BFHS 6/24/25: Peterka plot thickens as NHL Draft approaches

BFHS 6/24/25: Peterka plot thickens as NHL Draft approaches

all right the Baker Fairburn Hockey Show is live here on June 24th 2025 nhl draft week is here welcome to the show everybody who’s already in here on YouTube or if you’re watching over on Twitter if you’re watching on Twitter come over into YouTube hit the chat do all that good stuff and on your way and if you could please hit the like button subscribe to the channel all that usual nonsense that I tea up every week here if you’re new to the show I’m your host Chris Baker you can find me on Axe at Sabres Prospects and with me as always the handsome gentleman much younger no wrinkles no crows feet that is your Sabres beat writer for the Athletic Matthew Fairburn you can find all of Matthew’s work at the aletic.com/sabers running a little late tonight wanted to be starting right at 8:00 on the nose but Matthew and I had to exchange stories about uh standing in front of sprinklers having faulty air conditioning on my side me being a prick to my co-workers all day long as a result of it wonderful stories that we had to exchange to get those out of the way and I also just downed a coffee a hot coffee should have went with the cold brew Matthew Fairburn but I can feel a little beat of sweat now off the side of my face so that’s that’s fun let’s get into it today if anybody is wondering why Chris is sweating his HVAC is broken so if you were on the fence about giving a super chat Chris has his HVAC is broken so keep that in mind i mean the poor guy it’s like 80° in his office up there or if there’s an AC compressor that fell off the back of a truck and you happen to be in that business hit me up but at any rate um yeah so hit the like button because the like button will help also but uh before we begin I did the like I did the subscribe you can find the audio version of the Baker Fairbird hockey show on Apple or Spotify or wherever podcast leave a fivestar review and I think that’s it we appreciate that right Matthew Farburn all right let’s just get to it i’m frazzled i’m hot but we’re going to stick with it here and I got this big like burning sun of a ring light shining right on my face that’s not helping either oh it’s going to be a fun one i might be a prick to you Matthew we’ll see how it goes i hope so but at any rate sport as I mentioned right at the top NHL draft week this is going to be fun today down at One Bill’s Drive Kevin Adams and Jerry Foron his assistant general manager and kind of the head honcho of the amateur scouting department met with the media today as always a fun press conference a fun environment when Kevin Adams gets in front of the media matthew Farburn you were on site let’s just kind of just start there high level you were there along with you know Harrington and Warro and Yuran and you know Klafran and Ali i’m sure everybody was out the camera guys were there from the TV stations everybody was having fun um just your thoughts on Kevin his message today i didn’t I wasn’t expecting a lot but we got a little bit more maybe than what was asked in terms of some uh some news from Kevin and his thoughts on how the media has been talking about the Buffalo Saber thus far thus far this offseason yeah that was interesting i guess I wasn’t really expecting that that there’s been a lot out there about the Sabers so I guess there’s it’s natural that some of it might fall into the category of misinformation as Kevin Adams labeled it today there’s a lot of people throwing a lot of stuff at the wall I think but a lot of the stuff the legitimate stuff circulating about the Sabres has been from you know reputable insiders right like I think if it’s coming from Elliot Freriedman or or Frank Saravali or Chris Johnston or Pierre LeBron like these are guys that are doing an honest job you know that that are careful careful about what they put out there uh everybody’s got a different sliding scale of how careful they are but uh I think particularly CJ and Pierre have been pretty measured um at the athletic and talking about the Sabres I feel like as a whole we’ve been been fairly measured there i was trying to pinpoint the root of the the frustration like I I was actually doing that before we went live trying to figure out where are some of these things that are causing the most frustration for Kevin Adams these memos that are hitting his desk that are causing you know this this misinformation causing him to have sympathy for the fans all these things i think it’s Sarahi was the root of the Samson buyout chatter i know we had a story at the Athletic last week about potential buyout candidates uh from Harmon and Thomas Dance out in Vancouver which was more them looking at who would make sense i had you know written about Samuelson only to note that the buyout window was open and that if there was a candidate he’s the one but that they like him and that you know they still have some some degree of faith in him but depending on how the blue line shakes out I think that’s what what took me back about the Samuelson comment is that it was ridiculous the idea was ridiculous and that they have not even had the conversation once i walked away from that thinking okay you must at some point you must have discussed trading him or something like you’re tra you’re not trying to give any hint that you’re going to buy him out because you want to keep the option