- 2 days ago
Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase are joined by Buffalo Sabres Head Coach Lindy Ruff for his weekly appearance with the guys to discuss the team. The guys start by getting some information on the injured Sabres, namely Rasmus Dahlin and Alex Lyon. Then they dive into their 4-3 shootout loss last night to the Montreal Canadiens, and Lindy explains where he thinks things went wrong. They also discuss some bigger picture topics about the team's season so far.
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00:00Sabres fall in a shootout in Montreal. They are back to it tomorrow in Toronto as the divisional slate continues
00:07here.
00:07And you can hear tomorrow's game on WGR, of course.
00:09Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff joins us on the Western Hotline. Lindy, good morning.
00:14Morning, gentlemen.
00:15Lindy, I know it was a back-to-back, but the real fatigue. Were you up late watching the Bills
00:20and Rams?
00:21I was. What a game. What a game. I mean, an incredible game.
00:27From disappointment and heartbreak to euphoria.
00:31Yeah, ain't over till it's over. You know, one of those reminders.
00:36I mean, what a game by both quarterbacks, really. Incredible.
00:39Well, your team's on a back-to-back. Before we get to last night's game and looking forward, you guys
00:44have a game in Toronto.
00:45Any anticipation Rasmus Dahlin joins the team? Any update on his injury right now?
00:50No, no real update. I would say it's probably doubtful. But we'll see what today brings.
01:01How about any other injured players to update, like Alex Lyon's timeline? I don't know, he'd been getting closer?
01:06Alex Lyon had a little bit of a setback. So he won't be on the ice now for a few
01:14days.
01:16One other update is there for you. Kozak had an upper body that we sent him back to Buffalo. He's
01:26being evaluated.
01:30So short-term, that's all I got for you guys.
01:33All right. One other guy that's been injured for you, Lindy, your penalty kill has gone from top five last
01:40year to bottom five this year, still being very early.
01:44And we've talked a lot about Tuck not being here anymore for that, Byron, but I wonder how much you
01:49feel like you miss Connor Timmons on that unit right now.
01:51And if you're still searching for the right mix with a lot of different pieces kind of going in and
01:56out there.
01:57Yeah. You know, I think, again, I said, that's kind of a work in progress for us.
02:04You know, when you make changes, we had a pretty good run going together with the group we had, but
02:09no excuses.
02:11We've made some mistakes on our kill.
02:14We've left some people open that we didn't want to leave open.
02:19It's something that we're working hard to clean up.
02:23You know, Timmons and Darlene, you know, when you look at Samuelson, you know, that group, a little bit of
02:31Owen Power from last year and even Bo Byron, we got ourselves on a good run.
02:37We'll get there again.
02:39I think just we're a step behind in a few places where we can be real aggressive.
02:47And when you're not connected, you know, you're second late and we give up that opportunity.
02:51We don't want to give up.
02:53You know, not connected.
02:54You said that kind of about the group as a whole after four or five games, you're kind of finding
02:59your game might have been the term you used.
03:02Have you, you feel like you're starting to see progress that that is happening?
03:06Well, I really felt the Florida game was, was the game we need to play.
03:11I thought our puck support and when I'm talking about connected, it's mainly puck support and playing as a group
03:18of five.
03:19And, you know, when we're pressuring the puck, there's a second guy there.
03:22If they have two guys, we have three and we've got them outnumbered.
03:26The same thing about our D zone.
03:29You know, when we're, when we're really connected as five, we're out of our zone in a hurry.
03:35I thought Montreal, we were just a step slow last night.
03:40Don't want to blame it on back to back.
03:43I thought Montreal was, especially in our zone, was a, was a step ahead of us.
03:48And then some of our puck play wasn't, wasn't near as sharp last night, which, you know, especially in the
03:54second period, we turned pucks over just inside the blue line.
03:57We turned the puck over late in the game.
03:59Um, so our puck play really hurt us and when you're not on the same page, the other team can
04:06make you pay.
