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00:00D-Dominicis with us, Expected Buffalo.
00:02Chad, did I see today from your site that now is a good time to subscribe?
00:07It is. I mean, it's always a good time to subscribe.
00:09But yes, right now we have a Memorial Day, you know, deal going
00:14because, like, everybody does that this time of the year.
00:16So that's the business thing to do.
00:19And as thrilling as the playoffs were around here,
00:23I know you would say the same.
00:25The offseason is interesting in itself.
00:28Right now we're into conversations about Alex Tuck and Josh Norris
00:32and other possible roster moves that I'm sure we'll get to here.
00:35First, though, how do you sum this all up, Chad,
00:39from the unexpected nature of the surge this year to the heartbreak in Game 7?
00:47Yeah, and the best way I put it in the article I wrote earlier this week is
00:51it was a season that awoke a fan base.
00:55I think people were always there.
00:57And that was kind of always my thought, is once they got better,
00:59people would come back.
01:01And that's certainly, you know, what happened,
01:03maybe even more than I expected when it got into the playoffs.
01:07So, yeah, I think they've built that credibility back in.
01:11I think it changes the viewpoints of them, not only in the city,
01:15but I think around the league too,
01:16which is a good thing going into this summer that you now, you know,
01:20you see players and agents and whatever other teams see what kind of
01:25performance they put up in the playoffs.
01:27You know, a team that was one shot away from going to the conference finals.
01:32You know, that's good.
01:34It's going to make this conversation this summer, I think, different,
01:37where we're not going to go to the list and go,
01:38what about this guy and someone says, oh, he has a no-trade clause to go.
01:42Never mind.
01:42Forget about that.
01:43I think now you can play in that realm, not only because you're winning,
01:48but I think because, you know, other agents and other players see your core
01:53is there.
01:54Darlene is a Norris finalist.
01:55Chase did what he did, not only for the team, but in the Olympics.
01:58And you had Benson do what he did.
02:00And you, Oslin and Hellenius had their come-up throughout and all in Doan,
02:05and you can go on and on and on of the depth on this roster and just,
02:10you know, well, you know, if I, you know, a good player, if I go there,
02:13then I can get them over the hump.
02:14I can be that guy.
02:16So, yeah, it's a different view.
02:19The offseason is always exciting and fun to kick ideas around,
02:22but this year I think is a little bit different because you go from,
02:25let's break the playoff draw, now that monkey's off your back,
02:28to, well, I can go be a contender now in this conference.
02:31And then, you know, that's going to be a different dynamic,
02:34maybe a little bit more fighting over different things, of course,
02:37but still good and exciting for sure.
02:40Chad, with everything you've just said about their standing in the league,
02:44we assume being improved because of what they did over the course of the last
02:50five months or so, how careful, this is a conversation we just sort of
02:54stumbled into, at least my end of it, already today on our show,
02:58with Tuck going forward because, on one hand, I know, you know,
03:05you want to do everything pragmatically and hockey reasons and whatever,
03:08you don't want to overpay, but the last time the Sabres were really any kind
03:12of contender, the co-captains both left in one summer.
03:16And, I mean, their weather vane has sort of been twisting in the wind
03:20mostly ever since.
03:21I mean, 10 and 11 were sort of one-offs and okay,
03:24but as far as a contender goes, they've never been back until now,
03:28really, I would say.
03:29And I wonder how not meeting Tuck's price would be viewed by the hockey world
03:35and if that matters at all in the equation, in your opinion.
03:40It matters, right?
03:42I don't even think so much the hockey world because I think the hockey world can
03:45see your cap situation and understand it.
03:47Yeah.
03:48You know, it's not like you're sitting there with $40 million in cap rates.
03:51You know, like, forget it.
03:52They're at, like, 12 or 13 right now.
03:56I think it more impacts the room, for sure.
04:00But also, I think you have to understand the business part of it.
04:03And I've honestly, I've heard that argument before.
04:05Like, well, you know, we saw Drew and Breer leave and they crumbled.
04:08And I get it, but also, you know, you're going to have Darlene and Tage
04:15and Samuelson and Doan coming up.
04:17And, you know, you have your guys, your main guys still.
04:19You're not losing them.
04:21But it's part of the conversation.
04:23But it has to, you know, I think Guillermo's in a good spot on it.
04:26It has to make sense to make your team better.
04:29You can keep him at 30 years old when, to be honest,
04:34that Montreal season there were a handful of red flags for me.
04:39And lose somebody else that could be impactful to making your team win
04:43going forward.
04:44When you're a contender, sometimes you've got to make these tough decisions.
