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00:00I know, I think, our last conversation was a week ago, Wednesday, when all the cleanout was finished and the
00:07coach and GM held their respective press conferences.
00:10Let's lay it out here on Tuck.
00:12Let's start with what may have happened already.
00:15So there was a report that maybe it has, I mean, we think they've had conversations, right, going back before
00:23the season, maybe during the season.
00:25I should just let you take it.
00:26Where does it stand here going into the offseason with him?
00:30Yeah, both Tuck and, well, Kevin Adams before he left and Jarmo Kekalainen have all said that, yes, there were
00:39discussions and they didn't seem to go well.
00:44So then Tuck said that he decided, all right, it was to the point of the season, we need to
00:52concentrate on hockey here.
00:54You know, it's getting down to it.
00:56We're trying to, you know, make the playoffs.
00:58We're trying to win the division.
01:00Then we're in the playoffs and we're trying to, you know, advance in the playoffs and everything.
01:05And now's not the time.
01:07Let's put this on the back burner until we basically get done with the season.
01:11There'll be, there's still time after that.
01:12Even if you're in the Stanley Cup finals, you still have a couple of weeks, you know, to get it
01:18done if you so desire.
01:20And so that's, you know, where they left it.
01:25But it, you know, just looking at the reporting, it doesn't seem like they've gotten together or we're really planning
01:32on getting together quite yet.
01:34Like they were going to let go for another couple of weeks and then kick at it again.
01:39And I think, you know, Tuck said, he goes, I've got some decisions to make in the next month.
01:43You know, he said, I have some thinking to do, which will include, you know, sitting and thinking with his
01:48wife and trying to figure out what they feel is best for the family.
01:53His wife is from the Vancouver area, which is an area they spend quite a bit of time in the
01:58summer when they're, they basically sounds like they spend most of the hockey season or the hockey season here and
02:05most of the summer there.
02:06So, you know, whether they would like to be full-timed out West, I don't know.
02:14I, you know, we're not privy, nor should we be of their private conversations.
02:18And, you know, how much does that play into it, if any?
02:24Or is it a money decision or is it a year's decision?
02:30It's like, well, maybe is it the Sabres are willing to pay whatever it might be, but they are only
02:36willing to pay for three or four years, not the full ride, you know, seven or eight years, you know,
02:43because of age 30.
02:45So, you know, what is the hang-up?
02:46Is it, is it years?
02:48Is it money?
02:49Is it, where do you want to be?
02:51You know, what, what, what, what is the hang-up?
02:54That's what we don't know.
02:55Right.
02:55You know, it's right to point out that we don't know what, what everybody in the scenario wants.
03:00I mean, someone from here could be dying to go live in a different part of the world.
03:05Someone from a different part of the world could have been here for many years, like Tuck and his family
03:10had been and fallen in love with the area.
03:12We don't know, but I would tell you, like, learning that his wife is from that part of the country,
03:18like, it just, it changes it.
03:21It's less, to me, a certainty, like, if he'd married someone from Syracuse than, you know, because, like, he's been
03:28in Vegas, and I don't know when they got married, but here, obviously, recently, they've got a child, at least
03:33one, I think, right?
03:35So, there's a family, two, okay, thank you.
03:39So, you know, that could be a certain kind of, when he says, I've got decisions to make, like, we
03:45all do, the family, you know, it could be, he could feel compelled to just go be near her family
03:51if they're still.
03:52You never know.
03:53You never know.
03:53You don't know if Seattle is interested.
03:55You don't know if Vancouver is interested.
03:58You don't know, you know, you know, what, Vancouver right now, is that really a team you want to go
04:06to at age 30?
04:07Right.
04:08You know, they're not real close, you know, to being a championship team.
04:14Seattle would be closer than Vancouver is, in my opinion.
04:18So, you know, is the decision solely on money, where you don't care where you go, you want to go
04:26where the most money is?
04:27Is it a decision on where can I win?
04:31Is it better to stay here in Buffalo, although Buffalo's not going to give us the kind of money that
04:36maybe we could get if we were out on the free agent market?
04:42Would they look at it and say, okay, we're going to go out on the market, the Sabres will go
04:48to this amount, and we can always circle back.
04:52Yeah.
04:53If we go to free agency, and we can't get what we're looking for in free agency, we can always
05:00circle back to the Sabres.
05:02But then, do the Sabres already, have they already spent their money?
05:06Have they gone somewhere else?
05:07Have they gone somewhere else?
05:08Wilson, Benson now has a long-term deal, and Byram now has a long-term deal, and, you know, that
05:14type of a situation.
05:18Because, of course, you know, Kekel-Linan said he would like to get both of them.
05:21Now, Byram's deal would not be in next year's cap.
05:24Right.
05:24Benson's will.
