Baker Fairburn Hockey Show – Feb 10, 2024: Mittelstadt chatter heating up?

Baker Fairburn Hockey Show – Feb 10, 2024: Mittelstadt chatter heating up?

Well it says that we are live I’ve never seen that before on the screen it’s like you are live it was like right in my face happy Saturday everyone including Matthew Fairburn the baker Fairburn hockey show pregame Edition today on a really nice Saturday we’ve had some really good weather here but um

I’m gonna be inside today watching the Buffalo Sabers I think you Matthew Farber and down at the arena are also going to be stuck inside for the next few hours watching the Buffalo Sabers take on the St Louis Blues we got a few people coming in

We’ll give them a few more seconds but time is short because we got to make sure that you Matthew Fairburn from the athletic are in position for warm-ups catch any line combinations that might be going on and just kind of get ready for the big game today Sabers Blues one o’clock puck drop

So are you good to go Matthew are you all settled in into your little you’re not in your usual office it’s kind of weird no I’m I’m in a little Nook here in in the Press Box if people hear some slight background noise it’s just the uh the in-house Acoustics getting warm for

Uh the game Day presentation and whatnot but it was a foggy drivein this morning it’s beautiful out it’s the temperature is great I just have a light jacket on but super foggy couldn’t even uh hardly see the arena until you were right on top of it so uh interesting made for an

Interesting drivein but now we’ve got a a nationally televised game Chris for these Sabers can they still put on a show are they still that type of team that can be worthy of the national TV Spotlight we’ll find out here in about they’re wearing they’re wearing the blue and

Gold today right because they just did the the red and black last game so the the chances of the show time coming from at least one of the blue and gold teams today uh is a little less I think but we’ll see how it goes we’ll see how it

Goes because they didn’t have a bad game um on Tuesday against Dallas they just couldn’t put the puck in the net they kind of ran into a pretty hot goalie there today’s goalie match up by the way and we’ll get to the game a little bit

Later because I think we have a lot of things that we want to talk about in a kind of a compressed window here looks like UPL is going to get the start today against former Portland Winterhawk Jill Hofer so getting a little backup action today maybe that helps the Sabers put on

A show we’ll see um but either way Matthew a lot going on um in on the Twitter verse anyways a lot of chatter that of course is not a new topic for fans of the baker Fair Burt hockey show I saw some things heating up last night went out the happy hour got

Home had dinner fired up the old Twitter saw people were talking about last I’m seeing this Casey middl stat name popping up a little more frequently than it has in recent weeks anyways I don’t know if that’s the proper place to start but I think it’s kind of a Hot Topic

That we should probably at least touch upon so let’s go um I believe it was our good friend Andrew Peters from after leisle podcast with Craig V great podcast by the way I don’t mind pumping up the tires of other podcasts they’re they’re awesome excellent and yeah

Andrew this week had reported put on his reporter’s hat because he’s still plugged in and he had uh received some information that apparently D gr not Dan Granado excuse me Kevin Adams is shopping and that’s the that’s the key word shopping Casey midat um we’ve talked about it I went back

Last night when I was sitting in the chair and I was like when did Matthew and I first kind of go on that topic it was November one 10 games into the season we talked about it for 15 minutes for folks that are now kind of not early

Adopters of the baker Fair bur hockey show I would encourage you to go back to that November 1 episode of Baker furn hockey show and check out the discussion talked about it for about 15 minutes amongst other things it’s now right in the kind of center of the saber verse

Now in terms terms of the new cycle um thoughts on what you’re hearing is it corroborated um has your position kind of matured from where we were back in November what’s your what’s your take on what Andrew reported it has not you know my take hasn’t dramatically changed on

This topic I think you know it’s a matter of shopping feels maybe like it’s a little strong you know it’s it could be a matter of semantics right uh Kevin Adams is calling every team in the league this time of year he’s checking in and frankly is not

Doing his due diligence as general manager if he’s not figuring out what the value is for Casey middlest stad especially when you’re talking about a guy who needs a contract right you’re weighing what could a potential return look like versus what does a potential you know New Deal look like so I think