open to trade him now do they even want to do that i don’t know but the idea I think it’s just I’m not even taking it at face value to say that they’ve never had the conversation about buying out Samuelson like how could you not how could it not come up in hours and hours and hours of meetings that these people I mean think about how much you and I talk about the Sabres on and off air and how much we think about them to think that that would and then think about what how much they do right it’s it’s their entire livelihoods it’s how they spend every single waking hour I would think and to think it never comes up it it’s not even to me not even believable i mean this is the last chance you have to buy him out at a third of his total salary and to save $3.7 million on the cap for the next 5 years like it’s a a legitimate mechanism you have to save some money and your blue line is like the main focus of the off season so I’m trying not to read too much into that part of it to me that was cover for potential trade talks are they going to trade him i don’t know i don’t think so but the idea that it’s ridiculous the thought of them buy getting bought out is ridiculous it’s just not it’s not ridiculous at all not saying they should or shouldn’t do it i’m just saying it’s not ridiculous it’s a legitimate savings on a legitimately underwhelming player i will argue that he’s not doing his job given how cheap it is to do it right now and there’s a limited window for that cost to buy him out if he’s not at least thinking about it when doing an audit with both Eric Stall and Yarmmo Kikalin and doing an audit of your roster and just talking about the financial implications of the player’s contract you’re not just doing an evaluation you’re doing a salary financial analysis of the player too and for I would my immediate thought you already hit my immediate thought because he voluntarily served that up no one asked about I was planning to ask but we also only had we had such a finite amount of time that Bow and Byum didn’t even come up which is wild right yeah so and not really it was I was sort of being selective right i was like I’m going to ask about Tuck and we got to ask a little bit about the draft because that’s this weekend so we need some you know it was knowing what comes up and what doesn’t like Bowen Byum didn’t come up so there’s a chance that we wouldn’t have gotten to Matias Samson and that might have been one that we earmarked and said “Hey postdraft we can ask about this because the deadlines the 30th.” And they’re not going to do anything i mean they waited till the 11th hour on Skinner to make that official when it was pretty telegraphed ahead of time like if they were actually considering this with Samus and it’s not happening till then so theoretically he wouldn’t even have been asked about this it it was interesting though they voluntarily served it up because of that that maybe you’re you hit my initial thought already was it either blew up a deal or it’s put a um it’s tamped down some of the conversations that he’s had about him being included in a deal because he had like this tone about him when it came up and it was just you know kind of flippant and just like kind of annoyed and I you know I mean maybe he pays a lot of attention to the noise and maybe it’s getting to him i don’t know but I do I tend to think that there was something else going on behind that that really caused that frustration to come out voluntarily it could also be like I said I traced this best as I can and somebody in the chat can correct me if I’m wrong but best as I can the root of the frustration or the the initial report seems like Sarah like the first I can mention I can see somebody mention like that they actually discussed it or that you know it was you know something and I think Frank runs into the problem where he says a lot of things some of them he’s reporting some of them he’s opining and but he has fallen into the category where aggregators take everything he says as a report and so I don’t want to misconrue what he did or didn’t say but my best guess is that his is the report that Kevin is calling ridiculous and it could be it could be if we’re playing some insider baseball stuff that it’s actually not the Samson thing that’s pissing him off deri has a lot of stuff on the Sabres right now and it’s not making Kevin’s life any easier right he was leading the charge on JJ Purka and nice segue yeah JJ Purka is the biggest headache that Kevin Adams has right now and it’s not Sarah’s fault but he’s the first one to mention him at the trade deadline he put him number one on the trade board at the beginning of the off season like so maybe it’s a way to you know because this is the other thing like it wasn’t just that oh there’s no truth to that like haven’t talked about buying out not something we’ve seriously considered it was somebody who has no idea what they’re talking about said “We’re discussing this.” And so it’s like “Okay this seems personal.” Like “You’re upset about somebody or someone.” Like I said for a second I thought “Well I wrote about that over the weekend is he is he pissed off about something I wrote?” Like I don’t know that’s why I was kind of trying to find the root of that but it was weird in an answer to JJ Purka where he if you’re going to refute information there’s a lot of misinformation out there for instance you know this Samuelson thing it was a