I bet you would too. If if HBO, dude, I would pay for a service on HBO where like you you are watching NHL games, and like six guys from each team are all like, duh, and you're hearing the unfiltered shit talk. I would pay, I mean, there's 82 games in a season for each team. I would pay, I pay at least, I would pay $300 what I've been thinking about for that season, for a season of that. I think that would be so entertaining, but um knowing a little bit about what's set on the ice, no way the players want that shit out there. Well, I bet you, like, I bet you look like a company like HBO, like could, could, I mean, yeah, players probably don't want it out there, but
00:28:49
Speaker
And it's like, if the league was seeing some of that revenue, dude, like, Oh, I just, I would be, I would, I'd be so entertained by that. Oh, I'd laugh it up, dude. i Like to hear Marshawn for a game, dude. Like I would pay really good money for that. A hundred percent. Yeah. yeah lap it up yeah All So I, we just talked to everybody about Jeff Skinner, but for me in, in truth, the most interesting part of this entire conversation. is the guys in the system. Now we are not going to, we are not going to talk about every single guy in the system, but Jake and I have selected one, two, three, four, five guys that we think are the closest to making the team or maybe even being traded or something like that. But these, yeah, the five guys that are the closest to like being NHL ready in our opinion. So.
00:29:39
Speaker
in no particular order and nothing position-wise, um those five guys are Lucas Rusik, Itzhak Rosen, Yuri Kulik, Matt Savoy, and Noah Osland. So that is a fascinating conversation to me because, and and I guess I'll kind of take the lead on this first, Jake, and give you my opinion first. I am at the point where, I think especially like in the bottom six, I want, I want proven NHL veteran talent with like some guys that have some playoff experience. I'm at the point where these names that we're talking about, let's trade some of them to bring some more so like already established talent in. And that's where I fall right now. look I think this team is at that point where like this season is, this season I think pretty unanimous unanimously is playoff or bust.
00:30:34
Speaker
Right. And I think you get a lot closer to that. If you maybe aren't the youngest team in the league for a change and, and maybe trade out some of this youth, you know, group group and Noah Austin and pick 11 for, you know, a really great established 25, 26 year old bottom six player that is just gritty and nasty, but you know, chip in 30 points in a season or whatever, you know, that's where I'm at with these guys, Jake, what do you think? Yeah, I agree. I like all these guys. I think they're great prospects. I'm excited about them all, but you can't fit them all in and you can't wait for them at this point. Like you said, it's it's playoffs or bust.
00:31:17
Speaker
you need It's going to hurt. It's going to stink. You're not going to like the the trade package that goes out to bring in somebody yeah and that's usually the mark of what makes a trade fair yes exactly and and just a real quick thing on that people have to remember that. Trades go both ways like you have to put yourself in the position of the opposite fan base like how would you feel. right so like it and and i think it's paul hamilton that says it but like in order to get good players you have to give up good players or elite assets so like we need to be prepared for that as a fan base continue jake yeah i think i think of those five names you listed off i think it's
00:32:01
Speaker
It's a failure of all five are here in the fall, uh, because that means you likely didn't improve your roster as much as you could have. Yeah, I would totally agree charge the roster up for the fall. Are there any of those guys, Jake, that, that you are, that you would really like to see kept in the system and hopefully within the next year or two playing for the Samers? Um,
00:32:27
Speaker
no No, I mean, I guess it's the easy answer. No, I can get excited about all of them. But if you packaged up all five and told me the Sabres would make a deep run in the playoffs next year, I would do it. I would, too. Maybe that's a little overdramatic. But yeah, no, like if if ah I guess Savoy and Kulik are the ones that I think are most exciting to me. I think I know them the best, maybe. um I know Noah Oslund excites me too, but he's just coming over to North America and is probably further along. I think the ones that are closest to maybe making the team are Savoy and Kulik and Roseanne too. I think he needs. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know, man, but then ah then I think back from Ruzek spent, uh, I think 15 games in Buffalo last year. So he's, he's right there too. He's a little older than the rest of them. Um, I think maybe he,
00:33:22
Speaker
and And I don't think he fetches as much trade value either. so yeah Honestly, no, I'm circling. I don't know how to answer your question because I don't mind if any of them are packaged up to improve the roster this fall. And and i'm in I'm in the same boat. I think for me right now, dude, of those five guys, the one that I would, and and again, not married to any of them if I would be glad to see any of them packaged up to bring something back. But of the five, I think Itzhak Rosan makes the most immediate positive impact given the current state.
