00:00Let's go to Mark here. Hi, Mark.
00:03Hi, thank you for taking my call. I love GR and talking hockey.
00:08And I was thinking about Connor Hallibuch, number one.
00:13He's an older guy, so we'd get, what, maybe two, three years out of him.
00:17And what value would that hold?
00:20But also, what if Winnipeg started the season with him,
00:25and maybe halfway through the season, his knee went bad again.
00:31Wouldn't we be thankful we kind of missed that, dodged that one?
00:36Well, sure, if it went that way.
00:39If he were terrible or injured,
00:41you'd be glad you're not paying him $8.5 million for the next five years.
00:45Yeah.
00:46Can I just the same predicted knee injury for literally any player on the team already?
00:52No?
00:53I mean, it's a specific, okay, Mark, it's a specific doomsday scenario.
00:58Like, I don't know.
01:00What if anybody's knee gives, just like, Darlene, what do I do then?
01:06What value, I'll answer your question if it's not rhetorical,
01:09what value is there in trading for this player if he's only great for three years?
01:16A ton.
01:18There's a, go for it.
01:20I mean, there's a ton of value in that.
01:23Did you want Alex Tuck signed?
01:25Who has a better long-term, I mean, it's a little bit stilted.
01:30It's a goalie versus a forward, but who is likelier to fall off in three years,
01:34if there's even any answering that?
01:36If you wanted Alex Tuck signed, there was the same, you could ask the same question.
01:39Oh, well, what if he breaks down?
01:42Yeah.
01:42What if he breaks down?
01:44Right now, they have not replaced him, other than with their young guys, who I'm excited
01:48for, but it's not like they've brought in anybody resembling Alex Tuck.
01:54So, I don't know.
01:55There is, it's not the end of the world to me if they don't trade for Hellebuck.
02:00But if you're really asking, I'm not going to waste any more time on what if he gets hurt.
02:05If you're really asking, what value is there in two to three years?
02:10A lot.
02:11I'm a little just confused by the caller's wording, because I think he squeezed the word
02:15again in there after, what if he hurts his knee again?
02:18And I mean, I don't have an entire medical history up here, but I can just tell you the
02:23only year he's played fewer than, you know, 60 games was the COVID year when they didn't
02:30play, like, he plays like crazy.
02:33So, and there's no, there's no gap in there.
02:36So, I don't know.
02:37I'm not saying he hasn't missed a time or, you know, a week or two somewhere with a sprain
02:41or something, but he's never had anything serious.
02:44So, it's not like a guy that you would be worried ahead of time.
02:46This is not Josh Norris, who's, you know, had trouble playing 60 games, let alone 82
02:51as a forward.
02:53So, there's that.
02:54Yeah, you know, the Hellebuck thing.
03:00Being, for being honest about how I felt about it right from the start, like right from the
03:05minute the season ended and it started being talked about as an idea for them, it was down
03:11the list of my preferences.
03:13I wanted them to do other things to the forward lines or maybe more boldly try to replace Byram
03:21than they did.
03:23But they ended up here and, to me, it looks like the last best chance you have to do something
03:31that would at least be perceived as, both internally and outside, as improving your team.
03:39I mean, right now, the only improvement that they've got to bank on is that a bunch of guys
03:46who haven't played a ton improve and that, they get a boost from that.
03:52And look, that could happen.
03:54But that is not the way a contending team usually handles an offseason.
04:00So, I've become more friendly about the idea of them trading for Hellebuck simply because
04:07I don't think, they're not going to get Dylan Larkin to come here.
04:11All right, I don't think Toronto's trading Matthew not, like, all that feels over to
04:16me.
04:17So, I want to maybe do something that could work, but it was never my favorite idea.
04:26Like, I always wanted it to be like, you know, my last alternative, which maybe is what it
04:32actually is for the Sabres.
04:33Which, you know, maybe is a reason to not do it.
04:39But yeah, I'm not, I don't, you know, goalies, the age curve is different, or it can be anyway.
04:46So, I'm not, I'm not at all worried about the contract and the money.
04:52If he's anywhere near what he's been for almost the entirety of his career, you're doing great
05:00at eight and a half million dollars, I think.
05:02The Sabres had, last year, 31 more points than did the Leafs.
05:11Today, BetOnline is out with its over-unders.
05:15How many points apart are the Sabres and the Leafs in the betting odds?
05:22I will tell you the Sabres come in above the Leafs.
05:25Okay.
05:26Which, you know, is better.
05:27I'm going to say it's less than 10.
05:30Seven.
05:31One.
05:32One.
05:33Basically a coin flip.
05:35Wow.
05:36Apparently.
05:36One.
05:37Who has a better season, the Sabres or the Leafs?
05:41Can you see it?
05:42Can you see Toronto?
