Is it ridiculous to think Darcy Regier will be the Buffalo Sabres Senior Advisor?

Is it ridiculous to think Darcy Regier will be the Buffalo Sabres Senior Advisor?

Couple of veteran GMs saying no. Well, what about an old friend as the senior adviser to the Buffalo Sabres? That and plenty more coming up on the Locked On Sabres [Music] podcast. You’re Locked on Sabres, your daily podcast on the Buffalo Sabres, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. What’s up everybody? Welcome into the week and thanks for making Locked on Sabers your first listen every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast. You can check us out on our YouTube channel where you can watch the show. Be sure to like and subscribe us there. And you can also hit us up on our text club. If you’re not already a subscriber, you can do that by heading over to joinsubtex.com/lockedonsabers. Today’s episode is presented by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code lockdown NHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. Sneaky Jody Bassi here on a Monday. Watched a lot of hockey over the weekend and excited to talk a little more hockey today here on the show as we react and look ahead and we talk about senior advisor watch. Advisor watch. we have to figure out who this guy is going to be or if the Sabres will even hire somebody that we know they want to because there’s been a lot of reporting about it. So, we’ll get into all that. I’ve got an old name that I want to bring up for this job that I think will probably not make a lot of people feel great, but I’m thinking more and more about him for this senior adviser job that the Sabres are dangling out there to a couple of candidates. So that coming up and a little bit later on in today’s show, the next name in our exit interview series, not one of the major major names, but a quick word on Jordan Greenway coming a little bit later on in today’s show and the steps he took last year playing limited games because of injury and also where I see him in the lineup going forward because now that he’s under a contract extension, um that’ll be part of his journey is what is his role going to be going forward. So, little bit on him, a little bit later on, but a lot on senior adviser. It’s It’s interesting, by the way, that this job I part of the reason I’m doing another show on it is I see fans on Twitter for the Sabres and they’re talking about who it could be and interested in who it could be. Even though I mean, you would not expect a senior adviser to really make that much of a difference or a mark. on any old NHL team. If some other team hired whoever to be a senior adviser, you probably wouldn’t bat an eye. It’s not really a power position in an organization. But the bar here is so low that anybody you’ve heard of entering the organization is going to make you feel something one way or another. Eric Stall last week on our last episode. Um, now I I didn’t like it for personal reasons, of course, but there were a lot of fans for the Sabres that went, “Why did you even really tell us this? This is not what we want. We want experience. We want someone that isn’t in over their heads doing the job, and maybe Eric Stall is that, but you’re you’re telling us or flaunting that this big hire you made is somebody that’s never worked in a front office before?” Like, that that really isn’t the the key that everybody’s looking for. So the name they bring in that has experience I think will you know make people feel some things. Now that’s if they even land it. But our our starting point here was reports that the Sabres wanted this person that they wanted somebody with GM experience to come in and be a not not quite a mentor but another voice in the room for Kevin Adams. So, we get right into who they reached out to and the names that pop up from Dave Pegnota from the fourth period who’s a very plugged in insider over the years in the NHL. He reports that the Sabres approached both Lumer, who we did a full show on last week, if you missed that, you can check it out, and Ken Holland, but neither seemed interested in an advisory role. Now, couple of things there. We talked a lot about Lu Laarel last week. You want to check that show out, please do. He is in his 80s. He is a strong personality in a front office. He to me never felt like a senior adviser type. That’s a guy that wants to be in control if he is going to be in the building at all. And him being interested in a senior adviser role to me is not surprising at all. If he was offered GM, then maybe. But I’m not surprised by this Holland. Now, we did not talk about him really much at all. Even I listened back to our show from the fall about potential replacements for Kevin Adams. We even went into like assistant GMs around the league and experienced guys. Holland didn’t really come up. Now, he was not in the league this past season. He was let go by the Edmonton Oilers one year ago, and that organization got turned over. So Holland of course has a long long history of being an executive in the National Hockey League and he is you know I mean he’s more than 10 years younger than Lou Learella 69 years old. He was the GM for the Detroit Red Wings for 20 years basically 1997 to 2019 and then Oilers from 2019 to 2024. So, Ken Holland, now this is somebody that I have railed