- 23 hours ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00No.
00:00How could you ever have too much Josh Allen?
00:02Well, that's a good question.
00:04I think we all need as much Josh Allen as we can possibly.
00:07I guess there is a point where you would be full, I guess.
00:10But I'm not there.
00:13Do we have enough Bo Byram right now in our lives?
00:18What do you think?
00:19Is he going?
00:20How are you reading the tea leaves on this?
00:22Is he going?
00:23I think maybe he's going, but I'm gullible.
00:25I think it's very likely that they will move him.
00:33You know, it's funny.
00:35Not funny.
00:36It's maybe not being as thorough as I should be about this stuff.
00:43You hear Jarmo Kekalainen at the end of the year talk about how it really stood out,
00:50how cold he seemed about Tuck.
00:54You know, very calculated, you know, just measuring his words and, you know,
00:58sort of bracing us, I think, for, you know, it's going to be tough.
01:03Byram and Benson looked right away, extension, extension, extension.
01:07If they were to do that for Byram, like if they could get Byram to agree to some big extension,
01:14you know, somewhere between Darlene and Power.
01:16Name it.
01:17Is probably the sweet spot.
01:19Seven.
01:20Seven or eight.
01:21Yeah, right.
01:22Like somewhere in that range is where you would land.
01:27And as much as, I mean, I know a lot of people share this viewpoint.
01:35Like I started talking about those four dudes on the blue line are this team's superpower.
01:40Or Kekalainen talked like that too.
01:42Like it drives our team.
01:44That kind of talk, right?
01:46But if they sign another defenseman to that contract, even with the cup inflating like it's expected to
01:53over the next couple of years, you're talking about three guys being paid in like the top 25
02:01of defenseman salaries in the league on one team.
02:05And that does not exist.
02:07Like no team in the league has made that commitment to blue liners.
02:11Now you could say, well, maybe no team has this great a collection of guys,
02:15but it would be a lot of resources piled into one position.
02:21You know, the justification for it is what?
02:24Well, it drives our team.
02:25It's our superpower, like I've been saying.
02:27So we want to hang on to our fastball.
02:30But in a landscape where it seems more and more likely like they're trying to find a way
02:35to replace Alex Tuck, I don't know that you can really devote that much money to that position.
02:43Because Samuelson, Power, and Darlene would be, I think Power is right there on the line.
02:49I chose 25.
02:50That's where Power is in the rankings currently.
02:53Now that'll change.
02:54He's 25th in AAV?
02:57Annual average value.
02:5725th or 26th.
02:58He's right there.
03:00Darlene is like second or third.
03:02Okay.
03:04And so I think it was sort of there for us to dig in a little bit.
03:09Like is this a, how likely is it that they do this, right?
03:13It's like the Bengals signing two number one receivers kind of thing, right?
03:17Like is this the best way to allocate our resources?
03:21And so, you know, Byram I think would have a certain kind of value for teams that don't
03:29have even one guy that warrants being paid like that.
03:35So I'm open to it, especially if it's Toronto and especially if it's Matthew Nyes.
03:40And I think Matthew Nyes, I don't think I could build a better idea, age-wise, body type,
03:51contract, quality of player.
03:53I haven't looked to see what kind of penalty killer he is, but I could not think of a better
03:58guy.
03:58I might be guilty.
03:59I've been crushing on Nyes since he showed up in the league.
04:01So like, I'm kind of a fan boy of his, but I think that that, that is a trade that
04:07would
04:07get me to move Byram.
04:09I don't know that I would say the same about power and like, let's not even talk about
04:13Darlene and Samuelson.
04:14They're in a separate category.
04:16I think power should be, should be also in a separate category.
04:20Yes.
04:20Yeah.
04:20I don't think it's my team.
04:22Right.
04:22I don't think I would trade power for Nyes.
04:24If it's my team.
04:25But if it's Byram, I think I could get there because I think that, that would answer at
04:32a very, I think, reasonable salary for the immediate future.
04:36And even for a few years after, Nyes is signed for four or five more years.
04:41Very Sabres.
04:42Yeah.
04:43And I think now, you know, what you got to then tell me is how I'm replacing Bowen Byram
04:48on my team.
04:49Like what, where, where is that?
04:50You know, and that's what free agency in the trade market is for.
04:54But yes, it's, it, this is super interesting, this one, because really, and I don't know
05:01that I'm really qualified to answer these questions, but it is a, you know, take football.