04:07You know, go ahead.
04:08I was at a lot of that in the second period last night.
04:10How, how, how did you feel about the third overall?
04:14I mean, it's a couple of grittier goals, right?
04:16Like pucks on net.
04:17And I know you've talked a lot about like sometimes if the skilled goals aren't always going in there, you
04:22have to find a way to score goals like that.
04:24Yeah, you know, I think that, you know, once you're inside the zone, I mean, it, uh, it's hard.
04:31If you're doing a good job with your system, uh, it's hard to generate a real high quality opportunity.
04:38Uh, and I thought, you know, against Florida, we, we were tight.
04:43Um, we supported each other, played a little triangle.
04:47We had a lot of inside support.
04:48So we got somebody inside there, inside their scheme.
04:52I thought we got away from the man on man by a lot of times, uh, you know, separating away
04:58from the boards and not getting pinned.
05:00We didn't get away from enough people last night, um, in the second period of the second period.
05:06They hit, they hit and stalled us right away, uh, against Florida.
05:11We got away.
05:11If you look down low, our cutbacks and our, and our under routes back to the net, we beat Florida
05:17back to the net.
05:18We spent a lot of time and we just didn't quite get away from Montreal on, especially in the second
05:23period.
05:23But I thought the third period we got back to, we talked about in between periods, uh, making sure that
05:28we're in the puck below the goal line, you know, and putting the hard work in.
05:33It's a two goals scored down three, one to come back against Chicago, uh, come back against Minnesota.
05:41You know, one thing's one thing, Lindy, we've pointed out is the time spent trailing time spent leading, you know,
05:47at the end of the day,
05:47winning the game is the most important.
05:49Have you been, um, I don't know, concerned about the, the, the game script falling behind early and being in
05:54a position where you're having to play from behind and rescue points from behind?
05:59Yeah.
05:59I mean, that, I mean, it's a great point, uh, especially in our first three or four games where we
06:05fell behind right away.
06:07And you, you, you give a good teams, a couple of goal lead and, uh, they get to hunker down
06:12defensively and they don't have to put any risk in their game.
06:15Uh, that makes it tougher for you too.
06:18I thought again, in the, in the, in the Florida game, a lot better start for us.
06:25Uh, last night, you know, we got, uh, what I consider again, a dirty goal that, uh, we know we
06:30threw a puck to the net that, uh, went off one of their defenders.
06:35And really kind of the start we needed in the, in the back to back, uh, we just couldn't carry
06:40that momentum, but the, the starts are very important.
06:43I think the, you look at that start against Florida where all of a sudden the shots are, you know,
06:48three, four, nothing, five, one, six, one, seven, one, eight, one.
06:52And, uh, the shots were at one time and, and you're, you're tilting the game in your favor, but you
06:58know, it's putting shifts back to back, putting them together and getting the other team on their heels.
07:06And I thought we did that in the Florida game when we couldn't quite maintain that momentum in the Montreal
07:11games.
07:12Lindy, last year you had that thing where it was, you know, maybe six out of every 10 points.
07:17If you get your five game chunks is something you were looking at.
07:20And one thing I wanted to ask you about is, you know, it's a, a new season begins 84 games.
07:25So it's a long, long season.
07:26How do you break down right now?
07:28Is it still maybe groups of five, if you're shooting for a goal or how do you break down blips
07:33versus trends, you know, a 10 game trend or a two game blip or a five game blip, you know,
07:38trying to understand what's happening early in a season.
07:42Are there, as you and Yarmulke talk, are you in the staff talk?
07:45Are there, are there groupings?
07:47Is there a period of time you, you notice something before you feel like it's not just a blip.
07:52It becomes something to identify as a trend.
07:56Well, I, I really like to use with our team, like five games, as you mentioned, you know, you've got
08:03to win, you got to get, you know, six points every, every five games going to try to win two
08:08out of three.