against in the last probably five years, six, seven years because to me, this is certainly one of those individuals that I absolutely would trust and love to run my hockey team in 2003, but in 2025, I want no part of him being anywhere near my team because to me, for five years, He has demonstrated that the league has pretty much passed him by. And even though Edmonton did get to the finals, there was a lot in there in Edmonton that didn’t necessarily go well. Now, tradewise that was and contracts like to me, they they they overcame him being the GM. Maybe that’s unfair to him. And honestly, if the job is to find a guy who’s been in the GM seat before and return some credibility to the organization without having his hands on the direct day-to-day, maybe Holland does make sense. Doesn’t matter, though. He ain’t interested. And like LML, I’d imagine that the only way you get a a whale like that in the boat, a fish like that in the boat, is to give him the GM job. And the Sabres are not currently looking to do that apparently. So, Holland out, Learella out. But now we kind of know what they and you know there’ll be reporting about whether that’s true or not, but it’s out there and it lines up with what they wanted from before. Now we kind of know what they are looking for, who they’re calling, and these are the big guns they’re going for. And it does kind of remind me of a situation that the Sabres just had happen one year ago where they talked about wanting an experienced head coach in the NHL. Adams talking about that his end of season press conference last year, a year ago. And then Andy Strickland from St. Lewis plugged in in the Blues reporting on Craig Bub who was a Stanley Cup winning coach of the Blues that he was going to Toronto. The Sabres tried to hire him and Buru to nobody’s surprise would have picked Toronto over Buffalo. So one year ago, the Sabres were looking for a credible hockey man, veteran coach to come in, be behind the bench. Sure enough, they do what they should do. They call Craig Bubet. That is what they should do in that spot for who was available. Okay. He doesn’t want to come here. Well, you’re looking around. You’re looking around. You’re interviewing a bunch of people. Then, uh I think actually I don’t remember the exact details of this. I think there was a dispute, wasn’t there? Freriedman reporting something and Adams saying something about how many people he interviewed and versus called and maybe Adams overinflated how many. Whatever. That was a year ago. What? They end up on the guy they know. and more than that in Lindy Roth, the guy that would say yes because of a connection point to the organization and experience working with Kevin Adams before because Adams would have been his assistant on the bench. So, they end up on Lindy. They try for the bigger names that were from other organizations. They don’t get it. They end up on the guy they know, the guy that has a connection. Well, maybe that’s the same thing that’s happening with this role. And it wouldn’t surprise me, but here’s the weird thing about this is if they start calling around and all right, Lemarel’s not interested and check that off and okay, Ken Holland’s not interested. Let’s check that off. Maybe they call Peter Sharelli who is a whatever in St. Louis right now, a VP in St. Louis and maybe he’s not interested. You check that off. I hope he’s the worst GM in NHL history in my opinion. So, I don’t want any part of him. Um, maybe they call up uh Brian Burke. I always bring him up. Maybe they call up. It doesn’t have to be a guy that was a GM in the league, but oh, who’s the name? The last time we talked about Adam’s replacements in the fall, the name we talked about was Lawrence Gilman, I believe. Yeah, Lawrence Gilman, who’s been a longtime assistant GM in the league, Maple Leafs and other teams. Even that, that’s not a guy with a GM position in his past, but longtime hockey executive. They could they could call a guy like that. What if none of these people just want to come? I and I do think that’s possible. I know what Jason Zucker said a month ago about and it’s not really a stigma of Buffalo around the league is that people don’t want to go there. Well, I see the evidence all the time that people don’t want to come here. Uh Matt Murray two years ago saying no to the Buffalo Sabres and Bur picking Toronto. I know it’s an easy one to pick the Leafs, but there are a lot of these examples over the years. If that starts happening one after another, well, what are we going to start looking for? And it’s going to be who’s got a connection to Buffalo, who’s got a connection to the organization, who knows the GM, who would be willing to work above the general manager. I understand why Lulu La Mel might not want to do it, right? He could very well think Adams is in over his head and think, “What are you kidding? I should be the GM.” I really did think a lot this weekend about Darcy Reggie and I’m not even really kidding. I thought a lot about Darcy Regear for this position. Now you might have just flown back in your chair like what who Darcy Regger in the year 2025. Did I just hear that name? You did. Um I have no idea what he is up to in his life. If I actually looked like to see any interviews or you know social media even like runins like no idea. He stopped working for