Will the Buffalo Sabres make a big splash?

Will the Buffalo Sabres make a big splash?

so I know that we we discussed a few of the names last episode somebody asked us about a certain Dallas star i think we brought up you know we’ve brought up Rossi a few times over the past few episodes but I feel like this is a good time to to kind of um discuss how while you know they’re in the Rossi conversation supposedly you have three prime players here in Marco Rossi who scored 60 points for the Minnesota Wild last year playing in their top six filling in for you know like Joel Ericen neck was out for a large part of that season and really helping that team continue to win games despite being bombarded by injuries uh but more specifically you are going to have Mitch Mner hit the free agent market and something that we’ve theorized and we we tossed around last episode especially since they were just eliminated jason Robertson might be a cap casualty for the Dallas Stars do you want to know what all three of those players have in common they’re all going to be wearing the blue and gold next year very close close nothing is stopping them from that happening there’s no trade protection there’s nothing preventing the Sabres from being involved in these discussions and yeah Rossy the Sabres have only been loosely tied to and radio silence still to this point you know not even a mention of anything with Mitch Mner and Jason Robertson the only the only teams that got thrown into the mix today were by Jeff Merrick and it was the Anaheim Ducks and the Ottawa Senators the Ottawa Senators swear to God better not be them but yeah I mean these are if you want to make a big move this off seasonason it’s one of those three players pretty much i mean there’s probably so far I mean there’s still talk of there’s still talk Elias Patterson man it’s true still hope that is still hope there is still hope that the fact the fact that his name is being thrown around again you know does get me going like it’s there’s there’s another name out there one that we were wholeheartedly convinced on not less than six months ago i think there’s a certain Josh Norris sitting in his slot right now and he’s just not going anywhere like that’s going to be the thing right like I saw somebody on Sabers tour today was like “Yeah like they probably should have waited to trade Dylan Cousins.” And it’s like looking back like “Yeah probably they probably should have they probably should have waited you know we were we were so goddamn desperate for a move back at the deadline.” Mhm um and it’s I don’t know like Josh Norris I still have hope for the player i think it can still work it’s just if they are satisfied with that and they are not willing to parlay that into a better return like the Vancouver Conucks were very clearly interested in Josh Norris at one point and with Patterson still being available I don’t know kind of seems like there’s a trade to be made there I think the conversation I mean this team went a whole two months without Josh Norris last year and were able to get by um like I just don’t think there should be any loyalty to him really i have none i always forget he was on the team to begin with it’s I mean he played three games he played three game had two points in three games but yeah I think like if they if they’re sat like if they are satisfied with Josh Norris as the big forward addition to this group if he’s the big change if I mean god forbid if we go into training camp and Kevin Adams is like you know Josh Norris is our offseason addition because he only played three games for us last year it’s like the It’s like It’s like how every team or it’s how like a team every year the trade deadline is like we have a bunch of trade deadline additions coming and it’s all guys on our LTI right now it’s like nobody ever in the history of ever wants to hear that don’t speak that into existence please because bring that up this situation can’t happen again and I say again at GM Kevin Adams being satisfied with being below average and I know you could make the excuse oh Josh Norris didn’t play a lot and he could be good it’s like do you understand like Josh Norris right now like do you understand the concept that he is still kind of a mystery box and you could parlay that mystery box into the boat that’s in Vancouver or the boat that’s sitting in I don’t know if you call it maybe like maybe like a small like a fishing boat sitting in Minnesota like anything he’s injured all the time it’s like why are you not more worried about this you should be looking for sustainability well I it’s it’s more so like if you have capital to spend like the fact like we just had you know people are going to gloss over it because there’s so much to go over in that Fairburn article but he laid out what he thought the key needs of the team were puck management team defense special teams puck management team defense they basically go together like you’re looking for more defensively capable players which is part of the reason why they got Josh Norris which I understood but it’s two defensively oriented strategies to try to integrate into the team and then you have special teams which I mean yes they’ve added players to fix that looking at you Josh Norris he’s on the team because he scores goals on the power play none of those he did not say he didn’t say you know