08:09And then when you're breaking down parts of your game, whether it's defensively, offensively, I think five games is a
08:17pretty good picture.
08:17And, you know, we can say, listen, we're giving up way too many rush chances, you know, and you have
08:23analytics.
08:24It's to, you know, there's the eye test, there's the analytic test that tells you what you're giving up.
08:30There's the expected goals that the eye test can tell you what are, you know, what type of chances are
08:36we giving up?
08:37Are they high quality?
08:39Are they low quality?
08:42Where are your expected goals at?
08:44And that's an eye test for me too, but that's also an analytic test.
08:48And I think when you look at five games, it gives you a pretty good picture.
08:51And, you know, we, as a group of coaches, you know, Yarmou's in with us every day.
08:57We were really well connected when it comes to, boy, we need to improve this area here.
09:03Or even when we're talking about lines, you know, what, what is this line giving us on a, you know,
09:09on an expected goal category?
09:12If it's low, should we change the line?
09:15Is there chemistry there?
09:16What's missing?
09:18So I think five games is a pretty good picture.
09:21I think when you're talking about a team in a whole, you know, maybe you can get to 10 games
09:27and you can say, well, our dirty goals were good.
09:31Our rush goals are way down.
09:32Is it the way teams are defending us?
09:36Or is it the way we're breaking out the puck?
09:38So you look at a lot of different categories from lines to deep errors and the type of stuff we
09:46give up to the type of stuff we create.
09:49Lindy, you're off with us.
09:51Lindy, the lineup through the first seven games here, we talked with you and you had mentioned a lot about
09:56how deep this center room is.
09:58And obviously some guys would have to go into the wing.
10:01I know, you know, just from how many times we've heard over the years that it's easier to go from
10:06center to wing than the other way around.
10:08That it can be assumed that a guy can just go to the wing and do well.
10:11Do you feel like any guys that might be struggling a little bit or are adjusting to that?
10:18I don't know if that's Helen Hughes, Koulik, Norris.
10:20Like, there have been a lot of guys who have played wing so far to start.
10:23Do you feel like that's been an adjustment at all with your lineup?
10:27I do feel that's an adjustment.
10:28And I think, you know, it is easier to go there, but there's different parts of the game you have
10:34to be, you have to be really, you have to be good at.
10:37And I think if you look at the other, the way the other team a lot of times will smash
10:42down on the wall or you can use the word pinch.
10:46I think a guy that's played wing his whole life is pretty comfortable in that situation on how to break
10:53that pressure.
10:54You know, get the puck off the wall or get it by that pinching defenseman.
10:58I think that's an adjustment that we're going through right there.
11:02That, you know, some of these guys, you know, you look at the Hellenius, you look at Norris, Koulik, guys
11:08you've mentioned.
11:09And it is an adjustment.
11:12We'd prefer, you know, not to get in those wall situations, but it's part of the game that they have
11:18to adjust to.
11:18I think it's the biggest adjustment that a center has to go through.
11:23Lindy Ruff on the Western Highland.
11:24Lindy, last year a lot of these guys made the playoffs a lot for the first time.
11:28Do you feel like, you know, sometimes playoff experience is only used when talking about the next year in the
11:34playoffs?
11:34Do you feel like the group took anything out of the playoffs they can bring to the regular season?
11:41You know, I think they can take a look at, you know, how hard it really was.
11:49The momentum swings, I think you have to deal with the ups and downs.
11:54You can take that.
11:55You can bring that with you because, you know, when you're in the playoffs and you win a game,
12:01you feel like, boy, we're going the right direction.
12:03We got it, but when you lose one, that feeling is the same too.
12:07Boy, the team gained a little momentum here and you've only got a couple games to straighten it out
12:13if they tip it one way or the other.
12:17That's the same for, you know, a regular season.
12:19If, you know, something in your game is going bad, you've got to get to it right away and you've
12:23got to improve it.
12:24You know, you guys talked about our penalty thing.
12:27We definitely got to improve it.