the Arizona Coyotes about 10 years ago and since then has never worked in the league. He and the Coyotes split due to he he left the job due to personal reasons. Um don’t know what that is but February 2016 he left the Arizona Coyotes for personal reasons. So, guy hasn’t been in the league, hasn’t worked in hockey in 9 years. So, I’m not saying it’s a good idea. What I’m saying is I’m looking for some boxes to check here for what the Sabres typically end up going for. We know they want for this job, someone who’s been a GM before, someone who’s been a longtime veteran executive in the NHL. We also know they’re going to need to work above Kevin, work with, I should say, almost below Kevin Adams. a willingness to do that. You also probably need somebody that’s never going to needs to know they’re never going to be a GM again, right? Like I said this the other day, no 50-year-old upand cominging executive or Rob Blake, you know, someone that’s been a GM in the league before is going to want to be the senior adviser to Kevin Adams. I don’t think. Well, what about like Darcy would not have any sights on being a GM again. So, this would be his way if he’s if he’s even interested in this. He might not be um again he left for personal reasons. Maybe the personal reasons was he hated working in a front office. Um and he had just done it for long enough. He wanted to try something else. I don’t know. He might have no personal desire to do it. But if he does want to work in a front office or maybe he wants to try it again, this is kind of a, you know, an advisory role where you don’t have a lot of the pressures of being the GM on a day-to-day basis and maybe it’s a little different for him. Um, so again, like this is kind of a ridiculous idea, but it checks a lot of their boxes that they’re looking for. Guy who’s been a GM before and there’s a connection point to both the organization and Kevin Adams because when Reggie was the GM, Adams would have been the assistant coach. So, you have some connection there. And of course, Lindy, right? the the the thumbnail for this podcast will likely be Lindy and Darcy standing next to each other as they did running the Buffalo Sabres for almost two decades. So, and Lindy might have a good amount of say right now in that organization. And again, I’m just kind of imagining what those meetings must be like right now in the building where they’re talking about who should fill this role. And does Lindy at some point sit up and go, “Hey, anyone talked to Darcy recently? Maybe he’d do it. Maybe he’d be interested in it.” I wonder if the name even comes up for them. Again, he does not work in hockey anymore and he might have no desire and maybe they would know that and they would shut it down right away. But I’m just wondering about that because this is often where the Sabres end up is just going back to somebody that they know because those are sometimes the only guys that they can get. So Darcy, my opinion, by the way, on this if they were to do that is I would hate it. It would just look so more than Lindy. Lindy there was a reasonable defense for all right. Yeah. nostalgia and um you know just play praying on the good feeling of Lindy with the with the fan base, but there was this dude has been the coach of a great young team as recently as two years ago and even before that four years before that, like three years before that. Like Lindy had recent success in the league that was defendable about bringing him in to be the head coach. this guy would be hiring someone that hasn’t worked in the sport in nine years. Very very very different on that front. Um and there also would be kind of the the idea that you’re right back where you started when Pagoula took the team over, right? Oh, Darcy and Lindy are running things again. We just it’s a circle. We’re just going we’re going around and around and around, right? There would be that. And the Sabres, I’m sure, even if they ever got to a point where they seriously considered this, they might just say, “No, we shouldn’t do it, even if they thought he would be good in the role, because they don’t want they want they don’t want the look of it. The look of, man, you guys just can’t get anybody to say yes to you. You got to keep reaching back into the old scraps.” And I’m not sure they would um they would love that either. So, listen, by the way, my my opinion on Darcy though, when he was the Sabres GM, this is all about what I want him working in a front office now. I just don’t know what what would be it would be like for someone that hasn’t been in the league for 9 years. I liked Regear when he was the Saber GM now. He wasn’t perfect. I wish he was way more aggressive with trades and didn’t hold his players in such high regard around the league. he could really prevented that for being a lot of trades, but some of the draft picks and the teams that he built of course. So 506 and you know the Briier trade and he made a lot of good trades. Um he just didn’t make a lot of trades in general. Um Vanic and Pomville and Miller and Cam Campbell off and go on and on and on and on about the teams he built through drafting, but you know I just a little more aggressive trade-wise would have been my uh my forte. So, Darcy, what do you think? If you got an opinion on it. All right. When we come back, uh, a couple