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00:00This morning on WGR, a little inside story that at about 10 30 this morning, I texted
00:06Chris and Zach that I got Travis Yost for six o'clock, uh, today, I guess it was.
00:13And then Zach responded, I just got off the phone with him on our show.
00:18So I told Travis, like, I didn't realize that.
00:21Sorry for this.
00:22How about next week?
00:23So Travis was like, sure, that'll be, that'll be fine next week.
00:27But a leading voice.
00:29Yep.
00:29If you want to know things and I, um, if you like knowing, I, I love, I, I love this
00:34Robertson idea.
00:35It sort of got me through the back end of yesterday's show.
00:38Once I sort of stumbled onto it and then go, Oh yeah, they could do that.
00:43Um, and I'm glad to hear Travis thinks it's a super cool idea too.
00:47Um, it'd be a lot.
00:49I mean, it is going to be a lot, uh, if you could pull it off, you know, there's going
00:53to have to be money going back, uh, to make it happen.
00:57Uh, so I don't know, you know, Quinn McLeod, I, I, I don't know.
01:02Um, he would be one of the best players the Sabres will ever have traded for.
01:07Yeah.
01:08Yeah.
01:09Yeah.
01:10Definitely.
01:10The four, the fourth pick is now that's a scoring winger.
01:13So I don't know if that qualifies, if the same, you know, but he's a much, well, much more.
01:21He's a more dependable score year over year than Matthew Nizes.
01:25Um, I actually like Nizes all around game a little bit more.
01:29Um, but he's not the player Robertson is.
01:32He costs you half as much as far as money goes.
01:35The contract is, you know, eight and a half, I think is, is where Nizes or maybe less.
01:41And, uh, Robertson is thought to be, I think if a team acquires him, they're going to be
01:47acquiring him, agreeing to pay him probably $14 million a year.
01:52Like that's what you're talking about.
01:53It's more than a million dollars a month.
01:55It's a lot.
01:56Yeah.
01:57It's big.
01:57Don't ever do that.
01:58It just becomes more depressing.
02:00Yeah.
02:00I don't, I try not to try to have to break it down by months and weeks and days.
02:03How much money a day is that?
02:05I mean, good business to be in.
02:11Who doesn't love a spacey Icelandic songstress, by the way, Bjork, uh, you know, it's spelled
02:16a little differently.
02:17There's an extra letter in the hockey player Bjork, right?
02:20But you know, right.
02:20Who doesn't love a spacey Icelandic songstress?
02:23Just even sight unseen.
02:25Big fan.
02:26You're, you're a Bjork guy.
02:28I saw her with her, well, the first band that was known to me, you know, known to North
02:36America that she was in was a band called the Sugar Cubes.
02:38Okay.
02:39And I saw them, I had their first record on CD.
02:42I never got the vinyl, uh, so I don't listen to it, but I mean, I could easily find it
02:46digitally
02:47and saw them play live once.
02:50Where?
02:51Uh, it, it, like the Darien Lake of middle Connecticut.
02:56Oh, like Lake County.
02:58Lake Compounce, I think was the name of the place and you know, amusement park.
03:02They played, I think I have this right.
03:05They were the opening band on a tour that featured the Ramones and Blondie.
03:10And we went to that.
03:11And so they're in Connecticut and the singer, the, there was a male singer in this band too,
03:16a male vocalist.
03:18And he kept yelling in between songs, hello, Milwaukee.
03:22And it was hilarious.
03:24As a joke?
03:25As a joke.
03:25Yeah.
03:25No, just, just like.
03:27Did he do that everywhere?
03:28I don't know.
03:29I only saw them.
03:30That's a great bit.
03:30I only saw them in Connecticut.
03:31And he just, after every song, he said, thank you, Milwaukee.
03:34And I thought, like, I love you guys.
03:35That's a great bit.
03:39803-0550.
03:39I want to say a little bit more about the Sabres.
03:42Good thing, right?
03:43We got three and a half hours left.
03:45Situation.
03:47When it was just the beginning of the offseason, we had the playoffs end, decompress, then,
03:56all right, now what?
03:57There's a press conference.
04:00And I was much less enthused about keeping Tuck than, say, you were, or maybe most fans.
04:08I mean, we had a few really interesting callers around that time.
04:12Basically, it was, what's not to like here about this guy?
04:16You know, he's probably not done, even though he had a bad series.
04:20And, you know, we had EJ Raddick or somebody else come on and talk about how big he is and
04:24the value of that.