12:29And I thought, you know, I'll just mention this, you know, the last two kills against Florida,
12:34and one of them was four on six, were real good kills for us.
12:40You know, tried to build a little momentum off that.
12:42But, you know, when we gave Montreal a five on three, that's a lot tougher kill in, you know,
12:49in situations we're talking about.
12:51And I think we've given up two of those goals.
12:53So, yeah, I think you can take a lot, you know, from what we learned there.
12:59This is a new year and we have to stay present.
13:03In goal, Lindy, the last couple of games, you feel like the last five periods,
13:07Lukainen has really settled in after the first few games?
13:10Yeah, I thought, boy, he played a heck of a game for us last night.
13:14You know, he made a ESPN real save on that 2-0 that was really at the time was a
13:23big game changer for us on a big mistake.
13:25We made up ice.
13:28But it looked to me like he looked really comfortable for the first time inside the net,
13:34and that's a great sign for us.
13:36Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff.
13:37Off Toronto tomorrow night and back to Montreal.
13:41Lindy, thanks for the time and best of luck the rest of the week.
13:44You're welcome, gentlemen.
13:46Sabres and Leafs tomorrow.
13:48And number one pick, Gavin McKenna, who has five points in seven games to this point so far with the
13:53Leafs,
13:54who are tied with the Sabres.
13:55I believe he's been on the line with Matthews.
13:57On that Lukainen save, this is a great example, that two-on-one,
14:02that two-on-one save that he makes all the way across on the ice.
14:06It is a SportsCenter top-ten save.
14:09It's funny, Owen.
14:10Let me ask you about this because the job is, of course, to make all the regular saves
14:16and then some of those ones, right?
14:18Right.
14:18If they had scored on that, that might be a great example of, well, you can't expect a save there.
14:24Right?
14:25Instead, you get one.
14:28And that's the number where it's like the first five games of the season, first whatever,
14:32how many appearances from Lukainen, there are a couple.
14:34Well, I can't ask for one there.
14:36You might not be able to ask for one, but you should still get some sometimes.
14:39So it's great for him to get that one.
14:41And since going in, when Ellis got pulled, he's been sound and also made a couple where
14:49you, boy, I really want one.
14:51All right.
14:51Well, here.
14:52I got you one.
14:53Yeah.
14:53He's doing, like, last night was exactly what I thought was missing from the other games
14:58that he played early in the season where he was good.
15:01He looked comfortable.
15:02He looked good.
15:03And he made, like you said, a stop that you wouldn't be mad at if he didn't.
15:08But he did.
15:09And that can be a real boost.
15:11And I thought that that came through last night.
15:14And I think Lindy's right.
15:15He did look more comfortable in the net to me, a little less chasing.
15:20There were still some moments where it looked a little scrambly, but he looked fast.
15:24He looked athletic.
15:26And yeah, like, that is what you need.
15:30That game, he gave them the chance to win that game.
15:33And he, like, took away Montreal's, I think, real good push in the second period.
15:40He neutralized that.
15:41And sometimes you're going to need your guy to do that.
15:43And he did.
15:44And so, like, all right, I'm good with you.
15:47Three goals in the shootout.
15:48Like, I hate that he had to go to the shootout because he played so well.
15:53And then you get into the shootout and it's three one-on-ones.
15:56And it's, ah, you give up three and people are going to be mad.
16:00Like, I come in here this morning at 5 a.m.
16:02And I think the replies are, like, couldn't get a save in the shootout.
16:05Like, I couldn't care less about the shootout.
16:08Yeah.
16:08I mean, I really couldn't.
16:09Couldn't get a goal in three-on-three.
16:10Blame the forwards.
16:11Blame the team.
16:12Go get a goal in three-on-three.
16:13They barely touched the puck in three-on-three.
16:14And they had plenty of opportunity to make good plays in three-on-three.
16:18And they kept giving possession away.
16:20And Montreal was not doing anything with them.
