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Chris "Bulldog" Parker discusses what may be needed for the Buffalo Sabres to acquire Robert Thomas from the St. Louis Blues.
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00:00a fun couple of hours dreaming about Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues changing the blues
00:06uniform which has always as a kid been you know it's been very different at times but
00:12I used to confuse the blues with the Sabres when I was little maybe a lot of you that are
00:16the same
00:17age grew up watching those Saturday afternoon games on NBC remember the blues and thinking
00:23like it looks kind of similar anyway Robert Thomas has been the talk of the town here today at least
00:29well the talk of the show anyway I don't want to be so bold as to say it's the talk
00:33of the town
00:33because you know I don't know how far our reach is but you know we're on the twitch now so
00:39there is
00:39we've always got and YouTube we got that going for us um just to review quickly um Darren Drager
00:47Sabres are in hot and heavy I'm paraphrasing on Robert Thomas of the Blues Chris Johnston says
00:55um likewise and the equivalent of three first round picks maybe what going back not all actually
01:03first round picks but like you know a package that equates to that um is what he was talking about
01:10um there's been a lot of other stuff on the fringes like those are the big guys Jeremy Rutherford of
01:16the
01:16Athletic long time on the Blues beat um mentioned earlier that despite being very interested in Bo
01:24Byram over the summer that he is not believed to be a part of the package being discussed between the
01:32Sabres and the Blues the most notable thing about that is that Jeremy Rutherford is referring to the
01:38package like it that that that implies that this is you know it's it maybe it's close I don't know
01:47pretend like it's imminent but I mean who knows um but there was that there has been some and maybe
01:54if you're if you're the kind of Sabres fan that is listening to me watching me on uh on the
02:01twitch or
02:01the YouTube today um also refreshing Twitter for any kind of Robert Thomas news you might be seeing
02:08different reports I just came across one from Jordan Schmaltz whose Twitter bio I kind of like
02:14cup of cups of Joe in the NHL you know played a couple games uh all-star in the AHL
02:21not saying I was good
02:23um he has been running with the this trade is alive it's an idea Jack Quinn Consta Hellenus and Owen
02:34Power which is the which is the first time I shuddered the whole time I've been sort of following this
02:41story but I will tell you after coming across that tweet just a little bit ago in my field my
02:47feed
02:47excuse me I went to Jordan Schmaltz's page and he has since posted a tweet saying he's hearing power is
02:56not
02:56a part of it which is a huge relief to me to me any trade that they're making that doesn't
03:05disturb
03:06their superpower which is those top 4D I don't want to say any trade I'm in favor of but like
03:12a trade of
03:12this magnitude a trade to acquire a top centerman that doesn't include Byron Power Darlene or Samuelson
03:23I'm I'm I'm I'm all ears there are other guys that would hurt I you know I'd like to see
03:29Hellenus
03:30develop here as a saber but if he has to be the piece of this trade package
03:37that's gonna sting I'm ready to be stung sting away um I love this Thomas idea I think it gives
03:47the Sabres so much more flexibility um I think like a lot of you I've been all year worried about
03:54Josh Norris that is an excellent player last week one day I was in here by myself I think maybe
03:59last
04:00Wednesday I don't remember um talking about the single biggest variable in the Sabres being not
04:06just a playoff team but making noise in the Eastern Conference is Josh Norris I think if he's there and
04:13you can count on close to point a game type performance and good 200 foot play then I think
04:18you've got you've got to look at this I think if he gets hurt again which has happened every single
04:25year of his NHL career and now maybe he's already through it for this year and he'll be fine from
04:31here to the end whenever the end comes uh hopefully you know in in the you know into the playoffs
04:36but
04:38having another guy like Thomas who in the short term might force you to move Thompson back out to the
04:43wing probably would um because I don't think you're gonna go with those three guys all as centers I
04:50think you want to have those guys all be three of your top six so um but it having Thomas
04:58there and
04:59moving Tage if indeed that ends up being what happens gives you at least a fallback if something
05:06happens to Norris so I'm not sunk if one of my top two centers is hurt again um you know
05:13I know
05:13anyone could get hurt it's just Norris his history is scary I think it's the biggest reason why Ottawa
05:20was willing to move him last year at the deadline because they were headed to the playoffs and they