That’s that’s the tricky part of this time of year I think is that between you know not just this most recent uh report but you know Elliot Freedman has tossed Casey midd st’s name out there just in terms of kind of connecting the dots right like we did in November is if

They’re not winning and he is not signed that’s the next logical conversation and it’s a matter of it’s a matter of price it’s a matter of term and it’s a matter of return those are are the three key pieces to this that you kind of have to decide on and as we

Talked about a little bit off the air what’s coming right you know who in the pipeline might be ready and how soon so it’s not a matter of Casey midat being you know a bad player or a bad fit or any of that I think it’s the opposite

It’s he’s your most valuable potential trade asset at the moment because he’s and still could be after a contract contct you know but that’s why his name is going to pop up and he’s probably a name that teams are calling about right and saying hey here’s this RFA that’s

Not signed let’s remember at this time last year Tage Thompson and Dylan cousins were already signed to their extensions cousins had his over the All-Star break so the fact that there hasn’t been a lot of progress there it’s going to lead to this type of speculation and it’s a a tricky spot

When you already have your two top centers locked up in theory in Thompson and Dylan cousins you know now you’re talking about depending on the number what does that number three Center look like so he’s probably a top six price tag a top six type of player but doesn’t

Always slot there in the Savers lineup so it makes it a little bit tricky he’d be a crazy good like third line centerman on one of these playoff teams like you think about the depth that that would give another team down the middle that’s going to be attractive if he

Truly is having conversations Kevin Adams with some of these teams that it depends on you know if he’s having a conversation with a team that’s in the playoff race that kind of like lessons the maybe Readiness of what you’re going to get in return you know

That’s the part of it that kind of scares me about this heating up now closer to the deadline that’s something that you and I talked about Also earlier in the season was the earlier that you move on maybe that decision on middle stat based on discussions that you’re having with his representation and

Everything else you have a broader pull of I think teams to talk to and maybe getting more value you know in terms of usable players now because we know that the nature of the trades that you make closer to the deadline teams that are buyers are usually flipping prospects and

Picks for but you know also a lot of times it’s for expiring contracts that are getting in return just to make a one-year run it’s going to be really interesting to see who he’s talking to if he truly is right I I believe what Andrew is saying because I have an you

Know what I mean I know who the connections that he has it’s real and it makes sense uh yeah I think to your point what you just outlined would make me somewhat surprised if something got done before the deadline because it almost doesn’t feel like it

Would hey maybe the right deal pops up you have to be ready at any time and that’s why you take the calls that’s why you do your due diligence but the same time if you’re trying to widen your potential pool of suitors and the potential return the potential

Return pieces that you could get in terms of readymade because I think the other part of this Chris is that you know these teams that are in a playoff position you’re not just talking about picks which people are probably sick of getting in return for these players

You’re talking about a late pick right and I don’t know you know I haven’t familiarized myself with this draft class quite yet but I think there is some early chatter that the later first round picks are are kind of L teams are more eager to move move the pick because

Maybe you know the depth of the first round isn’t quite you know what it might be in the other other years but that aside it’s still a late first round pick which as we know you know is not a sure bet so that’s where I would be somewhat

Surprised especially given the way Kevin Adams has handled the season kind of letting this this Core group of players figure this out work through it middle stat being a a key component on and off the ice to that but when the right deal pops up the right deal pops up and maybe

You get a team you know sweetening sweetening the deal you know being a little bit more desperate at the deadline we’ve already seen the Center Market is pretty pretty solid that that Lindholm return was was a nice you know haul for for Calgary so that worked out

You know on either end it’s what it’s why how many how many of those are there to make right now though you know that’s that’s the question right how many of those types of hockey trades and that was still a Calgary team that is okay getting some picks back and getting some

Prospects back right whereas the sabes that’s already their strength so it makes more sense as an offseason deal especially because you’re you’re just buying yourself more time to maybe get deal done or maybe move different pieces and maybe keep Casey middle stat you know and it’s not to advocate for being

Indecisive or hesitant because I think a lot of people would criticize Uh Kevin Adams for that already but you have to be smart with a with an asset like this a homegrown player 25 years old entering his prime who is somebody who likes playing here which is not insignificant uh as we’ve talked