playmaking he didn’t say play creating he didn’t say nothing was forward-based nothing and it just from the early onset it just kind of seems like they’re not going to do anything with the forward group not major like not be one of the prime you know if look if you look we want Mitch Martner bad at the end of the day we just want to know that they TD an offer and with Jason Robertson if somebody gives a better offer and like we look at that and say like like that was a ton it’s the name of the business it’s how it works you’re not going to make every trade it sucks and I know like we get on Adams for that but we get on Adams when he says like things were clo we get mad when he says it but I didn’t get mad when they swung and missed on Jacob Chin because I knew they tabled the same exact offer as Ottawa just with more pick protections which guess what doing that got them Zack Benson it’s like I don’t need them to end up I don’t need them to go and get two like get a superstar in Robertson or Martin i would really like them to because I think at the end of the day when this team wants to compete for cups they’re going to need one and now you have two that you are not rest like Jason Robertson is available for trade nothing is stopping you here and most teams can’t just throw $7.75 million onto the roster and the ones that can probably have or the ones that want to probably have to move out pieces on their team to do so as in move out salary and that’s something that Dallas wouldn’t want to do you know we’ve discussed with Robertson zack Benson would probably have to be the main piece or if Dallas wants a center like maybe it would be it would they would want Yuri Koulik they would want NHL ready top end or a high-end player on a rookie deal or on a a lesser deal that’s what it would take and you have you have you had a 20-year-old and a 19-year-old playing on your top line at the end of their season is that a good thing probably not but it also wasn’t totally undeserved it’s like when you see Robertson like there’s just such an obvious fit as a trade partner there and it’s kind of the same thing with someone like Elias Patterson as we were saying i I just hope that he understands how the offseason going into the 2023 24 season went with him just going “Oh we just got to make a couple defensive ads and we’re good to go we don’t need to look at anything else.” It’s like dude you should be looking to improve every single aspect of this roster 24/7 forward group defensive core goalies coaching staff find a new owner i don’t know either way yeah if if big names are out there you need to be in all of these conversations even if you really don’t intend on you know making you don’t you don’t need to take the offer to like you know to the the finish line and then drop the ball there it’s like you could at least you know do more of more of a due diligence work it’s like I don’t want to hear my GM talking about it’s like we don’t need to focus on our forward group we just need to work on our defense this and this it’s like everything needs to be on the table man all the time you just have to understand that that this is a business that moves very quickly in the last 5 years this organization has moved like a snail and it’s why they’ve been getting passed in rebuilds they don’t do enough and I’m not saying to Tim Murray this whole thing but just show a pulse in the front office more than like once or twice a year and I I think what legitimizes most of these ideas for me I mean this doesn’t really apply to the Robinson trade because they’re not looking to take on guys who are doing a contract but we have players that are rumored to be out there or who are at a top of you know NHL insiders trade list i mean we have JJ Purka out there who’s being talked about all over and other fan bases drool over him which I get it he’s a great player you also have Bowen Byum too like there’s two players that Byum is probably not a saber next year almost matter what he’s probably gone you’re he’s probably involved in some sort of trade but Turk there’s might be like a 50/50 chance like you don’t know but it’s like if you want to make a big move you have those two guys too like I know Jonah just mentioned Benson and Koulique if we wanted to make a trade with Dallas it’s like even like the Minnesota trade it doesn’t seem like they’re asking for so much for Rossy like no give him nine and Quinn like they’ll take it like they were asking for like a late first I think yeah it was a late first and then Tyson Forester who’s you know he’s he’s had 20 goals a couple times in the NHL so I’m trying to think of like a NH like a Sabres comparable i mean it probably would be I guess it would sort of be Quinnish like it would kind of be Quinn but then you got the first time yeah you would have got the ninth yeah you would just have to up the first yeah which is fine i mean I still think that’s like a steal for Rossy i mean you have to pay him and you know it’s rumored he’s asking for a 7 by seven might be a little higher but I I I I just feel like you have the ammo to do something you have a first round pick you have Byum you have Purco you have other young players like there needs to be change we’re just hungry for this this just there’s better players out there and I understand wanting to be an organization that crafts their young draft talent and