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00:00It is a fun day.
00:04I think we have a couple of things.
00:07One that has just presented itself in the last hour or so since I arrived here at Radio City for
00:13today's show.
00:15The other involves the – it's all hockey, by the way.
00:18We'll talk to Sal at 4 o'clock.
00:21There's a deadline for franchise tags, not that that pertains to the Bills,
00:25but there's some news in the league and some players that aren't being tagged.
00:28Trey Hendrickson may be at the top of the list that could be of interest at a position of need
00:32for the Bills.
00:33So we will get some football – we'll get a football quota in with Sal.
00:38But today is a super fun day, I think, for hockey fans and Sabres fans here in Western New York
00:44and even Southern Ontario if you're still out there.
00:47We've got a game, first game in almost a month at home.
00:53So it's been a while with the Olympic break mixed in there.
00:55We know the gold medal won by Tage Thompson.
00:59The Vegas Golden Knights are here.
01:00Jack Eichel, former Sabres captain, key player on Team USA,
01:06also expected to be prominently featured in a pregame ceremony along with his teammate Noah Hannafin
01:12from the Vegas Golden Knights.
01:14And so we've got the relationship between a former star player who spurned, eventually burned bridges,
01:27napalm, bombs, the whole thing, just get me out of here, and Jack Eichel eventually did get out of here.
01:33And so that relationship is always interesting to me.
01:37Some years have passed.
01:39The Sabres are good again, which I'll get to in a moment, which I think is the kind of thing
01:46that can soften
01:48even the hardest of hearts when it comes to a player who left under the circumstances that Jack Eichel left
01:55in.
01:57But that was going to lead today's show until, again, about an hour ago when I rolled in here to
02:02Radio City.
02:03And the first thing I saw when I logged in was some reporting from one of the big wigs in
02:10hockey circles,
02:13Darren Drager, saying that the Sabres and the Blues, like, it's hot and heavy right now.
02:19And I want to point out that an hour has gone by since he tweeted that,
02:25and we haven't gotten any more traction, any more word that things are advancing.
02:32Oftentimes, if you're a regular, real regular, like, psycho, I mean that as a compliment,
02:38listener of this show, if it can be taken that way, if you're someone who listens a lot,
02:42you know that Mike and I share a take about these big NHL reporters,
02:51how usually you get one or two of them leaking out that something is close to happening,
02:58and then, like, magic within, like, 15 or 20 minutes, it happens, right?
03:03That doesn't appear to be the case when it comes to the Sabres and Robert Thomas.
03:08But when I got here, I saw a tweet from Darren Drager saying, like, it's kind of a buyer's market,
03:15and you've got some new teams involved, you know, one of them being the Sabres,
03:19who are in the buyer's market, and they're hot and heavy after Robert Thomas,
03:25a number one center from the St. Louis Blues.
03:27Not a player that I've spent a lot of time prior to an hour ago thinking about
03:32because I didn't really feel like a player with that contract.
03:36He's got, I think, five more years at $8 million.
03:40He's basically got Josh Norris' contract is what he's got.
03:44And he plays the same position.
03:46Point-of-game player, 200-foot player, excellent player.
03:50Still pretty young, 26, I think, is his age.
03:55So, really cool idea, but not something I thought the Sabres would go shopping for.
04:02If, indeed, they are shopping for it.
04:04I mean, I believe they're at least looking at it.
04:06I don't think Darren Drager would be tweening this sort of thing for his health.
04:10Chris Johnson, another of the big guys.
04:12There's your tandem.
04:13One from TSN, one affiliated with Sportsnet, I believe, is where Chris Johnson works.
04:19He said the Sabres are offering or looking to meet the asking price of three.
04:27I don't know if this is the Blues' asking price, but I'm wording it sloppily.
04:31The Sabres are working toward a package that is the equivalent of three first-rounders.
