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00:00Nice to talk to you again. Thanks for making the time, man. How are you?
00:03I'm doing okay. How are you guys?
00:05We're good. We're good. We're trying. I'm efforting to not be really bummed out about
00:12Jarmo Kekalainen sounding four hours into free agency like he was ready to close up shop and go
00:18to the cottage because there are still some big pieces of business that might get done in the
00:24league. And I think a lot of us felt like he was going to be a big player at the
00:29table. And
00:31does not say that they didn't move heaven and earth to try to make things happen, but nothing
00:34did really. Um, I liked the Zellweger move, whatever, um, to replace Byram, but the big
00:40move draft night, Oh, they've got the fourth pick on the 20th pick. Nothing really came of it. Um,
00:46how are you viewing the Sabres at this moment in time? Um, with, with not having really done
00:53anything other than hope the kids can replace Alex Tuck. Yeah, it feels like a bit of a half
00:59step back and, and you don't want to give, you know, the, the front office a grade just
01:05yet because we got months to go until training camp opens and there's still the possibilities
01:10of some big moves. But, uh, you think about losing Bowen Byram and, uh, losing Alex Tuck.
01:18And I understand why, like you look at the Byram contract, my goodness, uh, and the Tuck
01:25contract. And so I understand the GM walking away and not wanting, uh, to extend those guys
01:32because they're, they're really getting paid quite a pretty penny, but to bring no one in,
01:39uh, when you look at the Atlantic division landscape and the Florida Panthers getting Brady
01:45Kachuk expected to have a full, fully healthy season of Alexander Barkoff, uh, the Toronto
01:52Maple Leafs go out and get two of the bigger fish on the free agency market and Darren Radish.
01:59They kind of jumped the queue there with Tampa in a sign and trade. And then Sergei Bobrovsky
02:04to shore up their goaltending. Um, some of the two that those are two teams that missed the
02:10playoffs in the Atlantic that made big moves. So, you know, if you're Ottawa, if you're,
02:16if you're Buffalo, if you're Montreal, uh, you're probably a little bit concerned that,
02:21you know, your, your GM hasn't done a whole lot and that is going to be one competitive division.
02:27And as it stands right now, I'm not sure the Sabres took a step forward. Now you hope there's
02:33some natural growth. Just the fact that you guys got a young team in that city and you hope the
02:40playoff experience served all those young guys well, and they come in confident and,
02:44you know, they finished the season so strong. You hope some of that carries over, but you need
02:49people. And, uh, the Connor Hellebuck rumors falling through and not materializing in a trade,
02:55uh, you know, you hope Yarmulke's not done, put it that way.
02:59Yeah, for sure. And, you know, I was in here on July 1st doing this show and it's, it's often
03:05one of the, it's not even that weird. It's, it's a depressing day to be in here as a Sabres
03:10fan for
03:11as many years as Mike and I have been doing this show, Luke, that it like the Sabres often leave
03:16you wanting at trade deadline day and on July 1st. And I know you can make a lot of mistakes
03:21on
03:21July 1st, especially in free agency. Um, but like, you know, thinking about the trade stuff and all of
03:27it. And I mentioned how like Yarmulke's talking at four o'clock, like they're done and like, man,
03:32it's only been like the market's been open for four hours. What are we doing? None of these
03:36trades have happened. But one thing that did get complicated, more complicated from the Sabres
03:41standpoint is at noon on July 1st, last Wednesday, Josh Norris has a 10 team trade, no trade list
03:48that kicks in. Ukko Pekalukkanen has a five team, no trade list. You know, I don't know that Winnipeg
03:54has to be on it, but he suddenly has power to say there are five places I don't want to
04:00go.
04:01And it wouldn't shock anyone if Winnipeg were on that list, just like Buffalo has been on a lot
04:07of teams lists, um, or a lot of players lists. So I worry about that. They waited maybe too late.
04:14And maybe it's not all their fault. Like maybe Winnipeg was, was, you know, not willing to move
04:18on it at a time when they could have moved on it. But I just think things got more complicated
04:23now with no, no move clauses on the Sabres end of things.