About too you know it’s it’s hard to attract people from outside to feel the same way that Casey Middle’s going to feel about the Sabers organization we were saying for a long time the saber is just the market the team the reputation it’s an organization that has to promote from within that’s

How they’re going to get back to a you know maybe a top 10 team in the league at some point here’s a guy they drafted him worked his way up it’s that promotion from within but the other part to that Andrew peters’s little blurb on middlest stat was that

It was Kevin Adams doesn’t want to pay him now I don’t know if that was commentary or if that’s what he’s being fed from his Source but that’s a big part of this because there’s another option that you can go to right it’s you can sign them extend them on a trade

Contract but you know I’m seeing in the chat you know like I think um some of the models like we discussed last week someone said someone said 5.8 aav and I thought that was too low I said it begins with a six and now I think it was

Cummings or someone in the chat I saw it out the corner of my eye I saw the number 6.8 for maybe Dom one of your peers from the athletic um I’m not finding it now here we go Brian Cummings says Dom L was it Lucan has a value of

6.8 million on middle stat well that might explain if that’s more what the Market’s going to be for Casey midad then you can maybe understand why Kevin Adams is not touching that right yeah it that’s the big piece here and it’s what we’ve talked about from

The beginning is how many of these guys can you afford to be paying that number it blocks what you can do elsewhere and it I think to your point it has to be a tradable contract right if you know you want the flexibility in the future for

Noah osen to step into a spot uh Matt seavoy if he continues to play center Yuri Kik if he continues to play center so you want the flexibility to move some of these pieces so do you maybe get a shorter deal lower money to give them the option to get to

A UFA sooner you know there’s there’s options there but really the price tag is going to be a pivotal piece of this and whether or not they can make any sort of progress towards you know a deal or you know because there’s teams in different cap situations that would love to have this

Player with different depth charts you know that need centers so it’s going to be interesting I I think it’s everything we talked about in November which hadn’t crossed my mind because I hadn’t really entertained the idea of the Sabers being at this point 10 points out really looking like a seller

So if you’re selling this is the most attractive trade asset on your roster right now because the ufas are only getting you small draft pick return at Best dude he’s probably your team MVP I think there’s three guys that are team this year yeah he should have been the allstar it’s middlest stat

UPL you can talk about just because but I think it’s more about he’s um exceeding expectations is he your most valuable in the big picture I don’t know because you know they would have to be a playoff team for him to be the most valuable

And then you know petka I think is in the picture honestly like especially if he keeps kind of going right he’s still writing his story for this season and he can continue to take off we never know but my two big thoughts on this whole middle stat

Situation are um one if you’re gonna like if you think that you’re going to get a guy to play with Owen power in return I don’t think you get that at the trade deadline so the conversations that Kevin Adams is having right now are probably setting the foundation for

Whatever work they get done in June before UFA R around the draft whatever the other part is again on this theme if they’re an organization that has to promote from within to kind of really get a good young court and that’s what they’ve been doing then for me it’s really about seavoy and

Ain because you have these guys that are firecrackers they can play they’re looking good but they’re not ready yet so if you move middle stad this offseason if you go into 2024 25 without Casey that to me you probably have like a two-year Gap at least that you’re going to have

To fill at that position and you’re still gonna need a defenseman right so it’s like you know I don’t know it’s those are my thought unless you get one in return unless you get one in return right like you know you’re not moving him without getting at

Least that defenseman in return I don’t think and maybe not even without a potential bottom six Center also you know the other piece of this which would be interesting but they’ve shown no signs of this is that it’s also uh potentially the spot where Payton KBS

Could step into like do you feel that he could be your 3C in the lineup and Surround him with some more offensive players they haven’t shown that they want to do that yet right they haven’t well they better start the audition then they haven’t really given him that

Audition I do want to pull up this comment from Ryan this question that I think is relevant to the whole discussion because he asked everyone wants to rush to ship out prospects has Kevin Adams earned the right to let his picks play out and see what ones make it and what

Ones don’t and it’s an interesting piece to sort of the backdrop of the Kevin Adams trade deadline conversation because I think for sure if you’re moving out Casey midd stat you want some readymade players that are on term or willing to be on term that can help you

