Eric Staal Added to Sabres Front Office w/ Paul Hamilton | The Jeremy and Joe Show

Eric Staal Added to Sabres Front Office w/ Paul Hamilton | The Jeremy and Joe Show

Also talking Sabres front office and joining us on the Western Hotline, Mr. Paul Hamilton as we have a new member of the Sabres front office. There was a uh video Eric Stall tweeted out. So Stall is back next to Kevin Adams, not as a player this time, but as a assistant to the GM. Good morning, Paul. Good morning, guys. How are you, Paul? Is this the kind of move you might have expected? This this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody as this the Sabres want to beef up their front office and maybe give Adams more more more minds to bounce things off of more of a collaborative whatever it might be. Like Adams needs bodies in the room to work with him. Yeah, this is fine. I mean, it didn’t really hit me as, oh, this is awful or this is great. It’s it’s it’s fine. I mean, basically listening to Eric Stall talk with uh Martan Baron and Brian Duff, it’s almost and and you know, other teams have done this, it it reminds me a little bit about when Dan Daniel Breier went to the Philadelphia Flyers. Um it’s almost like he’s there for an internship. I mean, Stall, when the guys asked him about uh, you know, what he’ll be doing, he basically said whatever they want me to do, I’m going to be there next week and I’m just going to be like a sponge like listening and learning and, you know, learning the front office and every aspect of it. And he goes, “Whatever they ask me to do, I’ll do.” And, um, you know, he does bring experience, that’s for sure. very a very smart player when he when he played and he he it wasn’t that long ago that he just retired. So he knows the league very well. He knows the players he played against and with very well. So he can help from that standpoint also. Um so you know that and that’s what the Flyers did with Brier. They they brought him in and basically taught him every aspect of a front office uh operation. Then they made him the general manager of their minor league team, but he actually went there and lived in the city, which, you know, Carmanos does doesn’t do with the Sabres, and it looks like maybe he might not be back. Uh, he he more was, you know, doing things remotely. So, um, you know, that I could see maybe Stall I don’t know if he would be the GM of the Amirs right off the bat. just coming into the organization. But, uh, you know, I could see him, you know, moving into a role like that eventually, but um, you know, it’s it’s fine. I mean, obviously, there needs to be more done to the hockey department. Um, you know, you need to get uh still need to get, I think, an experienced guy who maybe has been a general manager and somebody like that that Adams can bounce things off of. And uh, you know, well, you’ve heard me ever since probably before Adams came here. you know, Rick Dudley to me really should have been the general manager and and uh just is a great hockey mind and um you know would be I think a fantastic mentor for Adams or anybody else that he he would be around if he’d be willing to come. And you know, I’ve asked around and you know, I was a little surprised by the answer that I thought I thought, well, Rick Dudley probably wouldn’t take the GM job here if it were ever offered to him. But people tell me that he he probably would, you know, if it if it was. So, um, you know, that that’s a name right there where I’ve been kicking that around since before Adams was even here. Real quick on that, Paul, you know, I’m thinking back to way back when when the Sabres were purchased by Terry Pagula. One of the things he said is like there’s no salary cap on coaching, there’s no salary cap on scouting. The idea that the Sabres at that time kind of he viewed them as they could they could get advantages by spending more in places that weren’t the salary cap. And you know, 14 years later, the the thing I’m getting to is do you think the owner could be convinced here that you you know how to get good players? You’re committing to players, but it’s it’s really time to beef up your front office that there’s not enough happening in your own front office compared to what other teams in the league might do. Well, remember Botrol was fired because Terry Pagula wanted the hockey hockey department gutted. Um, and he wouldn’t do it. And that’s why Terry Pagula said, “We felt we weren’t being heard.” So part of the reason Kevin Adams was hired is because he gutted the hockey department the way that Terry Pagula wanted it done. And then after about a year of that, Adams actually convinced Terry Pagula that we have to start getting some people back in here. this this isn’t working like this. You can’t have a hockey department like this. And so they they started hiring more scouts again and getting the hockey department back with actual people in it. And um instead of having the same guy being director of amateur scouting and director of pro scouting and a guy who has never done either job um you know it’s you know they they did finally decide all right we need we needed to start getting some people in the hockey department and they’re they’re going to expand it now and and again this this can’t be your only move. I’m fine with the move. I I don’t think it’s a bad move at all, but you know, it’s it’s to me not a major move at all, and it’s more needs to be done to the department. Yeah. When when we talk about Dudley and the experienced guy that could come into the organization, Paul, what what do you think of for for that role a little bit? Like senior adviser especially is something we heard that yesterday and that actually is Rick Dudley’s title right now with the Florida Panthers. Yes. um like in terms of like operating within the league cuz Adam’s been a GM a long time now. But to my knowledge, they’ve never had someone in that front office that had been a GM before. And maybe he would think, and this would even be an admission, just the fact that they’re looking, an admission that there are elements of the job that maybe he thought he would have gotten by now or understood by now and there still just might be a little a