04:37So, what that means is probably a first-round pick in the draft coming up,
04:42a future draft this year or next,
04:44and players who would be equated to being still holding first-round value.
04:50That could mean former first-round picks.
04:52That could mean players who weren't first-round picks
04:54who are now performing like first-round picks.
04:56You get the gist.
04:58So, we've got two different reports,
05:00one a bit more specific about what the Sabres might be having to give up
05:05if they were to trade for such a player.
05:08Let me take my time and just sort of lay this all out.
05:11Lines are open if you have a thought on this,
05:13if you're familiar with this player.
05:14I have a feeling a lot of casual hockey fans are turning on their radio going,
05:19who's this for?
05:21Who?
05:21The Blues have a guy that's good?
05:24Because they're mired in last place in their division,
05:26not having a very good season.
05:28But Robert Thomas is fresh off back-to-back 80-point seasons for the Blues.
05:33He's an excellent player.
05:34The reason I haven't really thought of him as an idea for the Sabres
05:38is it seems to me like they have settled in pretty comfortably
05:42to the idea of Taige Thompson playing center for them again,
05:47which was necessitated by the Kulik injury and the Josh Norris injury.
05:51And you've got Josh Norris back and healthy now.
05:54And so another number one center, Norris and Thomas to me are very comparable players.
06:02I could try to split hairs about one skating versus the other or whatever,
06:07but on paper they both read like very good 200-foot players,
06:15great point-a-game type scorer.
06:17That's what Thomas has been the last two years.
06:19Norris has never really reached a point per game in an 80-game season
06:23because he's hardly ever, if ever, played 80 games in a season.
06:27He's constantly hurt.
06:28And that's where I think things could get interesting for me
06:33as it pertains to the Sabres.
06:35I do not think that they are going to find someone to take Josh Norris' contract,
06:39nor do I think they're actively trying to move him as part of this guesswork on my part.
06:45But what I think would make sense for the Sabres,
06:48and I've been on this track with Norris as a player
06:53since last year's trade deadline when the Sabres acquired him
06:57because he was clearly the better player of the principles.
07:01I'm not going to get into talking about fringe defenseman Bernard Docker and whatever, right?
07:07Norris for Cousins.
07:09I know the Sabres had to sweeten the pot,
07:10and the reason they had to sweeten the pot was not to get Bernard Docker,
07:14but to get Ottawa to move the better player, which is Norris.
07:18Why did they want to do that?
07:19Why did they want to move a better center, a better 200-foot player,
07:23as they were poised to go to the playoffs last year?
07:26This is Ottawa, again, I'm talking about it, last year's deadline dealing with Buffalo.
07:30Well, they wanted, I think, certainty, as much certainty as you can have.
07:35Of course, anyone can get hurt.
07:37But Norris had been in the system there for many years
07:40and had missed multiple games every season he was there, including last year.
07:46You've seen that play out again here in Buffalo.
07:48I thought part of Ottawa's motivation was,
07:52at least we've got, we'll have Dylan Cousins.
07:56He's durable.
07:57He plays them all.
07:59No, he's not going to produce, even at his ceiling.
08:02His best year here was, what, like a 60-point year?
08:05He is not going to be a point-of-game player, but he's going to compete
08:09and he's going to be in the lineup and we can continue to kind of move forward
08:13with our team with him in that spot.
08:16And if you're planning on Josh Norris occupying one of those spots
08:20and you're Ottawa and he gets hurt again, like he did soon after he got to Buffalo,
08:25then, you know, where are you?
08:27You're down a number one center and you're trying to go compete in the playoffs.
08:31Where I think this could get interesting for the Sabres, and I did not really,
08:36I didn't see the whole field until an hour ago when it was mentioned
08:42that the Sabres are thought to be in pursuit.
08:46I don't want to throw in hot pursuit because I don't know that it's hot pursuit.
08:50I just know some big reporters are tweeting about it.
08:55But I don't want to give you the impression that this is like, you know,
08:58about to be nudged over the finish line or anything.