00:34:04
Speaker
of of the savers. I think he slots in really nicely in that bottom six. He gives you a little bit of grit with some skill. I know I'm the king for hammering grit, but you know if I was going to pick one of those five guys, Rusik is decent, but I think Rosem has more offensive upside. um and will still fit into a bottom six role. Whereas I think the other guys, Kool-Eek, Osland, Savoy, I don't think any of those guys are fitting into a bottom six role. Whereas I can see Itzhak, Roseanne do it with some offensive upside.
00:34:39
Speaker
Yeah, I see that as like a middle-sex guy. Yeah, totally. um ah spot And and i think I think of all of them. It's tough, dude, because like for so long, everyone was hammering the table, myself included, to call up Yuri Kulik. What did he do in the second half of the season and the playoffs in the AHL? Yeah, not doing a lot. Jake, I went to I went to every single home playoff game. He was absent. He was absent every single game. So now I don't know what to think of you're a colleague. You know, it's almost the it's almost the Dylan Cousins conversation. Which one are you getting?
00:35:14
Speaker
are you getting the one from this this past season or the one from two years ago where you scored 40 goals you know that's an 18 year old has' an yeah and so you know it's a really interesting conversation there um Savoy of all of them like he's probably got the very very very highest ceiling Um, but I think, you know, in the NHL, he's going to translate to a winger and we've only seen him play juniors in the handful of games he played in Rochester last year. Frankly, he looked like shit. So he's obviously too good for juniors. He's putting up a billion points. He's, his next step is clearly the American league and maybe he just needs more time. But you know, ah he, like, if he, if there was going to be one guy I was going to invest more time into, it would be Savoy.
00:36:00
Speaker
Yeah, yeah dude I'm in the same boat as you, I'm not married to any of them. Yeah, they all have their warts, they all have their their upsides. I think it's, we're not scouts. like I think it's it'll be telling what the organization does this summer to see which ones they place the most value in. I don't know. i mean But I think you you made the point that you see Roseanne as somebody that could pitch in as a middle six winger and contribute some offensively in that position. Whereas the others you see as more, like Savoie, for example, is probably not a grinder player. He's probably going to, he should be somebody that you're developing for your top six. and Where's he going to fit? go Yeah. Well, and he's, he's certainly not, he's not ready for the NHL this year. you You need to make the playoffs this year. So, so is that a guy that you say, okay,
00:36:49
Speaker
This guy can be really good, but we need to be good right now. Let's package him up and get get somebody back for him. I think we'll see, but yeah a failure if all five of these guys are in the system in the fall because you you should be leveraging these young players that can't impact your NHL team significantly right now to find somebody that's more established to impact your an NHL team right now. yeah Yeah, dude, absolutely. 100%. I am so okay, dude.
00:37:23
Speaker
I just real quick pulled up a list of of free agent
Free Agency and Team Improvement
00:37:27
Speaker
UFA wingers or sorry, not necessarily UFA, but either UFA or RFA wingers. Okay. Okay. I'm going to tell you, are we talking about the, so, so, so we've established, we've established the need for a toxic center and that's what Buffalo has said has come out basically Without saying it, they've said they want to acquire a top six winger. The other spot that we've established that is a need is a Casey middle stat replacement for the third line center. And then just forward depth for the bottom six. Yeah. Yeah. hundred percent Okay. Sorry. I just wanted to recap. So with that in mind,
00:38:04
Speaker
Hit me, hit me with whatever name you just found. I will do it. I'm just looking at the list here and I was, I'm going to like tell you all the guys that I would trade Matt Savoy for, for a top six role next year. um Jake Genshall. Let's see here.