04:28No, for sure they do. Um, and that's always been the challenge. I think for sure. That's
04:33a challenge with, with Winnipeg. They might lead the league. I don't know this for sure,
04:38but just from what I do know there, they would be up there in terms of, uh, cities that appear
04:43most on, on no trade clauses, Buffalo's in there, uh, Edmonton, you know, pre-McDavid and probably
04:50post McDavid is, it ranks pretty high, uh, Columbus as well. So it's tough for these
04:57cities, right? When, and, um, the fact that general managers toss out no trade clauses and
05:04no move clauses as freely as they do. Uh, I mean, you guys experienced that firsthand at
05:10the trade deadline with the, the whole Colton Pareko mess, like my goodness. Um, so it does
05:16complicate things, but you know, there's cap space and I would like to think the momentum
05:22that Buffalo had towards the second half of the season, you know, winning, uh, around in
05:29the playoffs, being a team that has a young core and looks like it's on the come up, uh,
05:35general manager that seems to have, uh, more of a vision at least, um, than, than the last
05:42one. Um, you'd like to think those things are, are working in the team's favor, but, um, you
05:49know, I, I wonder if there's any free agents that are still out there. Like, uh, maybe it's
05:54just a romantic idea, but the idea of Patrick Kane, like we're, we're, what are we? Day six
05:59of free agency and he still hasn't found a home. That's a little curious. I mean, some
06:03of these veterans are taking their time. Claude Giroux just decided to re-up in Ottawa after,
06:08after poking around, but I wonder about Kane. I wonder if, you know, uh, a guy like Anthony
06:12Manta, who's still out there, if, if, you know, he drops his price because, uh, you
06:18know, there wasn't the frenzy around him on July one, as, as some might expect it, if
06:22there's another piece you could add to your forward group, cause I, I feel like, um, the
06:27wings, especially with tuck leaving is, is an area of need.
06:32Luke, and I know you had, I think earlier this week that, you know, there was some signs
06:37that the Sabres and Patrick Kane had some mutual interest. Bulldog and I were talking
06:43about it earlier. It like, they've got kind of this middling log jam of a bunch of forwards.
06:49Right. And, and we've heard Jack Quinn's name being talked about in the potential trade
06:54market, Ryan McLeod's name being talked about in the trade market. Um, other than kind of
06:59your point of like, Oh, it would be a good story. Is there a real hockey story in there
07:05of what Patrick Kane could do for the Sabres other than maybe help a power play that struggled
07:10that I think pretty mightily at times last year?
07:13Well, for sure he can, he can help a power play, uh, you know, going into free agency
07:19day, I think he was number one or number two of all the forwards available in terms of assists
07:25last year. And, and yeah, for sure. He's, he's passed his prime, but he can still pass a
07:32puck. He can still make a play. Uh, so if you get them at a reasonable rate and preferably
07:38only on a one year deal, um, you know, maybe he's pressing for two, I'm, I'm not sure, but
07:44a lot of these guys will settle for, for one year and then you, you load it up with performance
07:49bonuses. I mean, that's, that's the way to keep the cap hit low. Um, so whether that's
07:55points or whether that's a bonus for how far they go in the playoffs, but, um, I think
08:01as long as expectations are reasonable, right, you're not getting, you're not getting Patrick
08:06Kane in, in his prime, you're getting a guy that for sure can help a power play can, you
08:12know, play on your second line and contribute some playmaking. If there's an injury, maybe
08:16he can spend a week or two up on the top line and he won't look out of place. Uh,
08:21and then
08:22also the other thing, like I spent a couple, a couple of times in the Red Wings room last
08:27year asking guys about him and they just raved about his character and his leadership. And
08:33they spoke about him away. A lot of sabers talk to me about Alex Tuck. I mean, that's
08:38something that, you know, was also lost. It's not just Tuck's promotion, uh, production
08:43and penalty killing. You lost a leader. Um, and, and I think Patrick Kane could fill that
08:49void. I mean, there's a lot of young guys and I think Darlene's a heck of a captain, but,
08:55you know, uh, having someone in there who's won a cup, who's been through multiple situations
09:01and battles and dealt with different coaches, I think, you know, he can help out with some
09:05of the intangibles as well. You don't want to overpay for that stuff, but you know, if,
09:10if he can be tempted to join a team that's, that got, got into the playoffs and finished
09:16the career in the hometown, like maybe there's a path there.