09:00But there certainly is smoke here.
09:03A reason the Sabres could be looking to add another top-line center
09:09to go with Josh Norris and Taige Thompson is Josh Norris insurance.
09:14If they can afford it, which they can, I mean, they don't have the room
09:19without doing anything to their roster, but I'm sure, you know, a deal of this magnitude,
09:24you can stash some money away, put Greenway on long-term injury, whatever.
09:30There's ways that they can create enough room to make the deal.
09:33And what I'm thinking is that perhaps the Sabres are in a, well,
09:40they're in a very similar position that Ottawa was in last year.
09:44Ottawa was not in second place in the division at the time.
09:47They weren't, they didn't look as much of a contender as the Sabres have looked
09:51for the last couple of months.
09:53But the Sabres could be interested in purchasing some Josh Norris insurance
09:59because they have, I think, in a conference that I think is very wide open to them.
10:06I mean, I think Tampa and Carolina are clearly teams that historically,
10:10and even this year, I would say outrank them, you know, pedigree-wise, expectation-wise,
10:17they should be ahead of the Sabres on any list of Stanley Cup odds.
10:22I think the rest of the conference is freaking wide open.
10:28And I'm not even here to say that the Sabres can't handle Carolina or Tampa.
10:32It's just that those are the only two teams, I think, in the entire conference
10:36that on paper right now, objectively, you would go, okay, that would be an upset.
10:43I think the Sabres beating any other team in the playoff pool,
10:46teams that are in right now or teams that are on the outside looking in
10:50that could still get in, I don't think I would classify the way this season has gone,
10:55those as an upset.
10:56So the Sabres have an opportunity here to do more than just end a 14-season playoff drought.
11:02They have an opportunity to win a round or more in the Eastern Conference this year.
11:09And if you're counting on Josh Norris to hold down one of your center spots,
11:15and at any point between here and, I don't know, the finish line of the regular season,
11:22once the playoffs begin, something happens to Norris, which frequently occurs,
11:27the Sabres, where are you?
11:29You are down like a true dynamic 200-foot all-around.
11:36So you're down a number one caliber center.
11:39And boy, as well as the Sabres have done this year, at times without Norris in the lineup,
11:45I just think it's really hard for me to make the same case that they can beat anybody in the
11:50conference
11:51if they are down to Tage Thompson, Ryan McLeod, Tyson Kozak, and like some other trade idea, right?
12:00You get Robert Thomas on your team, and something happens to Norris, well, you're all set.
12:08If you get Robert Thomas on your team, and you still have Josh Norris on your team,
12:13that requires some shuffling.
12:15I don't know what they would be of the mind to do.
12:18It seems pretty clear at this point, the way the season has gone,
12:21that Tage Thompson really likes playing center ice.
12:25But could he like playing on the wing with either Josh Norris or Robert Thomas
12:31on a team that is now that much better, that much more poised to make some noise in the playoffs?
12:39Maybe he would.
12:40I think if you had all three of those players on your team, that is the most natural idea to
12:46me.
12:47I don't know how Thompson would feel about that.
12:49I don't know how internally they feel about that, or if this even is entering into their thinking.
12:53Maybe they're just like, we're just going to play all three of these guys at center,
12:56and Ryan McLeod will be our fourth line center, and we're just building a wagon.
13:00I mean, that could be.
13:03But if you're thinking of those three players, the centers, Thompson, Norris, and Thomas,
13:10if you were to trade for him, as top six players, I mean, there's only two lines to go around,
13:15so someone's playing the wing, and my money would be on Tage if it does come to that.
13:22I wouldn't want to out of hand rule out the idea that they could be doing what Ottawa did last
13:29year
13:29and trying to swap Norris for Thomas.
13:34I mean, the Sabres did it, knowing Norris' reputation being a team that was not poised to be a playoff
13:41team,
13:42so maybe the Blues could be enticed to do that, but I kind of doubt it.