05:25wanted some kind of certainty as much certainty as you can have playing pro sports night tonight
05:30about their lineup and they just decided after too many injury riddled years that they couldn't count
05:38on Norris and while Cousins is going to give them the production that Norris was going to give them
05:43it would give them at least a stable presence in the lineup and so I think the Sabres could be
05:50trying
05:50to accomplish the same thing here without divesting themselves of Norris in the process
05:57um that's uh how I see it for now I think the rest can just come up naturally as we
06:01talk here 803
06:030550 is the number Nick is first up this segment hi Nick thanks for calling you're on WGR
06:08hey guys how are you um I just started listening probably about 10 minutes ago so uh correct me
06:15if I'm wrong or stop me but um the question I want to bring up is with Norris like are
06:22we really
06:23like I don't want to stay stuck with him but that's why Ottawa wanted to get rid of him and
06:28we're in
06:29that predicament now with him like uh does anybody did anybody bring up that point yeah I mentioned it
06:36earlier that they you know if if if St. Louis was open to it I would have to consider doing
06:43it as
06:43much as I do like Norris as a player for the reasons that I just talked about but the reporting
06:49does not
06:49indicate at all at this point and I would be surprised frankly because I think him getting
06:56here and getting hurt already twice this year again just further scars his reputation and I would
07:03be really surprised if the Blues took that contract off your hands um yeah yeah no I I understand that
07:09point but um it's kind of what I was getting at um I wasn't even really talking about adding him
07:16in the Thomas deal I was talking about maybe shopping him a little bit to see if there was any
07:21market for
07:22him to maybe bring you know bring someone else in maybe another defenseman for the the bottom pair
07:27somewhere along those lines that listen that I would have to be open to that um again I'm going
07:33to be surprised if they can move that contract it it it's it's a it's a it's a tough deal
07:39to take on
07:40given his injury history and it was for the Sabres they were in a position to take the chance they
07:45took
07:46it and it has not really stung them yet I mean they're having this incredible season here that we didn't
07:51really see coming maybe maybe plenty of you might have thought the Sabres could be improved
07:56but to be you know a contending level team was not something I saw in the cards and I think
08:04that's
08:04where they are now so they've gotten away with it sure if someone wanted to take that contract off my
08:11hands and I could replace Norris with Thomas and I don't have to move Taich to the wing I would
08:18have
08:18to listen to that because I think ultimately you know you may end up in a situation this summer
08:24where you're choosing between Alex Tuck and you know well maybe this is a part of it maybe you're
08:31choosing Norris and we've already chosen Norris uh and Thomas overpaying Tuck because you don't like
08:40his age the contract demands whatever it is um so if you could free up that money by
08:48divesting yourself of Norris replacing him with Thomas and then still keep Tuck you know that
08:54that I could be I'm certainly going to listen to that um I would just be surprised if there's a
08:59market for Norris uh at this point given the injury history it's why I like you know best case scenario
09:06you make this trade you don't mess up anything really significant on your NHL roster especially
09:13those top four D you still have Norris here if he's healthy you are in great shape in your top
09:20six
09:20if he gets dinged again you at least have Thomas and Thompson to sort of offset that and I like
09:28that
09:28a lot about this um you know the deeper you go thinking about it thank you for the call Pat
09:34is next
09:34up hi Pat thanks for calling you're on the air here on WGR good afternoon so I guess it's just
09:40a story
09:40but um I met my wife 20 years ago the first time she ever spent came to my house she
09:45watched the
09:45auto overall and um about beginning of January we're sitting on the couch and I look at her I'm like
09:52hey I think we might actually do this this might actually be happening we were getting excited I'm
09:57like if we make the playoffs and buy a new jersey I haven't bought a jersey since 06 07 she's
10:03like okay
10:04let's do this and you know the other night after we beat Tampa I look at her I'm like I
10:10think this
10:11is happening and me and my I look at her like let's do this so we order tickets to the
10:16Dallas game which
10:17is you know April 15th the day before my birthday I'm like we're going to that game and I'm buying
10:22a
10:22new jersey and you're buying a new jersey and you know when I wake up on my birthday we're making
10:27the
10:27we're making the playoffs and it's just and now we're talking about Robert Thomas and I'm just
10:33thinking to myself what a world we live in you know like three years ago I canceled my subscription