09:19Luke Fox, NHL writer for Sportsnet on the West Her hotline with us here on WGR. Um, how
09:26about goaltending? We'll leave the hell of a conversation over there for now. Do you
09:31think the sabers need to do something there? I know, you know, you got 13 games in the
09:36playoffs and you know, it was a rollercoaster, you know, it was UPL's net, then it's Lions
09:41net, then it's UPL's net, then it's Lions net, then it's UPL. I think that's, I think that's
09:45it. That's the run of it in the 13 game. That's how it went. Um, but 82 games in the
09:50regular
09:50season, Luke, the goaltending was a strength of this team, both UPL and Lion, even Colton
09:56Ellis when he was called on, but especially Lion and UPL, I think played, you know, their
10:01goals saved above expected were both excellent. I think Lion might've been second or third
10:05in the whole league on the year and UPL was maybe in the top 10. So they, they had a
10:10good
10:11year. I could, I could be convinced it's good enough despite, you know, what happened
10:17in the playoffs. Like I've been telling people the goal that beat the sabers
10:21ultimately at the end of game seven is a knuckle puck shot that Connor Hellebuck could
10:26just as well give up or any, any goalie you want. So, you know, it gets really fine. I
10:31know it's the playoffs and you got to come through. Um, do you think I'm saying a lot
10:36of words here just to ask you the Sabres goaltending is good enough if they do
10:39stand pat? It's fine. I think it's fine to stand pat. I think, well, I know, but I
10:49know, but there's probably 25 teams in the league that, uh, you know, fine is good
10:53enough for goaltending. Like there were question marks about the Carolina
10:57hurricanes set up and they, they much like Buffalo had a three goalie rotation for,
11:03for chunks of the season. And they want a Stanley cup, uh, with Freddie Anderson of
11:08all people playing great through two rounds, falling off, falling injured. And then Brandon
11:14Bussey, this undrafted journeyman steps up in the biggest games. Uh, you know, if a guy
11:21like Hellebuck is available, absolutely. You try to grab him work horses like him, you
11:28know, he's got a hard trophy. He's got multiple business. He's got a gold medal. You go
11:33out and try to get him. Otherwise, you know, who's available? Aiden Hill. Like, is he really
11:38an upgrade at this point? Vegas didn't trust him to play a single minute in the playoffs.
11:44Uh, Jordan Binnington. I don't know. Um, you know, I, I'm, I'm not convinced that he has
11:51it anymore to be quite honest guys. So I don't know if those guys are clear, absolute upgrades
11:57from what the Sabres have already. Hellebuck for sure is. So, you know, you keep poking
12:03around there, but Hellebuck has term on his contract. He hasn't been traded yet. Uh, I
12:08wouldn't give up hope on that, but if it gets the, if it gets to training camp and you got
12:12to go in, in with, with line and UPL, you do it and, you know, see how it goes. You
12:18know,
12:19maybe the Sabres get off the hot, hot start. Maybe goaltending is not an issue. If it becomes
12:24an issue, what I've learned is that goalies become available as the season goes on, whether
12:29it's the waiver wire or whether it's, you know, a team looking to make a, make a deal.
12:34And generally they're not that expensive on the trade market. I mean, Toronto traded Joseph
12:41Ball to Philadelphia, who was, you know, at times their number one. And what'd they get
12:46back? They got a mid round pick and they got a third pairing defensive. Like you can make
12:52a trade for a goalie. If you run into issues. I do like what I, and I alluded to this
12:58earlier
12:59when I was sort of setting up the overall on the Sabres off season so far, how, where are you
13:04at
13:04on them? Maybe potentially looking for Zellweger to replace Byram? Cause I think it's a bet I would
13:10make. It's not a, you're not sure to win it, but it's a reasonable enough bet. I think style wise,
13:16even complete with maybe some defensive shortcomings that Byram, you know, played through
13:21them and, and still had a fantastic year and a great first round. I thought he was their
13:25best player against Boston, Luke, but I like the Zellweger bet. I think, you know, at the
13:30money and the cost to acquire the player, um, I think it's a move that makes a lot of sense.
13:37Yeah. And especially at the money that, that Chicago gave Byram, like you're not going to
13:42match that plus the, the, the, you know, buzz that Byram wanted out that was over a year old.