05:25Benson's would.
05:26Byram's would not.
05:28You've got Malenstein.
05:29Now, that's not a huge amount, you know, but you would like to keep him.
05:33I think he's a very key part of their team.
05:35Um, Kesselring, it wouldn't shock me.
05:41And Yarmo did not answer my question when I asked him if Kesselring still wants to be part of this.
05:48He talked about Kesselring, how they had, you know, he said he had sat with him maybe two or three
05:53times and talked to him at length about how he understands that when the trade was made, it was made
06:00with him being a top four defenseman in mind.
06:02But now that's changed because Kekel-Linan feels, and I don't think he's wrong, but the Sabres in the top
06:08four might be one of the best teams in the league with their top four guys.
06:13And there really isn't room for Kesselring there.
06:15So Kesselring has to change his thinking.
06:18It's all right.
06:19If I'm going to be with the Buffalo Sabres, it's going to be it's a 5'6 guy.
06:22Is that good enough?
06:25And so he said, he goes, and I want guys to want more, but he says you have to take
06:31the role that you're going to be given, excel at that before you're going to get more.
06:37And my and so he never answered the question of does Kesselring still want to be a part of this?
06:43And Kesselring was never brought out to talk, and most of the players were.
06:51Not everybody, but most of them were, and I don't know if that was on purpose or not.
06:56I didn't ask, but Kesselring was not.
07:00And other guys who had been injured or whatever did talk, but he did not come out and talk at
07:08the end of the year.
07:09Paul, back to Tuck, we were talking a little earlier here amongst ourselves about the, and I made the observation
07:18about the eighth year being maybe a big deal.
07:21Like if it gets to July 1, everything you just said about testing the market, circling back and all that,
07:26something you no longer have at your disposal once July 1 comes and goes is that eighth year, which no
07:32other team in the league has that advantage.
07:34He's yours until July 1, and you can do that eighth year.
07:37And I feel like with them not being able to get all the way there on an AAV, maybe the
07:43eighth year is a huge deal.
07:45And, you know, if Tuck is hung up on a certain number that's the AAV, and, you know, then maybe
07:51this doesn't matter.
07:52But a way to bridge the gap there is in total dollars, adding that eighth year on, like you can,
07:58you know, cut a million or so off the top, and if you've got the eighth year, you replace $8
08:03million or whatever it is.
08:07And I just, I wonder if you think that that is a focal point here, or do you think the
08:13Sabres are reluctant to go to eight almost no matter what?
08:16I think it's possible.
08:18And, yeah, I mean, unless it's, very few guys at 38 are up to that kind of a contract.
08:26I mean, yeah, Sidney Crosby would be, I mean, at age 38.
08:31Ovechkin at age 38, still top of their games, where they would be living up to their contract.
08:37In fact, it's possible Tuck could be.
08:40We don't know what he's going to be like at age 38.
08:45But I think the odds say he's not going to be at age 38, what he is now, or even
08:51close to it.
08:52It takes a very special player, I think, at age 38 to be, you know, a Yager or a Crosby
09:00or Ovechkin.
09:01You know, guys that have done it at that age, and there aren't too many that have, that can take
09:07it all the way to age 38.
09:09So, you probably are to keep a guy who is a big part of your team, a huge part of
09:16your team, for the short term.
09:21You probably are putting yourself into a bit of a bind at the end of that contract because of it.
09:27I can't say for sure none of us know.
09:29Alex Tuck doesn't know.
09:30None of us know what he's going to be like at age 38.
09:34But I think the odds are better you're putting yourself in a bind than you're not.
09:39With Paul Hamilton, well, we've covered quite a few things that we don't know about the negotiations here.
09:45If this hasn't been said in this conversation, talking to you before the season or even into the season about
09:52him, Tuck, and this contract situation,
09:55you were defiant in how the Sabres cannot afford to lose him.
09:59This is before they got good.
10:00They could not afford to lose him.
10:02How differently do you feel now?
10:04Much differently?
10:05All the way differently?
10:06I mean, at least the blow will have been softened by other players who stepped up even through the playoffs.
10:14No, not really.
10:16I really think, you know, he is a huge part of their team.
10:20And I think even what he does is different than what Kulik does or different than Helenus does or different
10:27what Auslin does.
10:29They bring different things to the table.
10:32You can also replace Tuck with maybe a player who doesn't make as much money, player X, who you might
10:39trade for, you know, that we don't know about yet.
10:43But, so, I still, the penalty killing, and not only the penalty killing, but turning defense into offense on the
10:51penalty kill for two straight years.
10:53A guy who has scored 36 goals twice and 33 goals in three of the last four years has really
11:03been a consistent goal scorer for them.
11:05I understand for the first five games of the Montreal series it did not go well, and nobody feels worse
11:12about that than him.