question about JJ Purka is there misinformation about JJ Purka out there because he didn’t offer any specifics on what was and wasn’t misinformation nobody kevin Adams had 30 minutes today and JJ Purka and his camp have had you know weeks since it’s been out there from various people Sarahi and Elliot Freriedman have both noted that he’s not particularly happy right he’s would welcome a change of scenery he’s not happy known to be unhappy I believe might have been the phrase that Freriedman used has anybody refuted Kevin didn’t refute it purka hasn’t refuted it you know Peter’s camp hasn’t refuted it in any way and so you know all Kevin Adams did was um I mean I thought some a somewhat uh I don’t know if naive is the right word or odd question from Paul Hamilton of like he didn’t seem unhappy at his exit interview with the media like you know was he unhappy at his at his exit interview i was like well of course he doesn’t seem unhappy at his at his media thing he’s not going to stand up there and be like I want I want to get the hell out of here i guess some guys have done that over the course of of time with the Sabres but the exit interview isn’t really Germaine here like it’s not really the issue i don’t really care how you know I guess it’s you know Kevin Adams said that it was a positive meeting with JJ and everything all that but I don’t know we’ve gotten to this point and nobody’s refuting that he’s unhappy question is how unhappy what’s making him unhappy and can they fix it otherwise I guess we’ll see purka so we spent a lot of time talking about Purka last time we were together it was a couple days after we were together that actually the reports started coming out about Purka a little bit more i think that was Sarahi to your point good segue by the way because that’s where I was going with this was Sarah you you already capsulized Sarah’s role in this whole Peter rumor mill thing um and I do believe that that’s the root of it kevin’s position today was pretty professional regarding Purka but if you’re reading between the lines which I like to do I expect Purka to be moved i do because he didn’t refute and that’s kind of where I’m at and I’m good with it i know a lot of Sabres fans aren’t but I think on the Purka thing okay so let’s go back to the Hamilton question where JJ didn’t seem unhappy the fact that JJ didn’t seem unhappy might be part of the problem that I have with JJ i want him unhappy he was probably happy to be getting out of here potentially like oh it’s over i can go back to Germany or whatever go hang out in Switzerland for a while who knows right i’m not I don’t want to like do any kind of character character assassination or anything like that with Purka it’s not what I’m trying to do here but I just think that there’s always been something that hasn’t felt right and I think now that Kevin I think Kevin knows it and he’s not going to say it to you guys the assembled media today nor should he yeah nor should he like he shouldn’t he’s Don’t negotiate with a player in the media don’t tip your hand anything and the trade no trade has happened no and there’s no guarantee that a trade will happen so I think you don’t want to make it messier than you need to make it and he didn’t make it messier today with JJ Purka so let’s zoom out for a second and Kevin Adams has reached a point entering year six because of a variety of factors going back to how he got the job the job that he inherited uh the owner he works for the job he’s done over the last 5 years some of the things that he said he has reached a point where he can I am convinced that he can’t say anything and come out like winning anybody over i I truly believe that and I’m not saying anything he said today should win anybody over but people go into these looking for reasons to bury him and we’re going to get to some things that I didn’t really like but what I will say is he did not make the Purka situation messier and he could have in a million different ways today and that was the last thing that you want to do because either way whether you keep him or trade him saying stuff about it today hurts both of those you know trying to make it messy today would hurt both of those potential outcomes if you’re keeping him you better make sure he’s happy you better make sure he’s bought in like because you don’t want any sort of tension lingering into the season if you’re trading him you want his value as high as possible so if you make it messy today and talk about well he’s not happy or this or that that does nobody any good either so from just a brass tax hockey perspective the most important thing facing the team right now is Purka he didn’t make it messier low bar but he cleared it right so yeah that low bar fully acknowledge that but he didn’t make that particular situation messier and frankly that’s the most important thing facing this team the Samuelson stuff is poor messaging and probably not telling the whole truth and either that or completely ridiculous that they’re not even talking about it because that’s their job to talk about it but that is sort of small potatoes to me compared to Purka which is the main event of the off season more important than the draft more important even probably than free agency like that what happens there is super important so he did his best to kind of dance around it and divert and all this and then you bring up I brought up Tuck later on and it was immediate