other candidates that I want to mention and then Jordan Greenway as an I as a exit interview in our next of our series that’s coming up here on Lockdown Sabers. Today’s episode of the Lockdown Savers podcast is presented by Monarch Money. Have you ever checked your bank account and wondered where did all the money go? Between dining out and online shopping and entertainment, it is so easy to lose track. And that’s where Monarch Money comes in. Your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances. Monarch Money isn’t just a budgeting app. It’s a complete financial command center. You track all your accounts, investments, and spending in one place. You stop just managing your money, and you start building some wealth, too. Managing money with your partner, that’s smoother than ever. Get share tracked and shared personal accounts. Set goals. Stay on the same page without all the stress. And instead of juggling multiple apps, you can use Monarch to check your finances, track spending, and even plan some long-term goals. Take control of your money with with Monarch Money. Control your finance with Monarch Money. Use code locked on NHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That’s monarchmoney.com. Code locked on NHL for half off your first year. Back here on the Locked On Savers podcast, Advisor Watch. Not just uh Darcy Regger, who I know is a very unlikely candidate, but still someone I’m thinking about for it. But other candidates really quick that I wanted to mention on today’s show that maybe have been mentioned around. I saw Dave Pagnod talking about this on the fourth period and he’s of course the one that was reporting about Holland and Lou Learella in the first place. Well, he also included as potential names the Sabres could consider that are not in the spe the the an adviser role or a role anywhere right now um or in different roles. Chuck Fletcher, former GM of the Philadelphia Flyers. Mark Burjan, GM of the Montreal Canadians, former GM of the Montreal Canadians, of course. Peter Sharelli, who I talked about in our last segment. Uh I think he’s the worst GM in NHL history, but there’s that. and then Pierre Dorian who was the former GM of the Ottawa Senators. These are all people that have worked before in different organizations. Now, here is the thing though that makes me again like my mind keeps going back to Darcy because what I’m looking for is somebody that’s worked with Kevin Adams before because you know like is is Mark Burjan going to come in cold to this organization for this role? that that to me just seems so unlikely that a G a former GM like that that’s never worked with Kevin Adams maybe doesn’t even know him that well or anyone else in the organization there’s got to be a connection point somewhere and I’m looking and I’m having a tough time finding somebody maybe I’m missing someone obvious but I’m having a tough time finding a guy like this I mean if you go back to the Carolina Hurricanes I mean Jim Rutherford is absolutely the name that would make sense here as the guy that has experience with Kevin Adams, of course, because he used to run the Carolina Hurricanes and even for that matter Eric Stall because he’s special adviser. But Jim Rutherford’s unavailable. He is the president of hockey operations in Vancouver. He is not going to leave that title in Vancouver to be the special adviser to Kevin Adams in Buffalo. It’s not going to happen. So unless you know he gets fired by Vancouver. Um or if he Let me do a quick check on this. I’m just thinking of this now because of course one you know card you might have to play sometimes if you’re Buffalo is are you close to a guy’s hometown in Ontario and can I play that card? Rutherford is in his late 70s and you know maybe he wants to live closer to home and okay there you go. He’s from Beaton, Ontario, which um obviously very far from Vancouver and is a two-hour drive from Buffalo. So, all right, that’s the best I could do. Does Rutherford get to a point where, you know, Adams calls him and says, you know, what what are your what are you thinking? How long you going to be in that job? And at 76, you again, I have no idea what Jim Rutherford is born there. Of course, he’s been in Detroit and um other places along the way, playing career and then Carolina. So, I don’t know what his connection point is anymore. I’m just I’m just grasping anything and I’m having a tough time finding anything that connects a guy to this role. I’m really wondering if they’ll fill it at all. I’m really wondering if they’re they’ll fill it at all. All right. Uh let’s get to our exit interview of the day. And because it’s going to be more on the back half of today’s show, we’ll spend a full episode on Owen Power, a full episode on Jack Quinn and JJ Purka and a lot more of the um younger players in this team. But let’s take a look at Jordan Greenway today. Jordan Greenway was looking around at some of his evolving hockey stuff uh recently and watching back a couple of his clips from the 2025 2425 season. And if you remember back at the beginning of the year, I was not a Jordan Greenway guy. Not a Jordan Greenway guy at all. I think I campaigned for him to be a healthy scratch at the beginning of the season. I was ready to move on. He obviously plays in the beginning of the year and he doesn’t get a lot