00:38:26
Speaker
It's actually not that many.
00:38:29
Speaker
If my list just changed, my my my computer just caught up here, I was looking at a bigger list, and then I made my filter smaller, and now it's now it's a lot less players. Because the next one after, is like it's like, they're good players, but it's guys that I think are are too old. to give up for a Matt Savoy, Anthony Manfred, 29, Pertusi, 29, Tara Vining, 29, Hoffman, 34, Pearson, 31, Duclaire, you know. So now you're starting to get a little, that that's a little bit old for me to trade Savoy. So I don't know. these Well, didn't you say these are all free agents? um I tried to make it like that.
00:39:10
Speaker
Well, why? are you We're not trading civil civil offer a free agent. I mean, I think like, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, yeah. I see what you're saying. I wouldn't be opposed to going after some of those guys in free agency, but then it's, it's, it's cap dollars you're giving up, not ah not a prospect. And I think Kevin Adams has proven that he tends to go after and be interested in players that aren't necessarily the the big fish or the most popular names that are on the market. So dude, i have I have no idea who that player is or what his vision is. I think he's earned my trust for the most part to make that move and me feel okay about it. um But I don't know who those players are, but I think it's somebody that's probably under contract that maybe we're not thinking of.
00:39:59
Speaker
I would, yeah, i it moved here correct. And I, I don't think I really like Kevin Adams does continue to surprise me, but I really can't imagine that he's going to trade away a 19 year old man Savoy for a 29, 30 year old top way. Or like, I would imagine it's going to have to be somebody that's like 25, 26, 27 somewhere in that age range. Yeah. Could but me I would agree with that. I think the the the bottom six is where you dip into free agency and and try to entice the right players to come. Again, I don't know what that, like who those players are. There's so many and there needs to be willingness for them to come to Buffalo too. But one name, one name that does jump out to me, Jordan Martinook from Carolina would be a dream. Awesome. Yeah. Awesome. Yeah.
00:40:54
Speaker
um But yeah, there's ah like Dakota Joshua from Vancouver, I think the man touched on him last week too, but he he's, he's in need of a deal. And I i with Lindholm with Zadorov, Vancouver's gonna have some choices to make. So yeah, how do they get squeezed out if they end up signing both Lindholm and Zadorov? I don't know. But totally do. But like that trend in coming off the deal in Colorado could be somebody that'd be interested in I don't know, man, but somebody, yeah, they need they need to inject more offense in the bottom six of their lineup. That is paramount to me. Yes. Olufsen had plenty of warts um and could be effective offensively, but really didn't display that much this year. Gergensen's is not an offensive player. Ocozo at this point in his career was not an offensive player. that They need players that can have a similar impact to the game that those guys did maybe. but also put in more points and be more effective offensively. You need offense deeper in your lineup to go anywhere. And that that was that was the missing factor this this past year for me. So the ah if if there was an overarching theme for the offense, I think we'd probably both agree that it's depth, right? we need We need to push talent down the roster. Yeah, I think so. yeah And I would be in complete agreement.
00:42:22
Speaker
Can we have a brief conversation about Mr. Peyton Krebs? Hell yeah, we can. What's on your mind? Well, he's in need of a new deal. He's an RFA. um He. he you If we're talking about offense deeper in your lineup, he he hasn't really done that. He's young, he's displayed great vision, great passing skills with the puck, but it hasn't felt like it's materialized a lot. um He's not earning a ton of money. I don't think he would command a big contract by any means. I think he could probably sign him for
00:43:00
Speaker
under two million for a couple of years. But is he is he somebody that you dangle in a trade maybe as a as a pending RFA? I think absolutely. i think I think he's absolutely and he could slot right into that bucket of guys that if you were to be gone, I'd be fine with that. Here's what I would do with Peyton grips personally. yeah I would pay him
00:43:31
Speaker
I pay him a three year 1.75 billion a year bridge deal and and give him those three because i I've said it on here before, dude. i just have a feeling I just have a feeling that Krebs is a super, super late bloomer because he's another guy that I've seen the flashes from, dude. I swear to God. I don't know how many guys on their team have better vision than Peyton Krebs on the ice. Yeah, I agree with that. I just think that we have seen him primarily play with not great players around him. He's played a lot with our posts. He's played a lot with Geargensons, a lot with Greenway, who I would like to see more from.