04:25So, I don't know.
04:27It felt a little bit like I was copping out.
04:30But my ultimate thought on it was, if I've got a GM that's really good at this, I think
04:39I can find another version of Tuck that will not scare me as he goes into his 30s.
04:46You know, on the age curve.
04:48I think I can maybe trust this guy to find me someone else who you can put with good
04:53line-made options and get value out of.
04:57That's what I wanted to see happen.
04:59That's easy to say.
05:01Like, I don't have a name for that.
05:03I just felt like...
05:04I do.
05:05You did.
05:06Nice.
05:06Well, okay.
05:07Nice is the perfect guy for that.
05:10That's good, right.
05:11He's younger, and he would cost maybe about the same or less now that Tuck has signed.
05:15Yep.
05:16Very well.
05:16So, that's what I was kind of thinking would be optimal.
05:20Let him go.
05:22Cash in.
05:23I don't have to worry about another, you know, guy getting into his 30s.
05:29Yeah, you have another Oposo situation on your hands.
05:32Right.
05:32Right.
05:33I would like to not have that risk.
05:35So, I kind of want to be in the same boat right now about this all.
05:41I mean, Tuck did leave.
05:44That kind of sets it up for Kekalainen to replace him in kind.
05:49Then you have Byram, too.
05:51I kind of just want to trust it.
05:53Signing Jason Robertson or even trading for Connor Hellebuck are big-time ideas.
05:59I mean, franchise-changing moves, they would be.
06:04And I'm not, like, going to hate it, I think.
06:07It depends.
06:08Tell me what it costs.
06:09But I doubt I would hate it.
06:10I think I would be completely supercharged for the season all summer if they were to do either of those
06:16things.
06:17But I still have to say I think the optimal course of action would be not to do that,
06:23especially if Robertson is going to be, like, what, a top-five paid player in the league?
06:27Yeah.
06:27I mean, he's 26 only.
06:32Still, I think maybe this is going to end up at me basically saying, bring on Helen Eus, Ausland, and
06:39Kulik, you know?
06:40And I'm not afraid to say that because these guys, we've basically had this conversation every day.
06:47These are not complete unknowns.
06:49These are players that have, to different extents, demonstrated that they can play at this level, even in the postseason.
06:57I know it's so few games.
06:58But I still feel like we know something about them.
07:02And so I wouldn't want it to stop here.
07:05However, I'm not expecting that it will.
07:07I don't get that vibe from the Sabres.
07:10I think, you know, kind of everybody is saying there'll be one more.
07:13Maybe there can't be two, but there'll be something.
07:16And I'm on team.
07:18Let's trust that.
07:20Let's use 104 tomorrow night and see if they can't pull in a good player that you've heard of that
07:29isn't 30 and go from there.
07:33I really do think, I was talking with my son about this before I came in today, Leo, which is
07:40weird because he doesn't really follow hockey.
07:42We had a really good conversation about all these ideas.
07:45No, it was Owen.
07:46And I said, am I nuts?
07:47Like, I think I would rather have Nyes than Robertson.
07:53I think Nyes is, he is not the goal scorer that Robertson is.
07:58But I think he's a better all-around player than Robertson is.
08:03Robertson is not someone who you're going to be using to kill penalties.
08:07Nyes killed penalties last year and the year before, I think, with Austin Matthews.
08:11He's been a penalty killer.
08:12So you've got that piece if you're looking for that piece to replace Tuck.
08:16He's never scored 30 goals.
08:1829 was his career high two years ago.
08:20But it replaces the size and he's, you know, the contract is way more palatable and he's 23 years old.
08:29And if I can do that without having to divest myself of the fourth pick, right?
08:36If everyone in the league or anyone that's listening to me that thinks I'm crazy that I would trade the
08:41fourth pick for Nyes,
08:42if you're all correct and, like, the Leafs know that, they probably want NHL-ish players anyways.
08:51They probably would want one of these kids if you take the fourth pick out of it, right?
08:56For me, the fourth pick is a way to avoid having to put one of these kids in the deal
09:00because they're not that far removed from what the fourth pick could be for a team.
09:04But if you want to put that on the shelf and say,
09:07that's too valuable if you're talking about a second-line winger to replace Alex Tuck,
09:13which is, you know, ostensibly what we're talking about.
09:15If you can do that with 20 and Quinn or, you know, 20 and one of the kids and McLeod
09:26or somebody,
09:27like, because the Leafs are looking for NHL players, look at their depth chart right now.