16:22They were totally content to just hold the puck the whole time.
16:26Yeah, the Sabres did not get a shot in overtime.
16:29No.
16:29They barely held it.
16:30Well, really, they had a couple chances to hold it.
16:32And, like, Quinn stole the puck away after the one guy flubbed it.
16:35And then he immediately falls down.
16:36And it's right back.
16:37Montreal is over two more minutes.
16:38Koulik did the same thing at one point.
16:40Like, there were a couple of times where, like, just pass it back to Lukanen just to get possession again.
16:45And they forced it and ended up turning it over right after they got it back.
16:49Yeah, like, Lukanen, you know, I saw a couple.
16:52Like, oh, there's Robin Leonard in that because we all remember how bad Leonard was in the shootout.
16:56Lukanen, he's not an excellent shootout goalie statistically for his career.
16:59He's pretty hot, right?
17:00How many?
17:01I think he's seven in the last nine.
17:02Seven and two.
17:03Seven and two in the last nine.
17:04Yeah, and he's, like, I think it's, like, 66%.
17:06That's a good.
17:08It's fine.
17:08You look for 600 is typically the number that I have in my head for, like, that's a good.
17:12Yeah.
17:13You save 60% of those, like, you're in a decent spot.
17:16Like, some of the best guys, like, Saros is in, like, the 80% tile.
17:20Yeah, he's a lead at that.
17:21Yeah.
17:23Overtime was so frustrating because Montreal, did they really generate much?
17:31No.
17:31Did they have one great chance?
17:33There were a couple of chances, but not anywhere near what you would expect for the amount of time they
17:38had the puck on their stick.
17:39And then just the most total blatant example of NHL officiating being NHL officiating where it's not about what's a
17:46penalty and it's more about game management.
17:49You've got Evans sitting on the ice with the puck under him holding Jack Quinn's stick for 10 seconds.
17:56How long would he have been allowed to hold the stick?
17:5930?
18:00I mean, eventually he blew it dead.
18:02That play was insane.
18:04And in any other sport, it's, oh, that's a penalty.
18:07Penalty.
18:08But because in this sport, it's, well, they're already a man up and we've got 30 seconds and we don't
18:13want to decide the game.
18:14We're hockey refs, so we can't call that.
18:17I was screaming at my TV.
18:19And Evans is staring at the official.
18:21He knows he's there.
18:22He's laughing.
18:23He laughed after he's laughing like, I got away with it.
18:26Like, look at me go.
18:28I just wasted 20 seconds off of the power play in overtime when it's such a pivotal moment.
18:36And this guy gets to like, it's the same as if he flipped the puck over the glass five times
18:41in a row and they were like, yeah, it doesn't count.
18:43It's the same thing, but it looks different and the refs felt like, well, you know, we can let him
18:48get away with this.
18:49Like, that was, thank you for bringing that up.
18:52I forgot about it.
18:53And I'm furious about that.
18:54Right before, I mean, this is, again, the game management point.
18:57They don't actually call penalties.
19:00Slavkovsky holds Norris down.
19:01It's so delayed.
19:02He is not calling that penalty unless he knows, oh, it's a 2-on-0 for Montreal.
19:06I got to call it.
19:08Right.
19:08Because otherwise I decided the game.
19:09And Montreal's upset because you weren't going to call that penalty until you saw what happened after.
19:14Right.
19:16It's brutal.
19:17Dan in Michigan on the Sabres.
19:18Hey, Dan, good morning.
19:20Hey, thanks for taking my call.
19:21Sure thing.
19:22I just wanted to talk about Jack Quinn's game.
19:25I don't know if it's just me, but it seems like he constantly coughs at the puck up or he
19:31gets pushed off the puck or loses control of it.
19:37But I don't know if you guys are, if I'm seeing it a different way.
19:41And we could talk about expected goals and things like that.
19:43But does expected goals account for plays that die on his stick or the times he does give it away
19:51or gets pushed off the puck?