of games in, but in the games he did get in, he looked really good. Looked very physical. I thought looked energized. Very good shorthand penalty killer. I mean, the best on the team arguably. I mean, Tuck would score the goals, but Greenway gives you that defensive prowess in the five on four situation, but also at five on five. And of course, physicality, which the Sabres lack a lot of standing up for teammates and, you know, just b I mean, watch watching the Florida Panthers in these playoffs. They just in a third period when the third period gets so tight and the refs put their whistles away, the games become more physical, and that is when guys like Jordan Greenway stand out. And I imagine if the Sabres ever get to games that are important like that that they would they would be able to they would be able to have success because of a guy like that. So somebody that I’m glad they resigned and are obviously hanging on to signing a two-year extension with the Buffalo Sabres. $4 million per year I think is a completely fine contract. He has a five team no trade list. Now, last year there were times where he played in the top six and that is to me just a step a little bit too far. I think on a third line like when he was playing with green with Zucker and Mloud, that’s a really nice situation because offensively there still really just isn’t a lot there. You know, he doesn’t have much of a shot. He’s not that creative of a thinker in the offensive zone. I think he could he could have a year at some point in his career where he scores 15 to 20 goals because, you know, stays healthy and he’s sitting in front of the net. He’s getting opportunities to cash in, but this is not a guy that is ever a threat when he is coming down into the offensive zone with speed, just roof one or to go around a guy or whatever. Like, he’s got to score his goals around the net. And last year, three goals in 34 games. Imagine that. I mean, that’s where he’s just a different sort of player. You’re not getting offense. You also don’t want him on the fourth line, though. But I like the season and it was three goals in 34 games. I think it should speak to the role that Greenway really plays. So to me, I don’t want him in the top six. I want him on the third line. And I think returning him with pairing him with Ryan Mloud to me is perfect because Mloud, they they balance each other really well. They’re both very good defensive players, but Mloud has the speed and isn’t quite as physical and Greenway has that physicality even though Mloud might not have much of it. And I think that pairing is one that they need to get back together at the start of next season. So happy they signed Greenway. If you are interested in some of the evolving hockey numbers from Jordan Greenway, and just for this podcast, I usually just try to show goals above replacement. I don’t want to over complicate things. Um 71st percentile defensively, 16th percentile offensively in his last three seasons. So again, not somebody that is to me almost like I never want to see him on the power play, but defensively that guy’s got a place on my team and is worth3 to4 million if he’s going to give me an impact like that. So very happy with uh Jordan Greenway going forward and glad the Sabres got that deal done. All right, uh exit interview series continues as we kind of look back on their previous seasons and look ahead as well. We will talk Owen Power next on the show. His value already, what his, you know, potential partner we should be looking for in a lot to get to coming up with him. So, thanks for listening. The playoffs rolling along. We got the Amirs later in the week. So, we’ll get back into them as well. If you’re looking for more playoff talk, be sure to check out Locked on NHL game night every game, every night until the Stanley Cup champions crowned. Find NHL game night and locked on NHL on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. Talk to you tomorrow. You’re on the Lockdown Savers podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day.

The Buffalo Sabres are reportedly 0 for 2 in their search for a Senior Advisor to help Kevyn Adams, after calling Lou Lamoriello and Ken Holland. Could the Sabres reach back into the bucket of people they know and call up former Sabres GM Darcy Regier? Sneaky Joe looks back at Darcy’s career, how long it’s been since he’s been in the league, and how ridiculous this idea is.

Plus, other more realistic ideas to be Senior Advisor. Also, a look at Jordan Greenway’s 2024-25 season, which earned himself a contract extension despite a load of injuries that kept him off the ice.

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOSabres?sid=YouTube

Locked On NHL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Prospects & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNHL

Follow on Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/SneakyJoeSports
Follow the show on Twitter https://mobile.twitter.com/LockedOnSabres

#NHL #Sabres #buffalosabres

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Monarch Money
Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.
Wonderful Pistachios
Get snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more!
Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

FanDuel
Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)