like he wants to be here he knows he’s a priority like you know much different tone with Peturka it was how do I just say a bunch of words to get this over with without saying anything and I I guess he kind of did that how he answered other questions leads me down the path that JJ that’s my position on JJ just my belief that he will be moved and JJ’s the one I think that could make this messy because he doesn’t have a ton of leverage he could just not sign an offer take it into the season doesn’t have arbitration rates to your point about the value that’s exactly where I’m at and that’s exactly why I feel he should be moved forget about unhappiness or anything else he’s your best opportunity to make the team better we’ve been saying that for a while before this notion that he might not be happy in Buffalo even came out more broadly in the media saravali others elliott Freriedman was actually the one that made the report on 32 thoughts a couple days after you and I were last together that really mentioned that Kevin was ready to start listening do I think they want to trade him no do I think they will yes and the sooner probably the better i think I think so i mean I’ve reached a point where I I believe I have to believe you can get a return that’s worth it and I have to believe that you can get a return that makes your team potentially better and if you can’t I don’t know what you’re doing in the job i get the idea that there’s a lot of teams in the league that want to get better right now and not teams that are this will turn into more of an NHLwide rant but this idea that well the Penguins are looking to sell off pieces but no other team is obviously trying to enter a rebuild well who says that getting who says that it has to be one or the other no it doesn’t that’s a team can get better by acquiring JJ Purka and getting rid of some other pieces that they have a surplus of that they like two teams can get better in a deal or think they got better in a deal it’s not ridiculous to think that way hey listen man i I just think that 15 guy 15 teams in the league are going to want in on this guy at least i mean and and you’re going to get a smorges board of of deals to look at you can get one for ones if you’re Buffalo and you have the taxes and the palm trees and everything else i said I wasn’t ever going to say palm trees again there I broke my own rule i’m going to put a quarter in the jar but you could get two players for one JJ and that solves some issues you’re just not going to get your futures chicago maybe three is in play i would look at that i I mean that there’s going to be different you know different types of deals but go ahead i just wanted four utah has four like I’m not out on deals that include a top four or five pick you know or we’ve talked about buyroom deals that would maybe involve moving up do these happen often no do players like JJ Purka and Bowen Byum become available on the trade market that often no but that’s a unique situation to to Buffalo right now purka is not so Shaya Goldman and I did a a trade targets piece on Purka Monday morning and identified some teams that would make sense but also Shaina had in there some contract comparables and noted that the bet that the Sabres are making is not a or whatever team signs him is not a sure thing you know I think people look at it and say “Oh 7 by 7 by seven or 8 by 8 like whatever contract he’s going to fall somewhere in that 7 to 8 million range most likely is like a no-brainer.” And I’m not sure that it is given how your team is constructed for another team it might be like it it might fit but given how your team is constructed and the elements that you’re missing the positions you’re missing but also the elements the you know well-rounded 200 foot game the hard on the forch check the net front presence like all these things those aren’t JJ Purka he’s a net negative defensively and he has racked up counting stats and turned into quite the offensive player like he he creates a lot of offense on the rush and he’s a good playmaker good shooter pretty good on the power play but their power play stinks so I I guess I’m looking at it and thinking you move out this player and bring in some elements that you don’t have you can make your team better you can make your team better he’s a good player he’s a goes to the next level with him either it’s not like Thompson takes his game to the next level no we were um I wrote over the weekend about um Ta Thompson’s better with Zack Benson on the left wing than he is with JJ Purka and all the t this is what I find interesting is that the I won’t lump everybody into the same bucket but by and large I would say the analytics crowd is higher on Peturka than Bum and a lot a lot of times what gets brought up is the fact that Byum is not as good away from Dalene or he wasn’t last year those splits in terms of expected goal share were pretty bad the splits for Peturka with and without Tae Thompson were worse like they were it was bad you know like and Zack Benson splits with and without Ta Thompson is like you don’t even notice zack Benson is just good in terms of his overall impact on the game if you take expected goal share it’s one metric but it’s uh it encompasses a lot so you’re thinking about piecing together lines building a team purka was a home run draft pick a success story in development that they haven’t had enough of but let’s not pretend that you