19:54We've got to talk about trade assets and things, and we can hype him up a little bit.
19:59And if Hellenius develops, I don't know.
20:03I just think that this team needs a veteran presence.
20:07And I know there's potential there, but he's been on the team for what feels like several years.
20:15Thanks, Dan.
20:16He's an RFA, and Quinn is – they've extended a lot of guys.
20:21They've not extended Quinn.
20:22Now, that could be something Quinn is thinking about or the Sabres are thinking about because it takes two sides
20:28to get a deal done.
20:30But what would that number be?
20:31What should it be?
20:32And how often when we talk about him, going into the playoffs, we're all so worried that he wouldn't be
20:38a playoff kind of player.
20:40Right?
20:41Right.
20:41And then –
20:43He looked great but didn't really score.
20:46Okay.
20:46He scored two goals in 13 games, but he looked like he should have scored 10.
20:49Start of this season, it looks really good three, four games in.
20:53And you mentioned earlier on the show, like, a little – maybe a little tail off here.
20:58He might be a guy that they feel is a little too up and down because with Benson, who they
21:05signed, what do you get?
21:07Like, the same thing every night?
21:08Yep.
21:08You might know where there's some shortcomings, but you get the same thing every night.
21:12Doan.
21:13We're on year two with Doan.
21:14But I feel pretty good – most nights I know what I'm getting out of Josh Doan.
21:18At the start of the season, there's a little bit of a slow start.
21:20Maybe he had an injury.
21:21Yep.
21:21He appears to be –
21:24Krebs.
21:24Osland, I think you know.
21:25I mean, even that.
21:26It was only one year, but look at how Lindy used him last year.
21:29He used him like a guy like, I know exactly what this guy's going to give me.
21:32Krebs, they re-signed, and people thought, like, wow, Peyton Krebs got four and a half for three years.
21:35But I do feel like I know what I get every night with Krebs.
21:38With Quinn, I don't know if they'll sign him or not, if they'll extend him.
21:42The number, of course, would make a difference.
21:43But is he a player where you just feel a little less confident what it's going to be night to
21:48night?
21:48You've got to kind of ride the ride.
21:50Right.
21:50Because for the first two games, I thought he was maybe their best forward.
21:53And, like, to the caller's point about constantly losing the puck, losing battles, I thought last night he did that
21:59all night.
22:00I don't know that he did that any other game, though, this season.
22:03But last night he did.
22:04So, yeah, he's a streaky offensive player.
22:09Right?
22:10But here's the thing.
22:12A good team can have one of those guys.
22:13Oh, yeah, absolutely.
22:14And on a team that isn't filled with natural goal scorers, a streaky offensive scorer that might be hot for
22:22a week and then disappear for a week and a half, I can afford that.
22:26You can afford it, especially if it's what he's paid now.
22:28Can you afford it if it's $7 million?
22:30What if it's $9 million?
22:32Well, it's at least $7 million.
22:33Fourth liners are getting paid $7 million.
22:34That's what I mean.
22:35Like, what number does he put up this year?
22:37And when he goes to the Sabres as an RFA, if he scores 26 goals in those hot streaks, is
22:43that $10 million?
22:44I mean, Ryan Leonard, who is about his age and scored 45 points last year, got $10.5 million in
22:49Washington.
22:50So, he scores 20.
22:51It totally depended on, right, what he does this year.
22:54If he scores 20 goals again, then I think something more modest, team-friendly might be realistic.
22:59If he gets about 30 goals, we're talking, I think the market for him is $10 million.
23:05That doesn't mean the Sabres would sign him to that.
23:08Maybe they would be like, well, hometown discount, you know, we want to fit this into the picture.
23:12We'll even make you our highest paid forward.
23:15Highest paid forward on the team.
23:17Eight and a half mil.
23:18Here we go.
23:19But, if he wants to really push it and say, yeah, I don't want to sign yet because of the
23:23way the cap's going,
23:24and I'm scoring 30 goals now, then he's a $10 million hockey player.