few holes. Yeah. And this might have been one of the reasons only reasons he kept his job is he’s be willing to do this. But deep down he also might be hiring the guy that’s going to take his place at the end of next year if things don’t get better. You know, it’s, you know, is he going to get a seventh year? Of course, I never dreamed he’d get a sixth year, you know, but so never say never. um if if things don’t get better, you basically that you’re hiring a guy like that and he might be the next GM of the Sabres. Uh cuz there’s only one year left on Adam’s contract. So might which might be another reason why he’s here for another year. So you don’t pay a guy who is not working, you know, which the Sabres had a very big habit of doing because the Sabres like for a while there was like everybody gets a contract extension whether they deserve it or not. It’s like, well, let’s keep giving contract extensions. And that’s the reason why he was paying a lot of people money that when they weren’t working when he’s firing GMs and coaches and because he kept giving people contract extensions when you’re scratching your head going, why? Mhm. Yeah. There there also is too I this is maybe been a little bit more in question lately, the idea of the Sabres can’t get anybody to come here, can’t get anybody to say yes. And that’s another thing that people will think about when we’re talking about experienced more credible hockey people working for them. But then there was also I mean Jason Zucker did say at the end of the season that he doesn’t think that that’s the case around the NHL. So I don’t know how much of that do you think is an element here of someone they would bring in would help them. Maybe it’s not even just with convincing players but just looking more credible around around the league than they are now. Yeah, I think they I think Stall makes him look a little bit more credible from a that kind of a standpoint for the job that he’s going to be doing. Um and and if they would get somebody experienced in here, yeah, I think it would make them look more credible around the league. Um I think it’s more difficult to get players in here because you haven’t made the playoffs in 14 years than maybe an experienced guy with some general managers experience to come into your front office. I think it’s it’s harder to do with players than maybe it would be for the hockey department to be able to do that. So, um you know, I’ve been thinking for a while now, you know, boy, if they could get Sam Bennett in free agency, but it’s like I’m think to myself, why would Sam Bennett ever in a million years even? You would have to so so much overpay him. M you’d have to pay him probably Dene money or something to to get him to come here because, you know, you’re going from a Stanley Cup champion team last year and a a perennial uh good team to a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in 14 years. Plus, I’m sure Sam Reinhardt would fill his ears with, you know, cuz Sam Reinhardt felt kind of shafted, but that’s the reason that he told Kevin Adams, he wouldn’t be back because, you know, as as Sam Reinhardt said once he became a Florida Panther, I did everything I was asked to do there. And he was good hockey player here. And they never once in three different GMs offered him a long-term contract. So, you know, I you know, I’m sure if if that were if for whatever reason he would consider it that I’m sure, you know, he wouldn’t get a real glowing recommendation from Sam Reinhardt. Well, I will say to connect on this, you mentioned Bennett. I don’t think either of the Sabres have any shot in in heck getting a guy like that from a Stanley Cup champion. But I was looking at Dudley’s career yesterday and the last time he was a GM was in Atlanta and he poached two guys off that Chicago team, Buffalo and Lad. So again, he’s not working for the team yet though. So yeah. Yeah. No, it’s it’s just you, you know, one of those things that, you know, you look around. I mean, Bennett is exactly the type of player that that I talk about when I’m talking about a a veteran top six guy. I mean, here’s a guy that he gets better as the playoffs go on and and you know, just just I think the the exact guy I’m talking about when I talk about the Sabres need to add a guy to their top six um that that that the way he plays totally fills the role that I’m thinking. Paul Hamilton joining us on a little state of the sabers here as the front office changes or tweaks continue to happen. Paul, there’s also some out there Craig Reves talking about Bo Byum. You know, you want one of these players. Is a Bum trade a way to get one of those guys that you’re talking about. And what do you think the likelihood of a Byum return? There’s three opportunities or or three possibilities. Trade him, short play on the deal, or extension. What would you put list as the favorite right now for Bo Byum? Probably trade him, I would think. I I’m not totally convinced that Bo Byum wants to sign a long-term contract. Sure, he’s got he has to sign something for a couple of years. He’s not a unrestricted free agent for a couple of years. So, you may only be able to get him for a couple of years if he’s not interested in a long-term deal. And then you’ve got a couple of years to make that type of a trade. And yes, I think he’s he’s the type of guy that maybe could get you a veteran type of a defenseman to play with Owen Power who isn’t a bottom tier defenseman on your team. Um it seems like when they get those veteran defenseman, they’re guys that are basically washed up in the league or or just don’t have the ability to play in a top four spot. And uh so yeah, I think Bo Byum could get you something like that. Um, uh, so we’ll we’ll see where that goes. Um, I I think both kind of walked on eggshells when they were asked about it at the end of the year. And, uh, so I I would say probably the most likely scenario would be a trade, but I think if he is somebody you do trade, you’re going to get good value back. Yeah. And Paul, I guess you when you said walked on eggshells, from what we understand, and he probably told this to you, like what he’s looking for, there seems to be a lot out there that