05:44Who, do the Sabres have to fall way off?
05:46It's 96 and a half to 95 and a half.
05:49By the way, Ottawa, 94 and a half.
05:52I mean, that's a lot.
05:55I mean, what are we talking about?
05:58Bobrovsky, Radish, and then a bunch of speedy bottom of the lineup guys.
06:07Basically, that's Toronto's offseason.
06:08And they still have their stars.
06:10They still have, yeah.
06:11They still have Matthews.
06:12They still have Nylander.
06:13Nice.
06:14They still have Tavares.
06:16You know, whatever state he's in at this stage of his career.
06:20But still, that's a credible hockey player.
06:22I'm not challenging that.
06:23But I don't know if they've done – how many points did they have last year then?
06:2978.
06:31That's a lot of points based on Bobrovsky and Radish, I think.
06:37The Leafs had 23 regulation wins.
06:39The Sabres had 42.
06:41Almost double.
06:42I think that number is largely because the Sabres are perceived as having stood still,
06:48if not gone backwards.
06:51Yeah, that is always interesting to me.
06:54And I can't say that it shouldn't be just because it's a team I like.
06:59With the Bills, it's been a guiding light for many years.
07:02Like, all right, what does the betting market say?
07:04I mean, how many times have you heard me bring this up?
07:06A thousand?
07:07What does the betting market say?
07:09You like them or you don't like them?
07:11Well, I mean, right – actually, with the Bills, I mean, this is sort of the nature of sports radio.
07:17The calls we're getting are people who are, like, down on them.
07:21They're worried.
07:22I mean, I had a couple guys last week who were just like, I don't get it.
07:25What do you mean you don't get it?
07:28What's the last seven years been?
07:30You think it's all because of Sean McDermott?
07:32I mean, he deserves his credit.
07:33But what do you mean you don't get it?
07:34So now, again, like, that's who calls us usually is, like, this guy.
07:41He's a don't better.
07:42He's don't trade for Connor Hellebuck.
07:44That's kind of how it usually goes.
07:46That doesn't necessarily properly reflect the attitude of the fans, just a certain faction of it.
07:55But the betting market tells you something meaningful.
08:00And the Sabres this year, we saw the cup odds when they came out, and they were, like, 30-1.
08:04What did I miss?
08:06They were almost double what Ottawa's odds were.
08:08Right.
08:08After they traded Brady Kachuk, I think.
08:11Okay.
08:12Either way.
08:13Why should they come in dramatically behind?
08:17Why should they come in even with the Leafs?
08:18Do you have easy access to the projected point totals for the other teams in the division?
08:24I got them all.
08:25Okay.
08:27So I'm thinking, like, you said the number for the Sabres is 95-1⁄2?
08:3096-1⁄2.
08:3196-1⁄2.
08:31Toronto is 95-1⁄2.
08:32That's not a—96-1⁄2 is not, to me, a really drastically low number off of a 109-point season.
08:40I mean, it's a lot to assume you're going to get over 100 again.
08:43It's like, I'm not really balking at the Sabre number as much as the Leaf number, I guess.
08:49But with that said, what is Montreal?
08:52What is Tampa?
08:53And, like, the rest of it.
08:55I'll tell you.
08:56If you're asking.
08:57That's why I'm asking for you to tell me and tell us.
09:01Does anybody else want to tell them, or should I do it?
09:03Top to bottom, Florida, 107.
09:07They're all .5.
09:09Florida, 107.
09:10Tampa, 102.
09:13Montreal, 98.
09:14Buffalo, 96.
09:16Toronto, 95.
09:17Ottawa, 94.
09:18Boston, 89.
09:19Detroit, 86.
09:26Everybody, I think, on that list is higher than last year, where they were in the summer, except the Leafs.
09:32Actually, Otto was down one point.
09:34The Sabres are up 12 from last year, which is one of the biggest jumps in the league.
09:38San Jose is the biggest jumper, 23 points higher than their line a year ago.
09:44So, yeah, Florida to Detroit, 21-point gap by the betting market.
09:51I think the thing that sounds most out of whack on that whole list is Toronto's point total.
09:55Yeah, me too.
09:58I mean, I would defer to you on that, because you know the rest of the league better than I
10:01do.
10:01But they're jumping up 17 points from what they did, because of Bobrovsky at age what?
10:08Yeah, and Radish.
10:09I mean, Radish, I think, would be a nice add.
10:11But, yeah, and just, you know, speed, defending, whatever, buy-in.
10:19You know, a lot of stuff the Sabres were good at last year, which was, you know, using their skill
10:24and speed to defend better.
10:26Toronto, I think, did work in that area.
10:28Like, there's not a bunch of household names, but I think they got faster, and that could help them.
10:33But that's a lot of points.
Comments