Top four defenseman and a bottom six player and maybe a prospect you know you want a legit return but I like Ryan’s question because we talk about the strategy that they’ve implemented this long patient approach which is prudent in hockey you know and for a team like the

Sabers who needs to get players to buy into being Buffalo Sabers and promote from within and get them excited about being here has Kevin Adams earned the time to let some of these guys continue to develop now you’re you’re talking about a long timeline right even with seavoy

Aand Pik maybe not being impact players for another couple of years but the drafting has gone pretty well for the valid criticisms of Kevin Adams as a general manager the drafting has been pretty decent so far from what we’ve seen you know of course having a

Number one one overall pick makes it a little bit easier having three first round picks makes it a little bit easier but yeah it’s like when it’s like when uh Publications rank the prospect pools and this like the Savers are always in like yeah no right all they’ve been

Doing is picking in the top right but yeah JJ petka second round pick pretty good Jack Quinn was not a a consensus pick was actually quite unpopular if memory serves and injuries have been a problem but he looks good um Kik I mean late first round to get him

Benson at 13 you know I think he’s putting together a decent little track record here in terms of drafting I know you like some of the defenseman that they’ve gotten uh last year and wallberg uh you like you like P toot you know so they’ve started to accumulate some

Decent players you can’t wait forever right that would be great for every general manager to say just give me eight years and once all these picks play play out but I think there is an element of you know of of what Ryan’s saying here maybe he’s earned just a little bit

Longer to see how these guys continue to develop but you also need to know when to sell you need to know when the time is right to move one of those guys or two to get you somebody that’s ready to play it’s their job to manage the assets

Right like you have your Player Development staff working with these guys all the time whether they’re in Rochester they’re still with their European home clubs or Junior clubs and they have to know what they have opinions change on guys um just because you like your amateur Scouts like guys when you draft

Them but then it’s a whole other set of resources that start working with them once they’re drafted and opinions change on players based on who’s working with them they have to manage those assets I think at and in the big picture you can’t Implement a strategy saying we’re

Going to build this from the draft from the ground up and then kind of pull the plug and just say you haven’t earned the right to because then you’re you’re you’re deviating and then you’re you get to zero real quick like you almost have to restart in many ways but um no you

But they have to know what they have they’re going to manage their assets I think they can’t sit on all these prospects forever they have to have a good understanding of who’s who and what their timeline is they gotta get Olen over here next year they gotta get seavo

In they gotta get these guys in I think those are two that are going to be um they’re going to pop you know you know what roles these guys are going to fill tooo if you have to change your attitude of your team you got to look at how you

Play today you have a team that can’t get to the net regularly you have a team that doesn’t they pass up shooting it’s maddening so if you have some prospects that are going to be more Bulls in China shop Hard NOS heavy and they can skate then you start slotting them in

You put them in the good pile you got you know you start separating them there’s guys like isach rosan good prospects that might not really fit or have a harder time getting in the lineup next season or in two years because of who you’ve already extended

And you’re not going to move in trades and you gotta kind of they have to have a couple piles here I think Kevin Adams is still he still has the right I think he still has the right to kind of let a lot of these playoff based on what I just

Said have some decisions though on guys that you don’t think fit the program and those are the guys and it’s a small group but those are that’s how you start tipping away at this little stack of chips that you have yeah Roseanne was the one that always pops into my head trying to

Figure out where he fits and how quickly and trying to like you said maximize the value right it’s it’s like it’s like the stock market you know it’s like trying to pick at the right time when to get rid of a guy when to hold the whole thing it

Actually Scott wheeler had a an interesting point on Twitter about this that this week our one of our Prospect writers when he was he was pushing back a little a little bit on the idea that like people doing a 2022 redraft it’s way too soon you know people were up in

Arms or were reranking these prospects in the 22 draft or even the 23 draft you know eight months later and his point was if if teams aren’t doing that they’re not doing their job right you have to be you don’t want to change your opinion too quickly but to your point

Your amateur guy picks somebody your development guys are are working closely now with somebody after eight months and they say uh I’m not sure what the directory looks like now all of a sudden maybe we think he’s here but you have a better idea of him than the other 31