09:32It's like there are some names there that you just are going to go,
09:35oh, I don't even know who many of these people are.
09:38They still have Tavares and Nylander and Nyes for now and Matthews.
09:43But, man, after that, it gets pretty thin.
09:46And they have Radish.
09:48That's right, they did that.
09:49An interesting window, perhaps, into what they're thinking, Toronto.
09:53Yeah, maybe.
09:54Pierre Lebrun, most teams don't think that Buffalo will draft at four.
10:00Better worded, most teams think that Buffalo will not draft at four.
10:03I think that's because they're probably talking to four, six, ten teams about something to do with –
10:13I bet they've called Detroit.
10:15Hey, can you get – we'll include four.
10:17Can you get Larkin to come here?
10:20I'd be stunned if they're not doing that.
10:22Well, what was 20?
10:24The move to 20 also, by the way.
10:26Yeah, right.
10:2627 to 20 for Kesselring.
10:29We'll see.
10:31Don't turn that dial.
10:32Not that anybody has a dial anymore.
10:34Whatever it is that you have, don't turn it.
10:36Don't press your phone.
10:37Don't press.
10:38Don't do anything.
10:40Don't hit pause.
10:40Don't even move.
10:41Don't move.
10:42Don't – keep your eyes on the road.
10:46Here's Larry with us.
10:47Hi, Larry.
10:48Hey, good afternoon, gentlemen.
10:50So a couple ideas.
10:51A couple ideas – you know, I'm kind of with you, Mike.
10:54I would really like to see what they do with that pick.
10:58But my concern is having Tuck gone, I would love to see us trade with Toronto and get Matthew Nyes.
11:07And for me, it's a no-brainer for Toronto because you're going to get number one pick.
11:11You're going to get McKenna.
11:12And then with the fourth pick, you can either get the first or the second rated defenseman at a much
11:17cheaper cost
11:18because you're not going to pay him $7.5 million like you're paying Nyes.
11:21And you can really start rebuilding.
11:24So I'd love your thoughts on that.
11:26But the other one, I was looking at, do you think Winnipeg would take UPL and the 20th pick for
11:34Hellebuck?
11:35And if not, what do you think it would take?
11:37I don't want to give the fourth pick for a goalie.
11:39No way.
11:39No way.
11:40No way.
11:40I don't care how good he is.
11:41But who do you – what do you think it would take to get Hellebuck?
11:45I'm thinking the 20th and UPL.
11:47I'd love your thoughts.
11:47Good question.
11:49It's one that we've discussed.
11:50That's way light, I think.
11:52I think it's probably light.
11:53But there have been a couple trades already this week where for a veteran,
12:00teams want to get out from certain players and certain money responsibilities.
12:04So I'm not sure it would have to be incredible to get him either.
12:08But I think they'd want another player.
12:10I think 20, Lukonen, and a good young player might do it.
12:17One of the kids and another roster player, I think, is probably where I'd land.
12:22Like a McLeod or a Quinn and one of Hellenus or Ausland with 20.
12:30I think, you know, you don't want to include four.
12:34But if you were willing to include four, I think that takes one of the kids off the table for
12:39you, right?
12:40And that's the tradeoff.
12:41Like you're like, oh, I don't want to do that for a goalie.
12:43Well, okay.
12:44Then you're going to have to give up this guy.
12:46I don't want to give up this guy.
12:47Okay.
12:48We're back to four.
12:50Like I would rather give up four than one of those kids myself right now.
12:55I would say that.
12:57Um, cause I, I, I am optimistic about it.
12:59There's reasons to be optimistic about all of them, even if it's not next year immediately.
13:05And I don't know what, you know, four, you just never know bird in the hand.
13:09I think you've already developed these guys.
13:11You're bullish on them becoming important players for you.
13:16Sure.
13:17There's a long list of great players who were picked at four.
13:20There's I'm sure a list of guys who completely went bust that were picked at four.
13:24Like it, it happens.
13:25It's a draft.
13:26So, um, you know, it, the, the value of it was that even Bjork, even Bjork, who knows.
13:34Yeah.
13:34Right.
13:36All right.
13:36Thanks, Larry.
13:37I mean, appreciate you, uh, jumping in with us here.
13:40Stephen Ellis, daily face-off coming up in 20 minutes.
13:43Mike Schoep and the Bulldog WGR.
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