00:00Sabres news. Here's something. Kevin Weeks, a little while ago, posted on Twitter that he's hearing that the Sabres are
00:12working toward a seven-year, seven-ish million-dollar-a-year contract with forward Zach Benson.
00:19So we had a little something. First day, we had Michael Kesselring traded. The next day, we've got Bowen Byram.
00:29The Sabres are taking calls. They may be interested in moving Bowen Byram. That was yesterday.
00:34Today, we've got they're talking about a contract extension with Zach Benson, and nothing about that is surprising. He's an
00:42RFA, and Jarmo Kekalainen made it pretty clear that he was interested in doing something long-term with Zach Benson.
00:51Curiously, he also sounded the same way about Bowen Byram, and maybe he was card playing, or maybe things changed
00:59once they sat down, and Bowen Byram wasn't maybe as cooperative about signing.
01:04As they would have liked, so now maybe they're trying to move him. But anyway, the point is, Zach Benson,
01:09this report, right? Let's run with it.
01:15Sabres are looking to sign. I think they will probably close this deal, I would guess, sooner rather than later.
01:24Seven years, seven million dollars for Zach Benson.
01:26I think what stands out to me about the potential for this deal to come to fruition is that I
01:35doubt very strongly, sure, will someone take the side of, this is not smart, it's too soon, he's not that
01:49good, be careful, buyer beware.
01:52However, just to be contrarian, sure, that may happen. You know, it's the world and it's social media, so like,
02:00you know, someone will probably raise there and say,
02:02oh, I think this is a terrible idea. I'm sorry to put that voice on. It denigrates that point of
02:08view.
02:08You may, you know, you're certainly entitled to it, and I shouldn't mock you preemptively.
02:14Or ever, really, but especially preemptively.
02:17I think this deal has the potential to be, like, the most positively received approval rating is what I need
02:28here.
02:29The approval rating on a Zach Benson announced contract in the form of around seven years and around seven million
02:35dollars,
02:35I think, is met with almost entirely universal applause.
02:42I don't think that there's a significant part of the fan base that would want to raise their hand and
02:49go,
02:50ah, he hasn't really produced that much yet. He's little.
02:57Are we sure he still looks like he rides a dirt bike? You know, what are we doing here?
03:02I don't think that part of the fan base exists. I think the Sabres fan base right now is, like,
03:09too far gone
03:12in a torrid, we-just-met-and-have-been-talking-all-night-love-affair-with-Zach-Benson.
03:19Like, they are, we are, we. I'm not being pejorative here. I mean, I'm included in this group. I love
03:25Benson.
03:27I don't think there's any portion of the fan base that's going to tell you, like, oh, Jeff Skinner.
03:36Oh, even Tage Thompson. Maybe. I don't remember. Were people complaining about the amount of money
03:41Darlene was going to get paid? Owen Power. Like, ah, what are we doing here?
03:46Um, this guy's not that good. He's, he's big, but he's not tough. He's soft, baby diaper, whatever, right?
03:53All the nonsense you hear that, that has turned out to be completely asinine, uh, about power especially.
03:59Um, I don't think those people exist on Benson. Now, that doesn't mean that we're all right, right?
04:05I mean, we could, we could be falling into like a, a death trap, uh, of groupthink. Uh, but I
04:14feel
04:14pretty comfortable that locking Zach Benson up, I did not see this coming this soon in this guy's
04:22career. I, I, I, I've liked his game. There was always things to like about his game, but it was
04:28just sort of a, a work in progress kind of thing. And he really, really hit the beach in a
04:36meaningful
04:36way in the playoffs. The, the, the regular season was somewhat modest. He had his moments. Uh, but
04:41the playoffs I think is where the legend of Zach Benson sounds a little ridiculous. Um, but the,
04:49the, the, the, the building of the Zach Benson that the fan base could really get behind, I think
04:57was largely done in the playoffs. Uh, just watching him be the quintessential rat that also was
05:04producing and was dangerous. So you've got, unlike Sarah, I mean, we've been going through this,
05:10right? Not, not everybody. I mean, I'm not sure. I love the idea of trading bow and Byron, but if
05:15it's the right return, I'm, I'm going to get there. Right. But there's, I'm sure a, a divide of
05:22opinion on that. Uh, and you know, the strongest, uh, reason for me to not want to trade bow and
05:28Byron is that you're breaking up the superpower your team has. You've got these four dudes and
05:33they are the driver, the key to your team, I think. Uh, so pulling one of them out without
05:41knowing who I'm replacing him with is, you know, there's trepidation there for me, but the right
05:49player, the right return, like I'm, I'm going to listen, especially if Byron is sort of dug in on,
05:56Hey man, I want, you know, 10 million. I want power play one minutes. I want top pair minutes.
06:02I don't think any of that's happening here because Darlene's here and just simply outranks him. And
06:06rightly so he's a, but he's a better, he's a better all around player. It's not even close.
06:11So he's not gonna, you know, take Darlene's stuff. So he's sort of blocked and capped. And
06:20I'm sure that that plays into what the Sabres are willing to pay him. And if I'm him, I think
06:27I,
06:27you know, I love it here. It's fun. I, we had a good playoff run. I like my teammates. I
06:32like the
06:32city. I like, you know, all of those things are possible, but you could just look at this
06:37professionally and go, you know, I'm blocked and you know, I'm blocked earning wise, um, because
06:45I'm blocked ice time wise. And you know, the big minutes, valuable minutes, power play minutes,
06:52that kind of thing. So he wants to go somewhere where he can do that. And that totally makes sense.
06:58I mean, it's unfortunate, uh, but it tracks, but anyway, there'd be a divide of opinion on him.
07:03Tuck. Absolutely. There is a divide of opinion, uh, on right. Eight years. Do I want to really do
07:10that? Is he worth all that money? The playoff series against Montreal was so bad. And like,
07:16what am I really doing? And on the other side, you've got, you know, Hey, he's an assistant
07:21captain and he's from the Syracuse area. And he was like the face of guys who want to be here.
07:26And by the way, he was kind of grossly underpaid the whole time he was here. Uh, so, you know,
07:33take care of them, keep the band together. And you know, what are you doing here? So you've got
07:38two camps and they both have, I think, valid arguments. It's kind of what makes the sports
07:44world and shows like this one go around. So great. Benson to me, it's not even, I don't think
07:49it's even that interesting because I think, Hey, what do you think about the Zach Benson contract?
07:54Yeah. That's it. Like, I don't know who I can't imagine. Well, I can, I've been doing this for 30
08:01years. Uh, I can imagine the person that would want to push back on it, but I doubt that they're
08:06even being earnest or honest about it. I think it would just be to be contrarian, which, you know,
08:11has its place, but I think it has the potential to be one of the most universally applauded contracts
08:19the Sabres have ever handed out. I just, I just think everybody loves this kid. And I, and I'm,
08:28I mean, get out of my way. I'm, I'm in line too. All right. Don't, don't, don't, don't push past
08:33me. I, uh, I, I, I thrilled that they're maybe on the cusp of locking him up, uh, long-term.
08:41I think
08:42I'm right about that. Um, you know, we'll see I'm available, uh, Twitter and phone calls. Uh,
08:48although again, lots of guests, uh, booked in here starting in just a few minutes here. Sammy P
08:52will join me after a quick.