molds them into their own but it’s just it’s just not how it works all the time you’re not going to bat a thousand with all your prospects being in your your lineup and I feel like for the past four years they’ve just been hoarding these guys to the point where it’s like we draft Olland and Koulique and Seavoi three years ago you got your trade value out of Seavoy great job you got a Ryan Mloud which is great you should be doing more of that your Koulik is on your roster now and he’s was playing your first line center if you look at Noah Olland now it’s like he’s in his what D3 year he’s got no value anymore if you would have maybe flipped them a year or two ago you could have gotten more out of them it’s like a car it’s depreciating as we speak we just you got to move especially if there’s no if there’s no spots in the lineup for these guys what are you going to do you’re just going to let them depreciate until they go back to Europe well and jumping back to Mner for example well actually Mner and Robertson what were what was one of the two teams that was rumored to be in on or a team to watch for Jason Robertson well it’s the Anaheim Ducks and who was supposedly getting a really big offer ready for Mitch Martner well supposedly the Anaheim Ducks and I’ll put this in perspective for you uh this past season the Anaheim Ducks uh this current according to spot track had the 10th most amount of cap space in hockey this season at $5 million through the whole way last year they had the most cap space in the NHL $13 million open 2223 most $10 million opening cap space the whole season 21-22 the only team with more cap space than the Sabres with $21 million open and then in 2021 it was the first year where they were like out of that they were they actually they were 19th they had zero money to spend so basically in the four years in the four years postcoid season the Anaheim Ducks have been a cheaper team than the Buffalo Sabres they have spent less money than you and it’s you know it’s probably been given less coverage is because they’re a west coast team and it’s not like here whatever but that team has been cheaper than you and they’re in on this conversation they know it’s time to win they’re sick of the losing uh obviously just hiring Joe Quinnville is a very it’s a very bold move and now they’re in on Robertson’s you know or a team to watch for Robertson and they are legitimately getting an offer together for Mitch Mner So no excuse like why you can’t be right alongside them absolutely i’m sure there’ll be other names that will come out like even I know people are kind of more just thrown around the idea but Noah Dobson like check in on him if he’s you know available like there’s going to be other names if they really just want to focus focus more on defense you know maybe you know find your fit there but there’s names out there there’s no excuse not to be at least involved in these conversations and to not make a big offer on at least like one of these guys cuz they all all can fit here they all pretty much all the four players we just mentioned the four forwards all have two-way capabilities other than Robinson’s more of a scorer but the other ones all playmakers like what we need like it’s just no excuse not to be involved in some of this and I think it’s fair to bring up the point that usually they do kind of operate in the shadows like Taylor Hall for example there was there was no inkling that was going to happen we didn’t even know if the Sabres were going to make an offer honestly we it kind of made sense that they wouldn’t considering they had just signed Jeff Skinner like the previous year but they still did it and you know that came out of nowhere and same thing with you know with Yarmmo Keolin like nobody thought the Blue Jackets were even going to put in a bid and Johnny Gdro signs not not only does he sign in Columbus he signs for way under what he could have got so look I get it you know things come out of nowhere the Ryan Mloud trade came out of nowhere oftent times the guy that ends up that the Sabres end up trading for it someone that are acquiring you never see it coming and there’s no whispers of it it’s not too often where it’s or it’s like the Casey Middlestat trade where it was like okay like yeah they’re they’re probably trading for Bow and Byum here yeah if you’re really reading between the lines even Norris I mean we knew Cousins was probably going but no one knew nobody thought I mean I think Ottawa was brought up maybe like in a fourth period article as being interested but you know that’s basically just throwing any is throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks i mean no notable insider talked about those two being swapped so uh this team does like to surprise you so you know what oh they surprise you all right we’ll see you know the off seasonason hasn’t even started yet we’re already bitching and complaining about things that they’re not doing when it’s it’s impossible to do anything right i mean it’s not You can trade for Jason Robinson right now nothing’s stopping you but things are not going to pick up for another three weeks but Mhm hey we’re down to three weeks it’s draft month almost there we just got to get through this last series and get to the draft once we hit the draft hopefully things pick up

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