05:10What are we, we, we, the bills have the league's leading rusher.
05:14Okay, great.
05:15How many wins is that?
05:18What if they had replacement level running back?
05:21Would they really be any worse?
05:23You know, maybe one win.
05:24I don't know the answer to that, but position, positional value varies.
05:31Obviously in hockey, it's narrower.
05:33It's only really it's center, but then it's forwards and then it's D and then it's goalie.
05:38Like you have to figure out what is any of this really worth.
05:42And if I have, not to mention the cap allocation, but if I have three defensemen that I think
05:49are borderline elite, what is it worth to me to have four?
05:55Can my third carry somebody else?
05:59Like that's really where the smarties at the Sabres are probably crunching all that stuff.
06:06And I don't think I know the answer to that, but it, it seems intuitive.
06:11Although I would have liked Kesselring to stay around.
06:13Maybe he was just untenable.
06:14That's the part of this.
06:15That's really weird is the timing of that coupled with now reports that Byram could be in play
06:21because you might have thought how bad could it have gotten with Kesselring, maybe really
06:26bad that you're trading him when you might be about to trade Byram like Kesselring would
06:32be.
06:33That was why he was acquired was to play that role.
06:37Again, Samuelson was in the wilderness at this time last year.
06:40And also Byram wasn't good at all.
06:42That's right.
06:43Like, so I don't know, like the timing that's why I'm, I'm still sort of working on, I might
06:50be like, so the always sunny with, with the, the, the, the dry erase board, the guy's
06:55got this manic, like these are all connected somehow.
07:00I just don't know the thread yet, but to just move on Kesselring with this, you know, being
07:08in the wind now today, it would be odd, you know, unless, yeah, it was just, so we just
07:15got, this is not, never going to work.
07:17We'll, we'll, we'll find a better idea to do what we wanted to do last year with Michael
07:22Kesselring.
07:23Yes.
07:23So, you know, I can live with that, you know, that, that should be able to be done and you
07:29shouldn't have to, I don't think build your team in such a way that you are paying your
07:33blue line, 11, eight, like $28 million a year with three guys.
07:40I mean, I'm not even including Sam, it's, it's, it's nuts.
07:44So I'm, I'm, I feel like we are, I'll just say, I, I feel like I sort of missed that
07:50when
07:51Kekalainen was talking and being so bullish on the idea of keeping Byram, maybe he was
07:57just playing cards with the league.
07:59Like this guy, we value, we love him, you know, he's a part of our core, yada, yada,
08:04yada.
08:04Uh, now let me start making some calls or he was talking like almost literally the
08:10day after the season ended and he was talking like we were all talking, which is like, wow,
08:15that was awesome.
08:16And why, why would we want to change anything?
08:18Um, there's also this, I mean, from Byram's perspective, um, he's, he's limited here, right?
08:26Like he, he, he, you can scoff at this if you want, but like on a team like Toronto, like
08:34if, if he were to be traded to Toronto, he immediately becomes their number one defenseman
08:38and their quarterback power, their power play quarterback in a year, he'll be the most
08:43highly paid defenseman in the NHL.
08:45Yeah, maybe, or maybe when they make the trade, cause they sign him right away.
08:49If you're giving up Matthew Nyes, you're not renting Bowen Byram, you're, you're committing
08:53to him.
08:54That's right.
08:54So, um, the, the opportunity for him to just get to a level he's, he's roadblocked
09:02here.
09:03He just is not going to become that guy here because Darlene and power outrank him as excellent
09:10as he, I thought he was their best player in the Boston series Byram.
09:13I thought he was dynamite.
09:14Then you thought he was bad.
09:15And I thought he was bad against, but I thought he looked like he ran out of gas against Montreal.
09:18He was very vulnerable.
09:20I thought against Montreal, but anyway, that's interesting in itself.
09:24Yeah.
09:25Like, is that a matchup thing?
09:27Boston really couldn't, they weren't dangerous.
09:30They were pretty solid and steady, but they weren't dangerous.
09:33So a guy like that, I don't know what I want to do with Byram.
09:37I know, well, I do and I don't.
09:40I have been critical of the Sabres for this goes back all, you know, a year or a little
09:48less, not even really.
09:51It was even when the season was already underway, just like, why they wanted to trade them.
09:58They couldn't or didn't or whatever that was both.
10:02And so what happens here?
10:05And then they got really pretty and I just stopped talking about it.