13:47I think it's probably more about futures for them.
13:52Again, there probably is some money if the Sabres were to make a deal here.
13:56There's probably some money from your NHL roster going back there just to make it all work,
14:02but I don't think it's a situation where you're swapping, like Ottawa did last year,
14:07where you're swapping Norris for Cousins.
14:09In this case, it would be swapping Norris for Robert Thomas.
14:14That could be it.
14:15I just kind of doubt it.
14:17I like the idea of Thomas more as insurance, like I've already said, if something were to happen to Norris.
14:25If Norris is healthy and rides through the spring and into the playoffs, you're that much better off as a
14:34team.
14:34With those three guys, if one of them's playing wings, so be it, in your top six.
14:40I mean, that is a stacked center lineup and gives you another guy, again, if injury is to happen.
14:49So I like it from that standpoint.
14:52One other piece, because what I think often, 803-0550, you want to talk about this idea here,
15:01Robert Thomas, St. Louis Blues, 80-point-a-year scorer, good 200-foot player,
15:07this is what we're talking about today.
15:09I know it might be jarring.
15:10This is all kind of coming at you pretty fast.
15:13The Sabres are good again.
15:14They're in a playoff spot.
15:15We're talking about them winning rounds.
15:17One of the assistant captains is talking about not just trying to play in the playoffs, but winning the cup.
15:23I know it's a while ago now, but Alex Tuck did say that a month ago or so.
15:28And now we're a few days before the trade deadline, and we're talking about acquiring an $8 million center.
15:33It's a lot, I know, right?
15:35And I'm talking fast because I'm excited.
15:38Because this is an exciting idea to me.
15:42Almost always, when you have a trade involving this caliber of player, you often end up in a spot where
15:52you are going to have to give up something you don't really want to, right?
15:57Something's going to hurt, right?
15:59I highly doubt that you are going to be able to make this trade by shipping off Isaac Roseanne and
16:09Jack Quinn, who's on your NHL team right now.
16:11Roseanne is not.
16:13And a couple of other pieces that could equate to being first-round caliber type players.
16:22It could happen, but I just sort of doubt it.
16:25You know, there's a special category for a guy like Helenus, I think.
16:31Like, that would hurt to give him up, but I think I could do it.
16:36What would really hurt is if you're dipping into what I've described as this team's superpower, which is those top
16:44four D.
16:45If the Blues want someone off of that back end, say they want Owen Power, that would hurt.
16:56I don't think the Sabres have an in-house ready-made replacement for a player that's playing the way any
17:02of those top four D are.
17:04And that would hurt.
17:07But the next page of that, to me, becomes, are you talking with the Blues about more than just Robert
17:14Thomas?
17:15Because Justin Falk, while 34 years of age, has been an excellent top four defenseman, power play guy, puck mover,
17:26solid defensively.
17:27He's been a very good NHL defenseman for most of his career.
17:32I'm not crazy about $6.5 million for him at the age of 34, but if, if, in the overall,
17:41you're thinking,
17:43we're not going to be able to keep these top four D together forever, is there an idea out there
17:50that plugs a hole we create
17:53by trading one of those top four D, still getting us Robert Thomas, and filling the void left by,
18:04again, I said power, I don't love this idea, I'm just wondering if it's something they could be thinking about.
18:10Like a bigger, a bigger deal that nets you a replacement for a top four D,
18:18and also this top flight centerman in Robert Thomas.
18:24Not knowing, like, what their goals are,
18:28I'm reluctant to do anything that involves touching those top four D,
18:33but I wonder just how tempting that idea, the bigger trade, to get a replacement for one of those top
18:41four D.
18:41Look, to me, there's a drop-off there with the age that Falk is at right now,
18:48and asking him to play the kind of minutes that those top four have been playing here would be very
18:55risky to me,
18:57but I wonder if, in the overall, the Sabres could look at their team and say,
19:02for right now, we're better, and in the long run, keeping those four D.