13:48So I, I like the move. You, you grab a, hopefully a younger version and you get a guy that
13:54should
13:55be highly motivated. So, uh, uh, Zellweger was scratched for a bunch of games in the playoffs
14:00by Anaheim, uh, who suddenly look like they could use a guy like that. They lost three defensemen
14:06and with the offer sheet, they're in, they're in big money trouble all of a sudden. Um, but you
14:12get a guy that should be highly motivated because he probably is coming to Buffalo thinking, well,
14:17my last team didn't trust me enough to use me in a lot of minutes. Uh, I'm going to prove,
14:22you know, fresh start with a new, you know, new coach coach's eyes on me, um, new uniform. Uh,
14:29he should be highly motivated to come out of the gates flying. I like the bet bet on youth, uh,
14:35bet on a
14:35guy who hasn't had his payday yet. It's still looking for it. So he should be motivated to get
14:41his ice time. He should be motivated to get his money and, and hopefully, you know, the Sabres
14:45get the best version of this guy and, and he's not at his prime yet. So I like the, I
14:51like the,
14:51the move there. How much blame do you think Anaheim deserves for leaving themselves vulnerable
14:57to this Carlson offer sheet? Like, is there how much traction does not that it matters now
15:03because we're living in the world where he's got a $18 million a year offer sheet. He signed
15:09with the flyers, but right away, there's stuff making the rounds about how he said last year,
15:13he would have taken like nine for eight or whatever. And here we are. I mean, it feels like
15:20maybe for be worked himself into a pretty very, very difficult spot. Yeah. And I almost think
15:28there's a little bit of arrogance to it. Um, I know the Edmonton Oilers had, had some of that
15:33going on when they lost two players that they sure could have used in, uh, in Holloway and
15:39Broberg when the blues offer sheeted them, it was kind of like, well, they're not going to go
15:44anywhere. Like we'll get around to them. There are our RFAs, but Leo Carlson, you have a number one
15:51center and you don't really engage in contract negotiations with him for a full year. I mean,
15:58he was eligible to re-sign July one of 2025 and Berbeek has kind of been of the mode with
16:06his RFAs
16:07that we're going to, you know, play hard ball. We're going to try and keep our internal cap pretty
16:12low and we'll get around to it. Like there wasn't a lot of dialogue, uh, between the sides throughout
16:19the season. Same thing with, with Cutter Gauthier. Uh, but he is, he's actually one of the rare RFAs
16:26who's ineligible for an offer sheet. So he can't sign one, but, uh, you know, take care of your own
16:33business. And I think actually the Sabres have been at the forefront of that, even back to the,
16:37back to Kevin Adams, like, or, or you look at this season with, with Josh Stone, um, Zach Benson,
16:44how, how cheap, how much cheaper would he have been if you got ahead of it? Right. You can,
16:48if he, if you recognize and identify that a guy is a core piece of what you're trying to build,
16:55the sooner you take care of them, the better because the price only goes up and they probably
17:01had no idea. I mean, I'm sure they thought, oh, he, you know, other teams would like to offer sheet
17:06him, but offer sheet him to the tune of making him the highest paid player by annual cap hit in
17:13the
17:13whole league. They probably, that probably never crossed their mind. And there's probably a little
17:17bit of revenge, uh, going on. Right. Um, you know, the, the Philly Anaheim, uh, there's no love
17:25loss there. So, uh, yeah, I think Ravik deserves a lot of blame. Uh, and now he's, he's, he's pinned
17:31in
17:32the corner because, uh, either he lets his number one center go and you lose all the momentum you
17:38gain by beating the Oilers and, uh, getting to round two of the playoffs and feeling like this,
17:44this fun, fast, young team, or you match it. And then cutter cutter's knocking on your door saying,
17:53okay, well, I may not be center, a center, but I'm a 40 goal scorer. You better get my AV
17:59close to his
18:00and you blow the whole thing out of whack. Um, and Ravik had done a pretty good job of up
18:05until this
18:05point, but now he's, he's paying the price. Luke, I wanted to ask you too. I mean, in the same
18:09vein,
18:09in this conversation, like this, isn't going to maybe be a catalyst for more regular, maybe even
18:16a Connor Bedard. I mean, there's, I, there are more guys that are offer sheet eligible this year.
18:23And even going into next year, is this finally like, which I think every sports radio host would
18:29hope is like, is this the thing that finally makes offer sheets kind of, you know, great again?
18:35Like, are we going to see more of them? I guess is the question now that we saw this. And,
18:38and I also maybe want to throw in a question about Jason Robertson too, in his future,
18:42because I think there is some questions about what, what's going to happen in Dallas there as
18:46well. And now that he is, uh, you know, filing for arbitration.