can’t make your team better by moving him and if you add in the element of him potentially being unhappy and you want to carry that into the season and what contract are you signing him to you know think about the money that you free up if you move them out what that helps you potentially bring back you know a few of the teams that we brought up we can run down in the in the trade targets piece like Toronto you know you go get a Brandon Carlo and something else now on the surface people are like Brandon Carlo for JJ Purka it’s like well you want your big defensive physical right shot defenseman who’s 28 making a little more than three million bucks like that’s a you know that’s an asset right he’s a long 65 too by the way long arms longer than normal yeah and you know he would really I think stabilize your top four in a big way braz Anderson is number one on Chris Johnston’s trade board right now in Calgary sounds like they’ve hit an impass on contract talks like that’s a right shot defenseman finished the season on a broken leg you know kind of has that warrior mentality that you talk about looking for in a defenseman also has some offense to his game like a legit top four guy he’s gonna need a contract after next year but you know that that’s another player we’ve talked about Kessle Ring we’ve talked about the Fitz in Pittsburgh maybe Brian Rust plus like this isn’t going to be a Jack Eel return you know we shouldn’t expect that type of return but it could be a pretty damn good return and you could start to round out a team and if you don’t do Purka or you don’t do Byum which Byum is more complicated like I’m not all the way there on trading Bum but it feels like Byum might be more likely like CJ’s latest trade board has Byum number two two yes and as we talked about last week like Crider was number one on that board and then he got traded like Chris Johnston’s trade board is not him you know scrolling around Puckedia and trying to find interesting names to to put on there like it’s well sourced yeah it’s and it’s ranked you know in a in a way so yeah by the stuff you know are they more likely to trade Bum than Purka according to that board right and but that’s not as simple a situation to me because now you’re you’re creating another hole potentially definitely not buying out Samuelson so I guess you put him up there i don’t know but you now you need a couple of defenseman right and makes things a little bit trickier so all this to say what a fascinating week it’s going to be oh no it’s going to be fun as hell man okay let’s tie up let’s put a bow on this PURA thing real quick there was another report I don’t know who it was said the Sabres are looking to add two top six forwards that could be two new faces minus a JJ right we talk about Zack Benson benson did lead the team last year cory4 percentage i know it’s not the best indicator but it is an indicator of shot attempts right expected goals for third on the team scoring chances four and it didn’t really matter who his centerman was but you don’t want to put all your eggs in a Zack Benson basket right so you got to go out and get more get more bodies i like the idea of and I I don’t want to repeat everything I said last week i have a greater desire me personally to move a Purka and I think Byum is a guy give him good fair value couple years and I think that he would fall in line and be like Bo maybe he wants out if he wants out I’m in no hurry to move him i will move him if I have to but earn your way out help us move you out come back play your way out of here i’m not willing to do that i don’t think with Purka’s much i mean if I if push comes to shove I would personally i’m not eager to do that because I think where there’s smoke there’s fire well like I said they have be problematic and the return diminishes potentially they’ve had every chance to review it and nobody on either side has it’s very easy to do and Peter’s agent is you know Alan Walsh who he’s not known for being shy so I feel like you know if they wanted to refute it they could refute it um and to your point I think Bow and Byum has more of a track record of going about his business and I think there’s just a maturity to Bowen Byum that he’s not that much older than Purka but he’s been through life a little bit more in terms of he had some injury stuff he’s been traded before like we’ve seen how he’s handled some of this stuff he got traded to Buffalo and took it in stride and quickly became one of the favorite guys in the locker room we just don’t have that body of evidence with JJ Purka that he could not get what he wants and come in here and not you know they’re talking about the culture right and actually Byron’s agent has refuted that he asked for a trade so you know his new agent his new agent so he’s at least put that out there and maybe to try to quiet things down a little bit but but he’s still two it doesn’t mean that Buffalo doesn’t want to no it doesn’t it doesn’t mean he won’t get traded or that or it also doesn’t mean that he doesn’t want to be traded but it that does mean that you can keep him though it’s kind of just quieting the noise he doesn’t want that idea out there and would make him I think easier to bring back i mean he’s a he is just a different just different personalities so that’s why I say Adams if they bring Purka back he has a lot of work to do or he has to be certain that it’s going to work in the room and it’s