00:44:16
Speaker
I'm not guaranteeing that it's their dude, but I just think if you can, you know, put a couple Jordan or a couple of Martin hooks around Peyton Krebs, you know, like with a little bit more offensive upside, I just, I'm just not ready to close, turn the page on him yet. But if he were to be traded tonight, I'd be, I'd sleep like a baby. Don't get me wrong. But ah three, three years, I would even say, I'd even say I'd be fine. Three years, 2 million a year for Peyton Krebs. Yeah, fair fair enough. I'm kind of in the same boat. I don't, I wouldn't be mad about him being resigned for a couple of years and being the fourth-line center with, with hopefully some, some players that have better instincts and upside than Gergensson and Sinochbozo. Yeah, I don't know. I guess, I guess that's all I have to say. But if, but again, if if he's, if he's packaged with,
00:45:07
Speaker
Pick 11 2025 first rounder and you can upgrade a position significantly. Sign me up. I'm 100% in, but I just, i I feel like he gets a lot of, he gets a lot of hate and I, I've just seen enough, enough flashes of. brilliance that but I don't, i it's not a guy I'm actively looking to trade. i I would love to see him in Buffalo completely fine if he's gone though. Yeah. Greenway, I agree with you. I want more from him. but
00:45:40
Speaker
I also don't think he's underperformed. I think he's, he's the player that he was advertised as in Minnesota. And he's just, that's, that's who he is. ah joe that What you see is what you get. Joe Marino says it, dude. When someone tells you who they are, believe them. yeah For some reason had this brilliant idea that Don Granada was going to be able to unlock this offensive potential in Jordan Greenway. That'd be
Offseason Outlook
00:46:07
Speaker
fine if he was gone. Yeah, um yeah he's um I agree with you. no easy Like I said, that's that's who he is he is. This is his last year on the deal. I mean, I don't i don't mind him being here still. I think he could he's a big body. I mean, he can be somewhat effective. but i just he To me, he's a fourth line player. He's exactly what you want on your fourth line. 25 points a year, maybe, and a big-ass body that skates well. yeah but For some reason, we try to put him on our top six.
00:46:39
Speaker
Yeah, he he doesn't need to be there. Well, and, you know, look after the off season moves, hopefully, hopefully we get some talent and push him down into a fourth line role. And maybe, maybe he thrives there. I don't know. Who knows? Chicken, any, any prevailing thoughts you want to get out there? I know I'm good, buddy. I don't think so. Yeah. I mean, we talked about it. Get get offense deeper in the lineup. It's more important than having defense higher in the lineup. I've heard that quote before and I love it. I'm going to keep hammering that one. Um, like that one. And yeah, I think we said it last week. I think this is going to be a fascinating off season. There's a lot of moves that could happen. There's a lot of moves that should happen. And we will see what Kevin Adams does because his seat is getting awfully, awfully hot. I imagine that it is. Hi, brother. We'll see. Take. Yeah. Take. Oh, fuck. It's me. Take us out of here.
00:47:31
Speaker
Tom, we need you. Tom, hurry up. Macy's fine. There you go, Tom. Let's see.
Closing Remarks
00:47:38
Speaker
All right. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for spending some time with us this evening. be
00:47:52
Speaker
That's my pal, Nigel. I'm Jake. We're sending you love for every yard. Go Bills. Go Savers. Let's go Buffalo.
00:48:28
Speaker
Oh god.