18:50Yeah. Well, on the offer sheet thing, um, I do think what's happened here is all of a sudden
18:56teams have cap space to spend so they, they can spend that on an offer sheet. And the other thing
19:01is
19:02there's this trend of no one reaching unrestricted free agency. So if your team like Philadelphia,
19:08that's trying to take a step and, and, you know, there, you have some traction, but you're missing
19:14a key piece, like a number one center. How do you get one? No one wants to trade one.
19:19The, like, who is the best center available at, at this free agency? Boom Jenner, like a banged up
19:26third line center probably, or Scott Watt. Like there was no centers available. So if you're
19:32trying to improve your team, you need a center. They don't become available because teams have
19:37the space to lock up their own guys and they don't let them reach free agency. This is one of
19:42the only
19:43tools you have. So I do think, you know, there's a possibility we could see it now, to my knowledge
19:49with, with Connor Bedard, I don't think he's looking to do that. And Chicago has the cap space
19:56to match and they would have to do that with Bedard because without Bedard, they have nothing
20:01and they have tons of cap space. So they would match it in a blink, even if it was for
20:0420
20:05million. So I wouldn't be too worried about him going elsewhere, but on the, and on the
20:13Jason Robertson thing, well, he filed for arbitration. So that means he's, he's no longer
20:19eligible for an offer sheet once, once the player files for arbitration. So either it goes
20:25all the way to the, the arbiter in late July, early August. And, and he makes a ruling on
20:31Robertson gets X amount of dollars on a one-year deal. And he's only one year away from UFA status.
20:38So this basically assures that he's going to be a Dallas star, uh, unless they trade him. Uh,
20:45but it sounds like he's blocking trades, right? He already blocked one to St. Louis and one to
20:50Seattle. Uh, I think he wants to stay in Dallas. He just wants a big payday. So he's going to
20:55get
20:55a one-year massive payday at the very worst. And then, you know, he, they either walk him out the
21:02door because once you sign a guy to a one-year deal, uh, through arbitration, you can't trade
21:08him. Uh, so the player holds all the cards. So even though technically he's an RFA, he's basically
21:14acting like a UFA, uh, with one more year to spend in Dallas and then he could walk out the
21:20door or
21:20they need to pony up and give him the kind of payday he's looking. He wants to be the highest
21:24paid player on the team. They're, they're hesitant to go much over, uh, what they're already paying
21:30Nico Rantanen, which is 12.5. Um, but you know, you see the price of, the price of poker's going
21:36up
21:36like at the cap. So he's going to, he's going to get his money. Luke, I saved it for the
21:41end and
21:41we're, we're just about out of time. So I don't know if you got like a minute in you on
21:45what the
21:45Leafs have done. You mentioned the big moves. Um, I can see that they're going to be faster,
21:50which could make them better defensively overall, like, you know, 200 feet, uh, defending, uh, with
21:56better speed overall, but that's about the, the best I can do. I mean, I, I, I, I even like
22:02the
22:02radish contract cause I was worried somebody was going to give him bone Byron's contract. I think even
22:07if he regresses to like, you know, 55 points from the 70 or whatever he had in 15 goals instead
22:12of
22:12the 20, it's still a reasonable enough bet. What do you think about what the Leafs have done so far?
22:18Yeah, they remade their, their bottom six with some new faces. So that feels fresh, but those are
22:24mostly minor moves. Uh, Bobrovsky and radish are the big ones. And, and radish to me is like you
22:30mentioned, I think he's has the one that should make the most impact big booming, right shot from the
22:35point. Something they've never had. Um, that to me says if the Leafs are going to be successful,
22:42they better have a top five power play in the league. So they have Gavin McKenna, they locked
22:47into him. They still have Nylander and Matthews and Tavares. And then you got a threat from the
22:52point. So teams have to respect the point, which they didn't have to do with Morgan Riley
22:57up there. Cause he was a pure facilitator. He would always pass it off. Uh, and that should
23:02open up lanes for, for Matthews and Nylander to get their shots off. And, uh, this, this
23:08is going to be a more offensive team, should be a faster team, and it should be a team that
23:13kind of lives and dies by its power play. Luke, thanks so much for the time. We always appreciate
23:18it.
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