Byron wants a larger role. You know, money wouldn’t be it and fit wouldn’t be it, but to be behind Dalene andor power. He he wants to be a number one defenseman. So, I guess what I’m getting at is if in fact the Savers trade him because it doesn’t look like he’ll sign, we shouldn’t take that as some sort of identity crisis how the Savers can’t sign anybody. It should be more about how Byum just maybe wants something different for himself. Well, he he had a pretty good role here for a lot of the time and you know the numbers tell us that really the only time he play you know he played at a top level was with Dallene. I’m like okay then go ahead and resign him and let him play with Dene. I mean, you’re looking for a partner for power right now. And, you know, Darene and Byum are both capable of playing the right side. And when they played together, uh, they actually both played on the right side at different times and had some great numbers together. So, that would solve the one problem. All right. Now, you’ve got a you’ve got a pairing for one, and it worked extremely well. Uh, so I would have no problem with that at all. And I don’t think he would either because he’s going to be playing a lot when he’s out there with Rasmus Dalene. Um, every time I sit there and watch Forsling play, I just I thought, boy, it would be nice if the Sab I mean that is again the absolute exact guy I’m thinking of. And that guy came out of no I mean that completely out of nowhere, but beginning of his career, no one was thinking about him being this good. And look at how well he played at the Four Nations with Diene. I thought the two of them played extremely well together. I thought Dene had a really good Four Nations tournament despite being sabotaged by his coach almost half the time. Yeah. But but I thought the two of them really were together and I think he would be a great person for Owen Power also if somehow you ever could get your hands on him. Uh, you know, again, that that is the guy I’m thinking, a guy like Forsling who could come here for a while, be a veteran presence for Owen Power, always be there for him, and just be a steady influence for him. You know, again, that’s the type of guy I’m thinking. The one of, if I could return to the front office stuff just for a moment, Paul Frank Saravelli yesterday was talking about Seth Appert having an increased role, maybe just increased voice in the hockey department. you had you had talked earlier in the week about potentially Lindy maybe being that and maybe that still is the case, but I don’t know. Do you have a thought on Appert from an assistant coach position maybe having more of a voice than a typical assistant coach? I I don’t know if you watched that Sabres embedded from the trade deadline, but I mean he’s in that room and he’s speaking up quite often and people were listening. He was speaking up about players that he knew of and he knew very well. That’s why they were asking him about it. I I’m not saying it’s right. I’m not saying it’s wrong, but it makes no sense to me. That’s why I’m I’m I’m like, really? Is is this really true? I mean, and and Frank I mean Frank isn’t the best insider. Let’s put it that way. Uh he can be wrong and it’s it wouldn’t be the first time. I think we thought Purka was getting traded at the deadline after we were watching him, but Yeah. Yeah. Um, I I just I’m not saying he’s wrong. I’m just saying that makes no sense to me at all. I mean, he has enough problems with with a power play that’s in the bottom of the league. Uh, why are we why are we taking away his focus from coaching the team there? He has enough to do with that. Why would you be one or the other? If you think he’s better suited for the front office, then make him part of the front office. If that’s what you want him to do, but I don’t want him splitting his duties between coaching the team and running around trying to do front office stuff. It just made zero sense to me what at all, especially since, you know, now you know, Seth Apert, I think, did a great job with kind of mentoring JJ Purka and Koulique guys that he he coached down in Rochester. Maybe it hasn’t worked as well with Quinn, but with the other two, I think he’s been instrumental in helping them become better NHL players because he knows them very well and he knows how to deal with them and how to talk with them and and that. So, I think he did a good job with that. But, you know, nobody did a good job with Lindy Russ power play. So, I mean, to me, concentrate more on that than I I I just the whole thing makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Yeah. Paul Hamilton on the Western Hotline. Thank you, Paul. All right, take care. We’ll keep uh you posted on the Sabres front office if they continue to make changes or what’s going on there. But, uh, Eric Stall joining as an assistant to Kevin Adams.

Jeremy and Joe are joined by Paul Hamilton to discuss the newest addition to the Buffalo Sabres front office in special assistant to the general manager Eric Staal. Paul explains what Staal may actually be doing day to day for the organization. Paul compares the role to what Daniel Briere did when he first arrived in Philadelphia. He also explains why he believes this cannot be the only move that the Sabres make, as they need to improve their hockey ops department to catch up to the rest of the league. The guys ask Paul who else the Sabres can bring in with a little more experience to help GM Kevyn Adams out. The guys also discuss defenseman Bowen Byram’s status with the team as he is a restricted free agent this offseason, and assistant coach Seth Appert reportedly getting a bigger voice in the organization.

#buffalo #bills #billsmafia #letsgobuffalo #buffalobills #buffalobillsnews #billsnews #nfl #nflnews #football #wgr #wgr550 #sports

Share, Thumbs Up & Subscribe to WGR 550 for New Content Daily!

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WGRSportsRadio550
Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WGR550
Follow on X/Twitter: https://x.com/WGR550
Follow on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/wgr550
Follow on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/buffalowgr550