going to work on the ice and the whole dynamic culture-wise is going to be okay whether that means making Purka happy whether that means you know I don’t know if even selling it to the room or what just the whole thing has to be managed properly and bringing him back is is tough after a summer like this i would imagine it’s kind of like Martin Nus last year and then he ended up getting traded in season right like he was making it clear he wasn’t going to sign long term like that’s the the leverage piece that these guys have you know if PURK is not going to sign long term then what do you do if you’re the Sabres right when’s the right time to to pull the plug it feels like this is skyhigh value right now i would uh I mean there’s one scenario you know I I think about the offer sheet situation a lot with Purka i don’t think if he looks at one he has to be careful right because I think I think there’s a higher probability that the Sabres would match a longer term offer sheet than a shorter one a team could come in give them big money for a couple years and block the Sabres out potentially and that’s the one that that’s the one scenario that scares me but again beat beat the whole situation to the punch and maybe there’s a move to be made before i said the return might not you know it’s hard on paper sometimes to win these deals like I said like Brandon Carlo might not blow people away but like it’s kind of like the Seavoy Mloud thing right like initially you’re like Seavoy for Mloud mloud’s a third line center but like go find the Mloud right shot defenseman who can be number four next to power go find that guy and a winger who can sort of slide up and down your lineup and maybe fill the Purka spot or a spot on the you know second line left wing i think you can accomplish that and maybe it’s not out there maybe you got to dig in maybe it extends beyond July 1 right maybe it extends into the summer and you have to figure out you know Pierre LeBron has brought up that there could be a longer runway of NHL off season than years past that’s fine too now offer sheets start to come into play to your point you’re you’re risking that the short-term offer sheet is the risk here the long-term one is a favor to the savers it’s like “Okay cool thanks for doing the negotiating for us we’ll match that and see if somebody wants to trade for him if it’s that ugly.” Like I don’t think Purka would even go down that road if he’s really unhappy because you’re risking you got to be careful yeah the offer sheet has to be the right one and I think you could it might be worth the risk if you’re JJ Purka and his camp to take a two to fouryear offer sheet that you think the Sabres aren’t going to match and say worst case scenario is I’m I’m here until I’m a UFA you know like that’s if that’s a bet he’s willing to take maybe something happens look like I said we don’t know exactly the root of all this does JJ Purka want to win probably to an extent does he want to be in a bigger market does he not like Well he certainly can’t be unhappy about his role because he’s got a pretty cozy role i feel like top six guy lots of power play time got to rack up a lot of points playing with Ta Thompson hard to envision that is he Is it just the general dysfunction of Buffalo that he wants to be rid of but is there anything that could happen in the next week that wins some of these guys over whether it’s Byum or Purka or Alex Tuck right who is eligible to sign on July 1st the next week is big in that respect too right i mean you need to That was the first thing Kevin Adams mentioned about Purka at the deadline we’re going to need to explain to him how we plan to make this team better and if he’s not sold on that you know that’s where now has JJ Purka at 23 years old earned the right to be like you know he’s only been here for three years like how does Tae Thompson feel how does Raasmus Dene feel how does um you know Alex Tuck who’s going on 30 feel about you know all the losing that probably carries more weight than the 23-year-old who’s sick of losing after a couple seasons and doesn’t exactly contribute to winning in terms of the way he plays away from the puck so but still if you got to win him over you got to win him over and what will Kevin Adams do in the next week to win anybody over the fans the players we’ll see let me give a shout out to my friend Jamie just sent a text looking at her on my watch this might sound familiar to you matt Fairburn he says “Peterka for Schneider and Coolie.” Does that sound familiar it sounds rich sounds rich sounds rich but it does sound familiar but it’s uh sounds familiar it’s It’s too uh No a deal centered around I don’t Well I’m just saying like that’s the type of twofer that I would do and I would level it out kevin Adams did mention today that he has I don’t think he said a wealth of prospects i don’t think he would ever go as far to say that but he does have currency when talking about moving up right he says you usually need like I think it was Jerry who said you need to have two ones to move up but they did mention that they have some prospects that’s another indication not that the Rangers necessarily want one but no those that’s the type of move that I’d look to make doesn’t have to be a Ras Miss Anderson right shot D i would look at a Schneider but I love you know that i had to get one last plug in because I’ve been so inside baseball type of stuff for that i