23:28I just think the consistency point doesn't have to be true about every single player on the team.
23:34When you had Paterka, and you had Olofsson, and you had all the guys like that.
23:37Paterka, who got traded, Olofsson, who they kicked out.
23:39Right.
23:40Like, if I got three or four of those guys, like, okay, that could become a problem.
23:43But, who else on the team is like Quinn?
23:46But, again, it also doesn't happen in a vacuum.
23:48They say goodbye to talk.
23:49In part, that's because of age curves, right, production curves of age.
23:53Right.
23:54Quinn would not really have that on him.
23:56He's 25 years old.
23:57You're getting him at the age that guys hit free agency.
24:00But, there's the cost of the player.
24:02And then, of course, there's always going to be, when you're managing the cap and managing contracts,
24:06the cost of who you don't pursue as a result.
24:10And, letting talk go was, all right, now I've got money to pay some of my other guys.
24:15If you sign Quinn, now you're locking into that life.
24:19And, sometimes I feel like you, again, I'm not even sure what I think they should do with him.
24:24I just want to have a little bit of flexibility with the roster.
24:27And, if they're to re-sign Quinn, now it's Norris, Benson, Thompson, Doan, McLeod, Quinn, Krebs.
24:33They're all, I mean, McLeod not as much long-term.
24:36But, everybody else pretty much for at least three more seasons.
24:40And, is that too locked in to that many guys?
24:43I think they all make such a little amount comparative to what guys are signing for now that you probably
24:48are okay.
24:48Like, they have $25 million in cap space going into next year.
24:51They're not going to use all that.
24:52Not on internal options.
24:55Like, Quinn could even get half of that.
24:57And, there is not a list of, I don't think, other guys that are going to make up the other
25:01$12 million.
25:03So, there is that part of it.
25:05And, you might say that the way the league is going now could impact this, right?
25:09Like, we've talked about how everybody is signing all of their guys.
25:13So, free agency and who becomes available might be a more limited pool.
25:17You might say, we probably should sign Quinn because what else are we going to do with that $8.5
25:23million if everybody is signing their own guys that are worth $8.5 million?
25:27Unless you're saving that for McDavid.
25:29Right.
25:31Which, they could pay Quinn and have money for McDavid anyway.
25:33Saving that for McDavid.
25:34It's just to make the offer.
25:36You've got to have it there just in case.
25:38Just in case.
25:39What number of goals does Quinn have to put up to make a claim?
25:42For him to make a claim, he should be the Sabres' highest paid forward.
25:46Given the state of the league.
25:47Given the state of the league, 25 goals.
25:49Okay.
25:5025 goals from Quinn and he's going to be the highest paid forward on the team.
25:53If I were him, I would...
25:54Because highest paid...
25:56The Sabres can't hold to that standard.
25:58It is such...
25:59I know.
26:00Less than $8 million, I can't imagine there's another team in the league that isn't paying a forward $8 million.
26:05$8 million is chump change right now.
26:08Washington's fourth line center makes six and a half.
26:10It just...
26:11Eight mil is nothing.
26:13And if the Sabres are expecting all of their players to...
26:16And you can't ask for this because you can't make $3 million more per year.
26:20Maybe this is what happened with Tuck.
26:21You can't make more than $3 million than anybody else on our team.
26:24It's not my fault that all of these guys signed when the cap was $80 million.
26:30If I'm Jack Quinn, I wouldn't sign right now if you're going,
26:33well, you can't be our highest paid forward.
26:34I understand that.
26:35Would a GM balk at the idea of making him your highest paid forward?
26:40Because sometimes that stuff...
26:42You know?
26:43I don't know.
26:44They drafted him.
26:45They developed him.
26:45But anyway, 803-0550.
26:48Hot and cold coming up.
26:49More time for your phone calls as well on the Sabres, on the Bills,
26:53whatever you got here on WGR.