Teams around the league because you’re working Hands-On with him that’s key that is crucial to accelerating your timeline building your team is the evaluation doesn’t stop it stops for Jerry foron and The Amateur staff it doesn’t stop for the organization and so you have to you’ve now got a big body of

Work on a lot of these prospects and you have to figure out which ones fit which ones don’t which ones you feel best about or which ones that maybe you feel good about but other teams feel really good about them too and you can get a

Nice return it feels like we’re at a little bit of a moment of Reckoning with that right like you can feel good about every Prospect but which ones does you know maybe the wild feels better about ESO Rosanne than do where they value them a little bit higher that’s when you move

Especially if you don’t see a spot in the lineup and it feels like we’re going to reach a boiling point at some point both with where the Sabers are right the pressure if they think they have pressure this year just wait until next year yeah especially if the same staff

Is in place same front office potentially the same coach I haven’t ruled out you know that as well as of now we have no reason to believe that anything’s gonna change right now because I think you could make the same point about Kevin Adams you know or Don Granado that

You made about Kevin Adams right that if it is a patient develop from within approach and he’s a guy that’s re got a strong track record of developing players why do you pull the plug you know other than all the reasons we’ve mentioned about how the team

There’s legitimate reasons to do it but if you’re following that train of logic and that’s where the timing of the extensions right before last season sort of sign that yes this is a multi-year vision and so maybe you know so my point being as the pressure ramps

Up on this team entering next season that’s when you need some of those more short-term fixes veteran players that maybe can play in the top four on defense or middle six you know and bring some of that that compete some of that jam some of that net front presence and

You’ve also reached a point with your prospects I think where you’re bursting at the scene teams right you have so many of these guys you’re making Chris Baker way too busy he’s watching way too many games there’s so many players in the system but also you’ve reached a

Point with those players where you have a big body of work post-draft you should be able to decide now who fits who doesn’t who do you like who do you not who do you like more than others and try to you know make moves that are that are

Going to help your team next year because you know we can we can talk about the pressure they faced this year and their inability to live up to it it’s only going to keep getting stronger I think that pressure as as time goes on uh unless apathy completely sets in from

From the not an option you said the word pressure and we only have about 10 minutes left is we have plenty of time to talk about the middle stat thing as we go because we’re going to keep recording episodes this isn’t the last ever Baker Fair Burt hockey show let’s

Talk a little bit about the pressure both in this season maybe when you compare in contrast to last season you had a couple themes I don’t know if that’s the right way to frame it coming into this season and we should probably talk about that right now because they’re 10 points

Out of the final Wild Card spots still they’re what 50 games into the season I think today’s game 51 don’t hold me to it it is um we saw this team last year come out of the start break they were in the thick of it going into the break they

Were hot right fun everyone wanted to watch the Buffalo Sabres last year they were scoring a ton power play was ripping and then they kind of fell flat and what did they say or at least you know like it wasn’t a team that really handled the the pressure young group

Right they kind of fell back out of the race the pressure came off and then they became fun again what’s your just take on that as it relates to this season because they’re 10 points back right now they should be playing free and fun right well I remember in the preseason I think

It was in the preseason because I recall sitting not far from where I’m sitting now after what I think was the final preseason game and we were recording one of these and you brought up a Pittsburgh game yeah sorry you’ve got a good memory and you

Brought up that that point of how will they handle that going into this season and I think it became a pretty smart Point by you as time went on that they didn’t handle it very well out of the gate first off they didn’t handle it organizationally well I

Felt like you know we’ve we’ve heard a lot of mixed messaging about oh tighten up on defense and maybe that’s going to take away some of the offense you know sort of white knuckling it from the start right need to play better defense and sort of getting away from the

Identity that made them a team that almost made the playoffs last year so organizationally top down it felt like they felt some of that pressure and and Don Granado’s brought it up a lot this week in reference to the injuries saying that they’re in this better place psychologically to handle it and that

They’re in a better place in general psychologically over the last three or four weeks they’re playing better hockey I think everybody sees that but the the question I asked him the other day was you know because he brought that up he brings it up in reference to a lot of

Things whether it’s the power player the penalty killer guys improving and he talks about guys being in different you know life situations right new contracts for Dylan cousins Tage Thompson Owen power Rasmus stene feeling this individual pressure and he he said he feels like some guys have really let go