04:47And you leave it to your management staff and, you know,
04:50your hockey operations department to fill that void if you are going to lose
04:54a player like this and, you know, hope that you can just keep going
04:57in the right direction.
04:58Do you want to weigh in with an opinion on how you think that's going to go?
05:02Like, do you think he's gonzo or is it still too early to tell?
05:07Uh, from the way that I think conversations went or comments from Guillermo
05:14and from Tuck and from what I know of them, not at any point besides maybe last
05:20summer being close or anything.
05:23I find it hard to believe here in the next month, what's going to close that gap.
05:28It's not going to be the Sabres.
05:29Uh, he, especially the way that last series went.
05:34Um, so I think it would have to be Tuck coming down and I get it.
05:39You know, he's got to think about him from his perspective.
05:41He's been an underpaid player for a long time in this league.
05:45So I have no issue for him going to chase the money and get what he thinks he
05:48deserves and maybe what he's been owed over the last few years.
05:52And if that's going somewhere else, if Seattle wants to pay you 12 or 13 or somebody
05:56else, then so be it.
05:58No hard feelings.
05:59Um, I go back and forth and I'm really at a true 50, 50 standpoint.
06:04I could see it going either way.
06:05And that's kind of a cop-out answer.
06:07Uh, but that's honestly where, where I sit right now.
06:10I would not in terms of making a prediction about it, but just my feeling about it is
06:15I would, I mean, I'm sort of rooting for them to pass on him, nothing against him, but
06:22Chad, I want to see what other ideas might be available or one anyway, the one we would
06:28get, right.
06:29We're not going to do all the, I'm not going to be in the meetings, but I mean, I feel
06:33like the, the top job a GM can do is not to just sign the guy at a contract rate
06:39that
06:39you know, will be costly, you know, maybe not even that far down the road.
06:44Instead, it's coming up with a player that you see value in that the other team that
06:50he's on currently doesn't.
06:52And you're right.
06:53And you put him with a different, you know, on a different line, a different group and get
06:58paid off.
06:58Maybe this is don't a little bit.
07:00I mean, there are lots of examples, so I'd like, I'd like to see what Kekaline and if,
07:04if there were no chance of Tuck, I wonder what, you know, he would come up with.
07:09They would have to be something other than just keeping your good young core of forwards
07:15and extending them.
07:18Yeah.
07:18I mean, look, what I go back to is the trade deadline.
07:20The way I always put it to people when I talk about it is they spent days of that deadline
07:27trying to replace Alex Tuck's money.
07:30They tried to get Rob Thomas, which if you get Rob Thomas, you can't resign Tuck.
07:33It's just the money doesn't work.
07:35If you get Matthew Nye's that they were reportedly in on, again, that replaces the money.
07:41You can't do both.
07:42Even Pareko.
07:42Like, if you're going to give him that money for a five, $6 million defenseman, again,
07:48that replaces Tuck's money.
07:50So I had in the back of my mind is they spent an entire deadline essentially trying to replace
07:56his spot.
07:58So again, I come back to, well, in the next month, what's going to change from that?
08:04It's not like he went and blew your doors off in the playoffs.
08:05He had a good first round.
08:06But, you know, I keep getting back to what's going to change and it's not going to be the
08:11saver side.
08:12I'll have to be Tuck and from how he talks, I don't see that either.
08:15And Tuck, you wouldn't expect to change until after July 1st, at least.
08:20If there's going to be any movement in this, it would be from the player before, you know,
08:24sort of giving up on the idea of going to market.
08:27But I guess it's always possible he gets out there and it's just not what they thought
08:31it was going to be.
08:31And he comes back here and sort of, you know, takes a lower, more palatable number to the
08:36Sabres anyway.
08:37But if he does get to July 1st, thinking that like there would be Intel, like, right?
08:43I mean, of course, he could be somebody that signs at 1201.
08:46Yeah.
08:47Once that starts, you know, for the top money on the market.
08:51Chad Diedemannis is from Expected Buffalo on the Western Hotline with us sort of pouring
08:54over the end of the Sabres season.
08:59In-house, if they cannot keep Tuck for whatever reason, they're just priced out mainly, is
09:06there a ready-made penalty kill replacement that you see?
09:13Like, Lindy mentioned Doan, some fans have mentioned Doan.
09:16Because a part of Tuck's value, I mean, of course, the points and the top line and all
09:22of it, but all around, like just defending all around the ice, the penalty kill is a part
09:26of that, of course, too.
09:27Just his defensive ability.