10:38to the MS3 because we're awful but now we're here and it's you know month month and a half before
10:44we
10:44finish the playoffs and I'm going to the last game of the season and I'm buying a new jersey and
10:49how
10:50great is this it just feels it's different to be a saver for instance the day you were born like
10:55how awesome I hear you Pat if you don't mind what what jersey are you what jerseys are you guys
11:00going to buy do you know yet my wife is four foot ten so I told her she should buy
11:05a Thompson jersey
11:06so that way when we walk around with them I can tell them people that you're not you don't like
11:11hockey you just want to be tall and I am I am leaning between Doan and McLeod and probably McLeod
11:20because he's great and probably has the best smile in all of hockey all right I love it Pat well
11:27thought
11:27out appreciate the phone call here yeah that is how jarring this is I mean three years ago three months
11:35ago I mean the timeline was when he canceled his TV subscription you know that he had for the Sabres
11:42I'm sure plenty of you have done that over the last few years just a few months ago this this
11:48all like
11:49I'm trying to be cognizant of the person who I think people still do this right they get out of
11:55work
11:55and turn on their car and turn on the radio and like oh let's see what the guys on the
11:59radio are
11:59talking about if you you know like the show or like us or hate us and hate listen whatever whatever
12:05whatever turns turns the crank for you you get there you're turning the show on you're hearing me
12:10you know me right hi it's me um and I'm talking about this guy from the blues who's making eight
12:16million dollars a year and is a number one center and you might be like riding in your car going
12:22like
12:22man I haven't been paying attention to the league like I it's a little bit like to me like I
12:27follow
12:27baseball very casually now um went to a Red Sox game last year gonna go to a couple more this
12:34year
12:35not in Boston I'm gonna go to go to Pittsburgh with my son Owen catch a couple of games in
12:39August
12:40and very excited about that but I haven't really gotten like I'm not I'm not following a bunch of
12:46beat reporters on the Red Sox beat I'm not I'm not I'm not real plugged in right and so this
12:52feels a
12:53little bit to me like what would happen when like free agency and baseball or the trade deadline
12:59and it's some player from a team that I don't follow that's making you know some incredible figure
13:06and I'm like I'm not even sure I know who that is that I'll bet there are people listening to
13:13me
13:13right now that are having that experience with Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues like who's
13:19this now was that the guy was that the guy everybody wanted when you traded Ryan O'Reilly
13:26yeah he was one of them he was he was on that list I'm pretty sure um uh you know
13:32him and Kairu were
13:33their young up-and-comers then and I have both established themselves as fantastic NHL players um but
13:40the Blues are last in their division again and rebuilding retooling starting over stockpiling
13:47assets so it makes sense that they've got a player of this caliber that they're looking to get rich on
13:56in the trade market and the Sabres do happen to have I'm thinking about a caller from last hour Mike
14:02who mentioned like I've got I'm so flush with guys that you know we don't know one from the other
14:08which ones are all going to hit and not hit you know which ones are going to turn into you
14:13know the
14:14the next big thing or become you know career borderline NHLers or AHLers but you know you
14:21probably don't have in the very short-term future room for all of them right Oslin got here and sort
14:29of
14:29forced his way in um before the break it looked like maybe Helenus was doing that but he's gone
14:37back to Rochester he's he's someone I'm very excited about um but he's on that list Roseanne I think is
14:45still on that list um to me Quinn is sort of in between he's an NHL player he's got an
14:51NHL contract
14:52but he's not making a ton of dough and to me is someone who doesn't have to be a core
14:57player here
14:58that could easily be included uh in this mix would help offset some salary too going out the door
15:04um but you've got guys that there just isn't going to be Roseanne's another one that there isn't going
15:11to be room for all of them here so I can put two three of them together in a deal
15:19and pull in this guy
15:21man I'm listening to that all day long um again especially if it does not involve
15:29those top four deep because that that that to me is like the you know as much as you know
15:35of course
15:35you're not trading Thompson you're not trading talk I don't think um you know you're not you're not
15:41you're not moving Josh Doan you just signed him right you've you've got like guys that are obviously
15:47I think untouchable um you are flush with four very high level defensemen right now but I think