10:10Like just, okay, well, this seems to be going pretty well and we don't need to trade good
10:16players on good teams.
10:18We have a good team now, but I guess I really don't feel like I have my footing on what
10:26changed this year.
10:27We talked to Chad one day and cause he would be one of my first calls, you know, like what
10:33happened here?
10:34And like, well, you know, situations and players, he's still super young players get better.
10:41That's the kind of thing I tend to bet against.
10:44I don't know.
10:46I want to have more clarity on him than I do, but I'm not going to be mad if he's
10:52traded.
10:52I might have some regret, but I think again, for the right player, the right deal, I have
11:00to be open to it.
11:02I'm just not sure it makes the best, the most sense to have three, eight to $11 million
11:11defensemen on one team.
11:12Well, who is there?
11:14Somebody, it's probably somebody from outside the organization, right?
11:16Like if to take that spot, if they did this.
11:19Yeah.
11:19I mean, I have no indication that anybody from Rochester is ready or that redeemed Mertka is
11:24ready to show up and like win a top four job on a cup contending team, he's probably a
11:29trade piece too.
11:32But he's, to me, he's last year's number one pick and he was pretty raw project-y guy.
11:37Big, he's going to take time, all that man strength, yada, yada.
11:41Like he's not, to me, I'd be stunned if he's in there thinking, oh, we can get by without
11:48Byron because this guy's ready.
11:49I just don't think they have a guy ready for that role.
11:51All right.
11:52So I think they got to go outside to get it if they move Byron.
11:55Next question.
11:56What about Gleb Pugachev?
12:00Is this a draft pick idea?
12:02Yes.
12:02He is in the athletics mock draft today at the 20th pick.
12:05Although he's a winger.
12:07Oh, well.
12:08Can he skate backwards?
12:10I mean, he's from Russia.
12:13So how do you, I mean, of course.
12:16But the article was like, Yarmou will draft Russians.
12:20And, you know, teams have avoided doing so.
12:23The Sabres have not been shy about that.
12:25In fact, a couple of the defensemen I'm thinking of from Rochester that have been there a couple
12:29of years that I don't think are ready are Russian guys.
12:35So they haven't been scared off of that for a little while here, I don't think.
12:40Let me throw in another name here.
12:42All right.
12:43Nyes is one.
12:44So Matthew Nyes.
12:46Leafs.
12:48Two ways.
12:49Young.
12:50Big.
12:52Cost controlled.
12:53Mm-hmm.
12:54A lot to like.
12:56Hellebuck.
12:58Is he someone you think the Sabres would call on?
13:03Yes.
13:04Me too.
13:05And that's also this.
13:07Mm-hmm.
13:07Right?
13:08I mean, that's.
13:09Byram is.
13:11This is also a kind of a sell-high moment maybe for Byram.
13:14Mm-hmm.
13:14Where you have a particular challenge in that you have to figure out how to pay him in a
13:22year commensurate with other defensemen on your team that might be better or in the same,
13:28you know, the whole thing you just laid out.
13:29Like, just sort of the balance of power on your roster and everything like that.
13:35But, you know, what?
13:36But what?
13:37Like, this would be kind of a sell-high moment on him unless you think he's going to the
13:42Hall of Fame or something like this.
13:44And, you know, an eight- to ten-year contract at top dollar is worth signing him to.
13:49Which I don't know that I do, considering especially how the Sabres are already built.
13:55So, um, Hellebuck, what's that?
14:00That's Lucanen.
14:02Right.
14:02That's Byram.
14:04Here's something else about this.
14:06And the 20th pick, maybe.
14:07Okay.
14:09I mean, I think it would be a little bit, maybe this is inside out, but a little bit sexy
14:13if the Sabres traded their pick in a draft that they're hosting.
14:16Mm-hmm.
14:17Because who does that?
14:20You know, old school is you want that moment in your arena.
14:24Really?
14:24Obviously, a few thousand people are in there.
14:27Everybody else is outside.
14:28They just, they're not going to see this player for five years.
14:31You know, whatever.
14:32You don't have to do it.
14:34But,
14:41Here's what I was going to say.
14:42We're, um, maybe the shoe is on the other foot here.
14:46Where the Sabres are often so seemingly disadvantaged in trade talks because players want to leave.
14:55Or there's just sort of a supposition that players want to leave.
14:59And, okay, well, this is really not an even trade, but I kind of have to do this.