09:30I'm not sure if there's a plug-and-play replacement, but you tell me if you think maybe Doan is
09:34an
09:34easy answer to that.
09:37He can be.
09:38I mean, it's tough for me, because I don't want to sit here and tell you that Tuck is
09:42not a good defensive player, because that's not true.
09:43He is.
09:45I think he's fine.
09:46He could even say a little bit above average, sure.
09:49Maybe not so much this year, which is, again, a different conversation.
09:52Even his penalty killing, like, I don't think he's a great penalty killer.
09:55I think he gets four-handed goals, and that's not nothing.
09:58But you also have the leader in four-handed goals on your team still in the cloud next
10:02season, most likely.
10:04So, yeah, it can be Doan.
10:05If you can replace offense, or at five-on-five, it could be Benson, who kills more penalties.
10:12You're going to have Sam Carrick on your team next year.
10:14He's going to probably be a penalty killing forward.
10:17You can go get somebody who can do that.
10:20So, you know, I don't think any of that is detrimental from a defensive aspect.
10:26What my focus is, is there an offensive replacement for the 33 goals of 66 points?
10:32There can be, but Benson would have to step up.
10:35Helen Ush would have to step up.
10:37Osborne would have to step up.
10:38And that's kind of where my, going into this offseason, you saw how Osborne and, you know,
10:43Helen Ush and some of those young guys really stepped up in the playoffs.
10:47Thinking about being a contending team, while you want to count on those guys, those can't
10:52be your main replacement to be a better team.
10:56Relying on a 20-year-old, relying on a 22-year-old, relying on a 23-year-old Yuri Kulikamira
11:01from
11:01Bloodcloth.
11:02Like, I think I'm back in the Kevin Adams era if I'm doing that again.
11:05While those players should be important and you should consider them in your lineup, if
11:10Tuck is gone, there has to be some sort of bigger forward addition.
11:15I don't think it needs to be like a $9, $10 million player, but it has to be decent.
11:20And I just don't think you can really just go with what you have in-house to replace that
11:2433 goal of 66 points that you're going to lose who played top six minutes for you.
11:29That is where my concern is.
11:30With Chad DiDomenicis here on WGR, we've all spoken together about Bowen Byram in the
11:37past, and not all of it was, not was it all the time that flattering.
11:41But, I mean, great season, great first round.
11:45A player that Chad Jarmo Kekulainen was really talking up after the season at that press conference,
11:51you know, getting him signed to a big deal.
11:53Is that a good idea for you?
11:55I mean, he's obviously young and had a big part in the Sabres' success this year.
12:00And by the way, how did he do it?
12:07Stop turning the puck over, I guess is basically the answer.
12:10I don't, yeah.
12:11It's hard.
12:13Playing better defensively, I guess, falls into that.
12:17Yeah.
12:18I never thought the offense was a problem.
12:20It was more the defensive decisions.
12:21And I think that improved, if not significantly, this season.
12:24And, you know, some of that creeps back up in the playoffs, which is maybe a little bit alarming.
12:29But, you know, in that, I kind of, especially those top four guys, like I'm like, I mean,
12:32they had to be like at the end of the rope for how much they played and they were leaned
12:35on.
12:36I get it.
12:37Understandable.
12:40Now, it's a different spot than it was probably last summer.
12:43And I know we talked about this a couple of times, Mike.
12:47My thing, and I like the way Chris puts it, is the defense being a top four being a superpower.
12:52That's kind of where I'm at, too.
12:53I think the top four of this team drives them significantly.
12:58When their top four does not play well, they do not win games.
13:02And that is really not even debatable.
13:05That defense is so important.
13:06So, the way that I see it, I want to do everything I can to keep that top four together.
13:11Now, is there a limit?
13:12Of course, there is.
13:13If I can get him on a, you know, it's probably going to be in the nines for a contract
13:18for him with the cap going up and maybe even high nines.
13:22But if I can get that on what?
13:23Can I get that four or five years and then try to sell him, you know, take this now and
13:27then you can cash in again in four to five years with the cap, you know, going up even more.
13:32That's what I would strive to.
13:33I would try to avoid being tied to a seven- or eight-year deal because then down the road
13:37as I go, maybe I can then, you know, flip him if it's not anything, some sort of crazy contract.
13:43That's the way I put it.
13:44But, yeah, I mean, it's a different conversation where last year I was adamant that he should be moved.
13:48Where this year I'm more, you know, I'm not against it if the right deal is there.
13:52But I'd really like to keep that top four together the best that I can.