Of that and have have really started to find themselves again to which I said how do you know that they’ve learned how to deal with that versus it’s just gone because you’re 10 points out of the race right it might just be gone like when it comes back what’s going to happen

Because we saw at the end of last season when it came back you know it became a little bit of the same situation but also when it came back this fall it was the same situation as you know last year when they fell out of it so that’s an interesting you know Don

Granado’s point was that each time you go through it you get better at it and these guys are still incredibly young the youngest team in hockey so it’s a question of will they final will it finally sink in with this group of players at show me show me don’t blow me

Right does the patience that we talked about with Kevin Adams and and Don Granado like give have they earned the right to let these guys develop or has this young core earned that right to show that they can work through it is it a natural thing or is it does the roster

Need to be supported more in different ways with different types of leadership does a different voice uh at head coach change how a team handles pressure maybe you know or is it just a matter of time and age I think it’s an interesting point to follow thread to

Follow at some point because the pressure is not back right there’re still 10 points out you get to play like like like it doesn’t matter at this point play free get some points you never know but no going back to kind of how we we set the table for this whole

Pressure management discussion the worst thing that happened to this team was having all those home games at the beginning of the year I would make an argument that the the season gets off on a much different note if they were on the road you know but um that’s hey you know whatever

Can’t can’t change that that’s how the schedule was built but I’m still stuck on that I Won’t Let It Go um okay you got a boogie in a few minutes let’s warmup just started a few minutes early so if the U music has turned up here um

People you got a couple to go through a couple chats or no do you have do you have let’s go through and if I got a bail then you can you can clean out the chat in my absence shouldn’t be any surprises in the lineup by the way Don

Granado said same lineup same lines as Tuesday night so UPL and goal and yeah okay shouldn’t be any surprises but if the volume is too loud let me know I’ll mute while I’m not talking you’re all good you’re all good um Wyoming trout says we need more big bodies I would

Love to get Marcus feno back in case he is from Minnesota I’ve thought about that myself personally and I think I even mentioned it to you I don’t know if it was on or off uh line just about how man you know Felino is that type of

Player you know that they could use some of that uh just inject that into the lineup that attitude that big body that net front all that stuff um let’s see a lot of the chat talking to each other today I love to see it makes it hard

Though to to pull out the ones this is a good point uh go ahead half half the team can enjoy a nice cold beverage after a long game to reset maybe that’s part of the problem with the pressure once they get more guys that are 21 everything will start to sort itself up

Yep I agree that’s uh that helps um Michael Paca Spike says yep Chris this is on middle stat offseason deal if at all yeah I mean the the you know you certainly can cast a broader net have more conversations shop offers against one another um that’s kind of you know just makes

Sense when you’re you know running the business side of it for sure um Charlie who is a big commenter brings a lot of vitriol in the comments I’m happy to see Charlie here on the live version I don’t know if Charlie’s regularly in but he’s certainly active in the chat today P Le

It’s the team in goals but sits on the bench while watch poo and Coach his son playing the power play in the top line now for those that haven’t been following in the comments who Charlie is referring to is Jordan Greenway um just want to throw that up

There now aoso up top has been kind of out of necessity I think that we talked about it right or wrong um you know he’s been having he’s been playing better than I thought he would have this year he still doesn’t add speed to the lineup

And I get Charlie’s point but um I wanted to reward Charlie by throwing one of his comments up on the screen today because he’s all over the comments in the videos uh once they are not live anymore uh let’s see Rob wise this is going back to the middle stat discussion I’m

Wondering if the Peter’s comment regarding payment was more about the years and the amount that’s possible that’s possible like if I’m Casey middleset I don’t know if I’m taking a short-term deal regardless of dollars um I don’t know well you’ve watched everybody around you get paid right

That’s part of it yeah you know you go out and earn it in every sense of the word and you’re essentially the only player player that has been consistent wire to wire for this team since last February so he’s certainly gone out and earned it and earned the right to to

Push that value uh as much as he can and that’s where this whole conversation starts right that’s why it gets interesting because you know if it were a team-friendly deal you might be having a different conversation I agree chb1 123 says MIT is everything the team would want or need experienced player