15:55moving you know obviously Darlene's not going anywhere Samuelson's a bargain on the contract
16:00he's playing on it really is about buy room or power and I would not want to move either one
16:06of them
16:07right now even for a player of this caliber um is there a way you could do it sure I
16:13presented a
16:13scenario earlier where you move to get Thomas right the blues are going to insist on uh buy room
16:21or power let's just say hypothetically I'm talking now okay this is not what's being or has been
16:27reported all right and even the one report that mentioned power has already been refuted by the
16:34person who said it to begin with um but if you if you had to right you like this idea
16:40so much
16:42and but it has to be Owen Powers included what how do I do that I mean I might I
16:49might just walk
16:49away from it I might not make the deal and there goes my Josh Norris insurance and all that right
16:55all the things I like about it go away um but if I were gonna do it well then what
17:00do I have to do now
17:01I have to find a replacement for power in my lineup um Justin Falk is on the blues I did
17:09mention this
17:09earlier I don't love this idea because of his age he's 34 uh the contract is pretty weighty six and
17:16a
17:16half million like I thought of him even as someone to fill this bottom six role like you know it's
17:24a
17:24luxury if you have a player of that reputation playing on your third pair but if you could pull
17:32it off financially like I was willing to listen to it fitting him in to say Owen Powerspot in the
17:38lineup is just a little it's a lot riskier to me um there's not a guy at his at this
17:45stage of his
17:45career that is capable of moving around the ice the way those top four guys do so what has Falk
17:52been in
17:52his career a point producer a power play guy um really a dependable very good all-around defenseman
18:00I just think you would lose a lot in how you're attacking teams without a power in that spot and
18:08someone like Falk instead so if power had to be involved I might get to well then I need to
18:16find
18:18Falk here or let me see if I can re-engage with Toronto about Oliver Ekman Larson if I if
18:25I ever
18:25have engaged in the first place um because again in a in a short-term playoff run type situation
18:33maybe you get away with that but you'd be really messing with
18:40the dynamite that the Sabres have been able to deploy like there's been a lot of talk today
18:45Elliott Friedman had a turn Jeff Merrick was on our morning show saying you know you don't want to
18:51you don't want to do too much to the the forward group here because it's it's working right it's
18:58been so good like don't you don't want to mess with it um and certainly adding Robert Thomas is
19:05messing with it in a severe way that's probably your number one center if you're bumping Tage Thompson
19:10out to the wing I think you're putting Robert Thomas on his line and you're you're that you're going
19:17that's it and Norris is your number two and if something happens to Norris then I've got Thompson
19:22I can slot him back into the middle and move Thomas down and I keep going right and while that
19:30does
19:31mess with what you've had going up top it leaves the top four defensemen alone and that to me
19:39any point being made about not messing with the chemistry of this team
19:42if you want to make it about those four dudes I'm right there with you yeah I I think that
19:49could be something that could really mess this whole thing up even if you you pull in Robert Thomas
19:56but you give up power or Byram to do it I I think that that would be very risky um
20:07because I I've said
20:09it for weeks here this team's superpower is those top four d watch how they play watch watch how they
20:16watch how they cycle they're not alone in this a lot of teams have transitioned to cycling in the
20:22offensive zone up high above the circles between the circles and the blue line is where a lot of the
20:28sabers and a lot of other teams are doing this cycling the get it down low and work it down
20:33low
20:33and low to high has it still has its place but the sabers effectively cycle up top and the main
20:43reason they are so dangerous and good at it is because of the four defensemen they have they're
20:49interchangeable basically with any of your forwards so that you you start cycling up high and Darlene
20:58having the puck on his stick is the same as Thompson having the puck on his stick you know I
21:01know the
21:02skill sets are different right Darlene's not as apt or power is not as apt to take someone off the
21:08dribble so to speak the way Thompson will but that high cycle those four d are what make that go
21:15and
21:17taking any one of them out of there I think would be but I'd have a very tough time as
21:22much as I like
21:23this Thomas idea so again most of the reporting does not indicate like the rumors that that's the
21:31situation but if it were I'm uh I'd have I'd have a hard time saying I love this um because
21:41I just
21:41don't want to mess with those
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