13:55And even if that's going to cost me how it's tough to do so, then, okay, I think I can
13:59survive it because I don't have a top four backup option behind me.
14:04For a tough spot, I have options.
14:07And I can go – it's easier to find a forward probably than finding another top four defenseman that can
14:11play as well as those four did this season.
14:13How eager are you to see them find a way to replace Josh Norris, Chad?
14:18I know you wrote about Nico Heischer today.
14:21I don't know if Norris is involved in that.
14:25Any Robert Thomas idea that I have, I don't know that the Blues take Norris in the trade, but it
14:30involves offloading Josh Norris and replacing him with Robert Thomas,
14:35which to me would be optimal if you could find a way to make that happen.
14:39Because I'm just not sure I'm ready to trust him.
14:42When he's fully formed, it's a player I really like a lot.
14:44But I just feel like even in these playoffs, he had some moments, but it's still – like I don't
14:50trust that he's ever really going to be physically able to play like a 22-minute-a-night $9 million
14:56player or $8.5 million or whatever he is.
15:00Yeah, no, I agree.
15:01For me, it's from when they got him to still – it's the injury.
15:05He played 44 games this season.
15:07I mean, I can't pay a guy $7.95 million, I think it is, to give me half a season.
15:15I can't do it.
15:17So, now, what that means is it's probably going to be hard to offload him because of that fact, and
15:23teams are aware of it.
15:26But, yeah, I mean, it's hard because, you know, North, even in the playoffs, the production wasn't there.
15:30But I thought when he played, defensively, he was fine.
15:33He started to win some faceoffs at the end.
15:35He made some playmaking plays.
15:38But the goals were never there.
15:39Even when he played, look at his numbers.
15:41Like, the scoring wasn't great.
15:43I think his pace was like 25 or 26 or, you know.
15:47Yep.
15:47It wasn't bad, but it's not, you know, a 30-plus that you thought you were getting.
15:51It's the opposite.
15:52He said, we've got more playmaking than scoring, which was not his game in Ottawa, but turned out to be
15:56here.
15:58Like, you know, I could probably live with all of that if the injury factor wasn't there.
16:03I can't trust him to even give me 70% of a season, which I think would be a win.
16:08So, yeah, in that instance where I need to find money, I'm seeing what I can do to offload that.
16:14I mean, they're not going to eat any of it.
16:16You really can't do that.
16:18So, we're going to have to try to find somebody.
16:19And I don't know, maybe someone will take him as a throw-in and believe that maybe a team that's
16:24up and coming will take that on.
16:27You know, I kind of, I don't even know.
16:29I can't really think about a team.
16:30I was going to say San Jose, but they have a bajillion centers, and they have, like, the second overall
16:34pick anyways.
16:35So, I don't know.
16:36It's tough to say right now, but I'm sure you could find somebody, but it might be a little bit
16:40more difficult.
16:42How about goaltending, Chad?
16:44Should they, would you expect them to think, should you expect them to think that they're all set?
16:49Was this year, like, a big win on any debate about rotating goalies, or does the end of the playoffs
16:56change that?
16:59My thing on goaltending is always going to be, and it is for a lot of conferences, but this year,
17:03especially when you look at the free agent market,
17:05and the guys you could trade for is, show me the better option, the realistic better option.
17:10Who is it?
17:12Gustafson from Minnesota?
17:13That's a more expensive Lucan for $7 million almost for four more years.
17:16Why would I do that?
17:18You want to go get Elvis Merzlikens from the Blue Jackets?
17:21Like, no, probably not.
17:23And then what?
17:24Am I going to trade for Patrick Demko, who is Josh Norris' goaltender, who's always heard?
17:29You know, like, there's just, there's not better options out there, really.
17:33And I don't want to invest a lot in goaltending.
17:35I think 4.75 for Lucanen is just fine.
17:40Those two combined, Lucanen and Lyon, you know, they were top 10 combined in goals that are above expected this
17:46season.
17:46And I don't know, can goalies repeat that, or can they go backwards?
17:50Of course, but that's any goaltender in this league.
17:52So I don't know where there's a better option.
17:56You want to sign Bobrovsky for a year at $3 million and take that for a run?
18:00Okay, fine, sure, but he's 37 years old, and he didn't really do that good in Florida.
18:06Tarasoff was playing more for them at points at the end of the season.
18:08So it comes back to me there's not really a better option.
18:12I think Lucanen is an average goaltender, and don't get me wrong, he frustrates me a lot, too.
18:18So I get it with the timing of some of the bad goals he left in.
18:22But if you watch other teams around the league, that's consistent.