Who has become what you developed and wanted him to become correct you trade him and if you return as some Prospect in picks uh water gun to the head so um yeah I mean look here’s the thing with middle stat too is he has he’s exactly as you

Describe but you know you have all these other guys that you signed um they’ve established themselves just like Casey has to a certain extent you can argue maybe cousins hasn’t fully established himself yeah that was more speculative but you’re not winning with these guys and you might have to do you

Might have to just give yourself a new look and Matthew you said something I thought that was very important uh when we were talking on your drive down to the arena today you know it’s not like middle stat is this unicorn right right like you can kind of you

Can get a similar production you get similar production out have maybe a different player that maybe has just a different player profile too that does different things he’s a he’s a very good player he’s very good in the room and he is to the this commenter’s point he has

Developed the way you wanted him to develop all those things can be true but especially with his role on the team where he would be what your third highest paid Center So in theory your third Center he is worthy of being a top six center I would you know we say he

Should have been their Allstar he’s probably their Team MVP to this point but the point the team is 10 points out of the playoffs right and so can you I think there’s a point to be made that top end centers are scarce in the NHL you know th those are great assets

But middle stat if everything goes to plan with Tage Thompson and Dylan Cousins Middle stats really your three you can find a third center right UFA that’s 28 29 you know the Krebs question is a legitimate one but to me if you’re banking on that going into next year

You’re risking more the more of the same year so I think you can you can find it’s not a matter to of get rid of middle stat for prospects or picks for stuff it’s get rid of middle stat if you can get stuff to help your team next year

Period if that’s not happening I enter into a different part of this conversation where I’m I’m with some of these commenters that say if it’s prospects and picks you know then then what are we doing right you know what what exactly is the plan there you only

Do it if it’s helping your team next year in other areas to your point change the makeup of the group change the the look and and get some depths depth in other areas where then you go and find the way the Red Wings have right you find these bottom six players in

Unrestricted free agency or smaller trades to bring in an experienced you know kind of kind of guy there I think in that way you know it can work I’m with you man um hey it’s 12:31 we’ve already established that warm-ups are going I got to get you to your

Chair next to uh I’m assuming Joe juren is your linemate and Jonah Le bronstein and Jonah oh Jonah Le bronstein tell them I said hello man I I got to get up to Elmos and uh play grab ass with Jonah it’s been a little bit I’ll let you get

Situated I’ll clear this out and send us off hey the last thing I’ll say on middle step before you bounce is um you know that Peter R podcast that’s a players podcast and I wantan to you know I’m kind of wondering how he’s gonna process that

He’s heard the noise I’m sure this isn’t new but let’s pay attention you know just kind of see if there’s a noticeable change in on and off the ice with Casey midad and you’re down there we’ll be expecting you to keep an eye yeah that is one that cuts through the noise I

Don’t know if the baker Fairburn hockey show has made its way into the locker room but I feel pretty confident that the the after the whistle show has broken the uh the bloodb brain barrier there a little bit we’ll find out yeah let us know what what you’re seeing down there you that’s

The benefit of uh you being around man you see the things that all myself and all of us in the chat often do not all right Matthew get on your way I’ll close us out um hey thanks everyone for hopping in on this lovely Saturday afternoon here in Buffalo New York it’s

46 degrees right now I was going to go golfing this morning I’m glad I didn’t because then we wouldn’t have the opportunity to do this plus I didn’t feel like getting all muddy and stuff and uh I’m gonna go make got what out there it rained a little bit in Hamburg

Out by by us so walking the dog sucked I actually had a little hail this morning but um hey thanks everyone as always for hopping in we’ll be back again soon I have to travel on business uh this week so we have to find a Time Matthew to

Kind of make it right we we’ll do another episode here in the next couple days but multiple episodes a week coming your way from the baker furn hockey show uh for Matthew furn from the athletic for the production crew enjoying a very lovely day I’m gonna bring him a drink

Uh out the in the production truck I’m Chris Baker we’ll see you again very soon

Kris Baker and The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn review the week’s news prior to the Sabres’ Saturday matinee versus St. Louis.