19:11I mean, it's nice that Samuelson's on the contract, he's on it, and Byron too, for that matter.
19:15That's a short-term deal for not the big money, really.
19:17Darlene and Power are the two whales back there.
19:21Money-wise, I don't love, I like much more the idea of putting a package together for Robert Thomas,
19:30and whatever that costs me, that doesn't include one of those D, I think I love that idea.
19:39I'm not sure I really, I would really need to sit with it, I would really need to think about
19:48it
19:49if it were the bigger deal that I just got to there that involved the defenseman coming in
19:54and the defenseman going out, to me, that's risky, because the thing, to me, that the Sabres should be,
20:02I mean, there's a lot of sentiment out there, you know, it ain't broke, kind of thing, right?
20:07Like, why do you want to, I heard Elliott Friedman on a podcast that I, well, I saw it today,
20:12I don't know if it was from today, saying, like, why mess around with it, right?
20:16Right? You've got a good thing going.
20:19I mostly would say that, I mean, I would shout that from a rooftop about those top four D.
20:27I think the forward ranks, yes, it's working fine, but I think if you can add someone like Robert Thomas
20:33without disturbing that core of defensemen, I think you're making your team better, and by a lot.
20:39So I like that a lot. The bigger deal, disturbing that superpower, as I've coined it, that the Sabres have,
20:47not as crazy about that idea.
20:50803-0550 is the number. Love to hear from y'all. Evan is first up this segment.
20:56Hi, Evan, thank you for calling. You're on WGR.
20:59Hi, how's it going?
21:00Great.
21:01I wanted to just highlight, I feel like kind of some of the conversation was like talking about
21:06Thomas being there kind of as like a Norris insurance, and I just, I feel like Thomas as a
21:11player is almost double the player Norris is. I love Josh Norris, but everything Robert Thomas does
21:17is just elite. I feel like that's one of the best 200-foot players in the league, and I feel
21:21like
21:22if there's any way to get him, it'd be huge.
21:25Yeah, well, the reason I'm saying it's insurance is because if they're counting on Norris,
21:29they could use another guy that can do, I'm not telling you Norris is the better player.
21:35I'm just saying I've got Norris. That's why I phrase it that way as insurance, that I've got
21:41another guy in case something happens to him is why I put it that way. No argument. Just from a
21:48durability standpoint, therefore, the production has outpaced what Norris has done recently,
21:54really ever. Norris has never had a point-of-game season. He's never played any games.
21:59Norris. So, yeah, no, he outranks Norris. Don't get hung up on the, the insurance is merely because,
22:05you know, I've got a guy here and I'm trying to protect myself against something happening to him
22:11that could really kind of ruin all this. Like, counting on Norris just feels a, it feels kind
22:17of flimsy to me because I just don't know if I can trust it yet. We've not really seen him
22:23play,
22:24what, even 20 games in a row for the Sabres. I mean, he got here last year, got hurt after
22:29three
22:29games. Opened the season healthy, hurt in the first game. Comes back, it's okay, playing a chunk
22:37of games. It was 19 games. Funny enough, I said he's never even played 20 games in a row. 19
22:43games
22:44and then out again. Now he's back. So I think the idea of having something else, I know insurance
22:51sounds like, um, I'm, I'm downgrading what Thomas is. And I don't mean to do that, uh, at all. I
22:58think
22:58he's an excellent player and is every bit and more because of his health. The player that Norris is
23:07just gives me another option there. If I need it, 803-0550 is the phone number. If you'd like to
23:12get in
23:13on the conversation, there's, uh, some rumors about the Sabres being in the trade market aggressively
23:19for one of, if not the biggest name left on the market, um, center, Robert Thomas from the blues.
23:25That is what we're talking about to lead things off. Mike is out today. I'm the Bulldog and you're
23:29listening to W.
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