18:25I mean, look at the top four goaltenders right now playing.
18:28It's Wedgwood, it's Carter Hart, it's Dobish, and I don't remember who I'm talking about.
18:33Anderson.
18:33Oh, Anderson.
18:34Like, I mean, in the beginning of the season, I would have said those are your four finalists.
18:37Like, I'm coming, you know, that's crazy.
18:39And those big guys seem to never really get there, which doesn't mean you shouldn't go chase one.
18:45But, yeah, I'm not eager to do that.
18:49If there's a better option that comes available, fine, I'll listen to it.
18:51But I just don't think it's there.
18:53I think you're going to end up by accident making yourself worse, and you'll have a major problem there.
18:57It's interesting to hear you put it that way because, I mean, I get the point you're making about the
19:01final four goalies.
19:03But at the same time, I would say, on balance, what's not surprising is the final four teams.
19:10I mean, Montreal would be the most surprising of the four teams, but there was a lot to like there.
19:14And who knew if Tampa or Florida were going to live forever, or even, you know, Toronto, Boston, et cetera.
19:21So, the other three teams in the conference finals are not surprises.
19:25I mean, Vegas wasn't good, but they might have been the preseason favorite with Edmonton out there.
19:29Avs had to be. Hurricanes had to be.
19:31So, I guess that's to the point, isn't it?
19:34That they're not underdogs, these teams, despite not having the blue-chip goalies.
19:40Right.
19:41I mean, honestly, I get it.
19:42There were some bad games in the playoffs from the goaltenders, but for the most part, they also weren't terrible.
19:48Like, Lyon was fine in the first round, too good.
19:51Lukan had a couple games in the second round, and like a lot of those early Montreal games,
19:56I'm not going to blame Lyon when they're giving up like four expected goals against a game.
20:00I mean, that's just bad defense for parts of it.
20:02So, I think the way it ended those last two games with Lyon getting pulled and then Lukan letting in
20:08the weak goal, that's in everyone's mind.
20:11But, I mean, I don't think I'm going to sit here and tell you that they lost to Montreal because
20:15they're goaltenders.
20:16You know, Dobish even got a hook in one of the games.
20:18I mean, there was times they had him on the ropes and they just didn't finish him off.
20:23So, that's kind of where I'm a leader for goaltenders.
20:26Game five for sure.
20:28Game seven even could have been.
20:29I mean, Lukan didn't make some great saves in seven.
20:31I thought Dobish was all over the road in game seven begging to get beat, and they just couldn't, I
20:37don't know, a half a dozen times.
20:39It's like, how did that not go in?
20:42He never knows where the puck is, but it always hits him.
20:44Yeah.
20:45That's how I put it.
20:46It was pretty crazy.
20:47Better than the other way around, I guess.
20:48Yeah, for sure.
20:49Yeah, exactly.
20:50He still gets the job done.
20:52I know where the puck is.
20:53Wait.
20:53Now it's behind me.
20:55How did that happen?
20:56Tough one.
20:57All right, Chad.
20:58We've asked you about expected Buffalo already.
21:01Just feel free one more time to talk up what's doing there.
21:06Yeah, so we're part of our off-season content today.
21:10That'll continue through the rest of the summer here.
21:14Draft stuff, free agent, trade.
21:17So, yeah.
21:18Like I said, we have a deal going out right now on the site.
21:21So, check that out.
21:22This should be a lot of fun and a lot of talking about ideas.
21:26We love the off-season.
21:27Never stop keeping Sneaky Joe honest, either, by the way.
21:32We need you for that.
21:33I will about his goalie take.
21:34Yeah, I got to keep him in touch.
21:36I love Joe.
21:37He sent me a trivia question this morning.
21:39And it was like four, one of these where there's four right answers.
21:43And I gave him one.
21:44He's like, no, that's wrong.
21:45Wait.
21:46No, it's right.
21:47No, wait.
21:48No, it's wrong.
21:49Wait.
21:49It's right.
21:50No, wait.
21:50I said, it was four coaches that are in the Hall of Fame but did not win a Stanley Cup.
21:55I'm like, all right.
21:56Does it matter if they played?
21:58He's like, no.
21:59Wait.
22:00Yes.
22:01Wait.
22:03They went in as builders.
22:04Pat Quinn is one of the answers.
22:06I love Joe.
22:07Oh, wow.
22:07Okay.
22:08There you go.
22:08I love his mind and these questions.
22:10Keep me feeling young.
22:13All right.
22:13Thanks for your time, Chad.
22:14Enjoy the holiday weekend.
22:16All right.
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