15:05And right now, they could feel like the, you know, the teeter-totter is the other way.
15:11And they're up here.
15:12And here's Winnipeg with a player that has a lot of marketability, has a lot of value on the market,
15:20but doesn't want to be there anymore.
15:22Right?
15:22So, you can be, if you will, you can be the alpha in a trade like that.
15:29Now, I don't know if I want to trade it all.
15:32I don't know if I want to push in on a goalie.
15:34For a 34-year-old goalie.
15:35Yeah.
15:36But, I think, again, in theory, I mean, I know I would be excited about it.
15:43Whatever.
15:43I would be.
15:44Stop analyzing it and just feel it.
15:46Yeah, the fan base would be energized if they made a move like that.
15:49Imagine opening night with him.
15:51Right.
15:54So, analytically, maybe not, but feels-wise, 100%.
16:01And I don't know that it's such a bad idea.
16:03It's not my favorite idea.
16:07I don't know how likely it is they'll get there, but I wouldn't want to rule it out,
16:11like we've said at the outset here.
16:13I mean, I think there's certainly a case to be made to just run it back with the three guys.
16:19Maybe trade one of Ellis or Levi, because both of them have to clear waivers now to go to Rochester.
16:25So, you're potentially going to lose one of them when the season is about to start, if you try to
16:32do that.
16:32So, you should probably try to mix that in somewhere.
16:36But I think the three goalies, I can buy that they would want to stay put with that, stay in
16:45Pat.
16:45You mentioned Kekalainen on Byram.
16:49How about Lindy and Kekalainen on the goalies?
16:54I mean, are they playing 4-D chess on this one?
16:57Maybe.
16:57You guys don't even know this, but we're going to be able to have three goalies because the rules are
17:01going to change.
17:02They're winking at each other going, well, we kind of know we're going to be able to make this trade.
17:06We're going to trade for Hellebuck, yeah.
17:09What would that be?
17:10I don't love it.
17:12I don't know.
17:13The cost to acquire really matters a lot here with a goalie.
17:19I don't know, at that age, with the contract, that should, despite how excellent he's been year over year
17:28and the gold medal this past February and everything else, I feel like his age in the contract should limit
17:36what Winnipeg can get back.
17:37I don't think this is, you know, it's different if he's 28.
17:43But I think at his age, I don't think I've got to go three, four pieces to get him like
17:50I would for an elite forward or defenseman.
17:52You know, that's probably right.
17:54And if you look around the NHL, is there a team that would?
17:58I don't know.
18:00I mean, again, Brandon Busse won the Stanley Cup versus Carter Hart.
18:07I mean, two guys that really didn't play.
18:09I mean, just who has the momentum on that particular piece or, you know, angle not continued in the same
18:21direction?
18:22Yeah.
18:22Busse played a lot.
18:23He led them in wins, but he was sort of a, you know, he's still out of nowhere.
18:28I saw that, actually.
18:29I know that because I saw it on his LinkedIn page.
18:31Oh, okay.
18:32Which is like two spots above working at Chipotle.
18:36He worked at Chipotle.
18:37Did you know that?
18:38Yes.
18:38I've heard all the stories about him.
18:41Well, I mean, thank you, Sabres, right?
18:45Let's solve it in unison.
18:46Yeah.
18:47Here we are.
18:48Even if they have nothing to do with this latest churn in the media stuff, which they probably do.
18:54I'm now feeling like everything that comes out about them is what they want out.
18:58Yeah.
18:59Yeah.
19:00Including Pareko.
19:01I would think if they're maybe even feeling like they're hitting a stall in talks on Byram, that's why you
19:08get to.
19:09Many teams are inquiring, like, hey, you know, you might get beat on this if you don't move.
19:15You know, it feels a lot like that.
19:17There is logic behind them wanting the Pareko trade out.
19:22Put the pressure on them.
19:24We're good.
19:25Yeah.
19:27I don't know that they did that.
19:29Somebody did that, and somebody else was upset.
19:31Right.
19:32But I think there was logic behind the Sabres doing it because let's just announce it and see what happens.
19:38Not directly.
19:39Let Pierre LeBron do it or whoever is going to do it.
19:42But, you know, didn't work out.
19:44Or it did.
19:46Right.
19:46Because they still have the pick.
19:48Right.
19:48They've already moved up.
19:49And they still have Mirka.
19:50And they still have Mirka.
19:51Right.
19:52All right.
Comments