11:14He felt now it was even a learning process for him at age 30 that he learned something from that.
11:21And the last two games he was Alex Tuck again.
11:24He played well.
11:25He just couldn't beat the goaltender.
11:27But he played very well in the last two games of the series.
11:31But the first five, he struggled.
11:33But he was great in the Boston series and was their leading scorer in the Boston series and scored some
11:40big goals and did what Alex Tuck you would expect him to be able to do.
11:45So, I feel he is a big part of their team.
11:49All those negatives I was talking about with an eight-year contract and the age and everything else, if I'm
11:56going to do that, if I'm going to be dumb on July 1st, he's probably the one I'm going to
12:02be doing it with.
12:04Not probably.
12:04He is the one I'm going to be doing it with.
12:06Right.
12:06Because you know, for years I've talked about how it's stupid time in the NHL once July 1st rolls around.
12:14But a lot of, you know, the free agency isn't what it used to be because a lot of teams
12:18are locking up their guys early.
12:21You know, Thompson, the contract he signed, Samuelson, the contract he signed, we can go right down the line.
12:27All over the league.
12:28Right.
12:28All over the league.
12:29So, free agency isn't what it used to be.
12:32Right.
12:33That's true.
12:34But, yes, I still feel he is such a big part of this team that he's the guy that I
12:41would do it with.
12:42And, yeah, you're right.
12:45Six, seven, eight years in the contract, you'd be saying, well, Paul, now look.
12:49Yeah.
12:49Yeah.
12:50Yeah.
12:50Yeah.
12:50I think you've got to go in with your eyes open, even as the team negotiating that deal, that your
12:54expectation is that that is exactly what's going to happen.
12:57I don't think you'd be in denial to think otherwise.
13:00We'd all take it if it went five years well.
13:03Well, for five years.
13:03I would sign in blood for five.
13:05I would sign it hoping for four and then be prepared to be like, oh, no, it happened after two.
13:11Oh, but if for next year, and I'm not predicting this, but if he signs and he is a huge
13:20part of them winning the Stanley Cup next year, I don't think fans would care if he bottomed out the
13:27next year.
13:27No, I know.
13:28Right.
13:29In the second year of the contract, because he was a big part of the first year and they won
13:35the Stanley Cup.
13:36So, in that case, I don't want to speak for other people, but I would think the fans would think
13:42it was worth it.
13:43Paul, one more aspect of this we've talked about is the matter of the Sabres and their history and top
13:50players getting away.
13:52I have no idea whether that factor would matter to Kekalainen or anybody involved over there anymore.
14:01Like, is that all ancient history to the Sabres?
14:03Is it important that the Sabres, for optics' sake, sign Tuck just so they, you know, in this occasion, in
14:11this example, are not a team that, you know, quote, refused to pay?
14:14Is that something that should matter?
14:16I don't think it matters to Kekalainen.
14:18I think what matters to him is what is best for the Buffalo Sabres.
14:22Like, you know, all right, well, Breer and Drury got away, so you have to match Vanek's offer.
14:30You have no choice.
14:31You absolutely have to match that offer, whether you want to or not, because the fans are already very upset
14:39with you because your top two guys have left.
14:42And now if you lose Vanek, no matter how many draft picks you get in return, so they, Edmonton knew
14:50they had the Sabres over a barrel there.
14:51That, you know, they basically, you know, have to overpay and match that offer.
15:00So, no, I don't think they're in that situation at all where the Vanek signing was done for the fans
15:06because the organization just couldn't lose a third guy.
15:10So that, for you, would probably be irrelevant to this?
15:14I think so.
15:15The little bit I know of Kekalainen, you know, or gotten to know him a little bit, but not, I
15:20can't tell you, I know him great.
15:23I don't think he's paying attention to that.
15:25He's paying absolute attention to what he feels is the, what can the Buffalo Sabres do?
15:31And he was careful to word it this way, and I talked about it that day, that, you know, it
15:37has to be a contract that allows the Sabres to get better.
15:41Right.
15:42What I take from that is it has to be a contract where they can sign some other guys.
15:48It can't be a contract where, well, we now have to trade somebody to sign Benson or sign other guys.
15:59That doesn't sound like it's acceptable.
16:02I agree.
16:02There is a guy, they do want to trade it as money on it, but I don't know if there's,
16:08like, let's, I don't, I haven't heard they want to trade Norris or anything.
16:12That would open up money.
16:13I mean, if you traded Norris.
16:15Yeah.
16:16But I have not heard that whatsoever.
16:19That's, that's what, you know, but that's the kind of thing you're talking about.
16:23If you want to sign Benson long-term and Tuck long-term, and then you got to, you got to
16:28move somebody out of here.
16:29I agree with that read on Kekaline, and we said that last week when talking about it.
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