think the first I this was a few months ago probably I was like this is the type of deal that I would do for Peter so I’m glad you know Jamie you’re smart that’s all I want to say i want to give a shout out to Jamie Schneider i would I think would be exactly what they’re looking for same thing exactly what they need i mean if there was a deal that you could build to get both of them and you’re only giving up Purka and Futures I think it’d be a home run but just seems like those are guys that the Rangers don’t want to move like they’d probably rather move Keandre Miller and yeah tough but the s the sabers would rather move Quinn than Purka right like Right exactly that’s that’s life i don’t know you got to give the get and so that’s where when push comes to shove will a deal get done i don’t know there’s It was fascinating exercise going through it with Shaina about which teams would make sense who who could use them it’s like well we’re gonna have to narrow down this list to the teams that could actually make it happen right like who could use them i don’t know almost anybody not quite everybody but almost you know would at least kick the tires on it but when you look at cap situations you know who would want to absorb a long-term deal for him who has the pieces that could help the Sabres like the type of guys that they need uh the Devils were another team that came up you know Neich Dawson Mercer like they’ve got some pieces that could definitely it’s compelling and probably have a need um you know for some top top six scoring help um move team Omire back you know over to the right kind of an interesting team utah is a is an interesting one you brought up Chicago who didn’t make our list just because we thought they didn’t have the pieces but when you bring up the third overall pick do Yeah come on let’s go all of a sudden it’s like yeah that’s we could play ball with that like all of a sudden you’re talking about getting Marton or Hagens and stop right there those are the only two just stop right there right or you know Yeah listen I don’t want to do that because what like part of what I’m thinking with Purka is we’ve been saying it for a while you got to make your team better you’re delaying making your team better if you make that trade for with Chicago but you’re not going to get the chance if you stay at nine in my opinion to get either a true number one centerman or just a guy who’s 63 he’s going to play hard-nosed hockey whose skating has improved tremendously in my opinion over the past couple years talk about Martone that plays that dog style and I’m willing to really strongly consider that that’s the exception on a futures type of deal that I would consider for Purka and Murphy from We talked about him last week yeah talked about him last week and uh but to your point on Martone I would also say that while it’s maybe not the optimal development approach it’s also not far-fetched to think that he could play in the league next year is he making is he making your team better next year i don’t know i I think everybody would rather if you had a guy like Marton maybe not everybody but a lot of fans seeing guys get rushed to the league would rather he get the appropriate amount of time if only because they would like to see an addition from the outside that forces him to right they don’t want the roster to be built in such a way that he could win a job the way Benson did like that was one of the fatal flaws of Kevin Adams entire regime is not that Benson won the job it’s that the job was there to win like Benson won it fair and square but it probably never should have been there to win i don’t think it’s hurt Benson in any way i just think that shouldn’t have been the only new guy in their forward group that year so I I understand like the idea of Martone going right into the lineup i only say that to say like this guy played at Worlds for Team Canada he already carries himself like a pro he could handle it it’s just probably not the way to it’s probably not the way to develop a player right it’s not the way you know what he can also do is go to college for a year he could and and you know send him down to Penn State go play you know little Pugville South put him down there tabs on him play with four hours away yeah i mean you can do something like that um I would consider that’s the only situation that I would consider i think unless you know you you make a bigger deal with Utah at four but other than that I think you got to go you know kind of to those 12 teams so the story that Matthew is talking about that’s at theathletic.com/sabers that he penned on Monday morning with Shaya Goldman discusses 12 teams that Matthew and Shaina came up with as potential suitors chicago was not one of them huge miss no I’m just kidding just busting your chops got to do it but um no and I think that like I said I think there could be at least half the league that would be in on this that would want to at least look at it consider it to your point a lot of teams could use a player like this and I don’t think it’s like in like very often that a player of Purka’s upside to get him out of Buffalo factor who knows what this player could be right 23 23 68 points 68 big ones knocking on the door 30 goals all about the 68 points they don’t want Never mind what he does when he doesn’t have the puck it’s all about those doesn’t matter doesn’t matter it’s well established that uh underlying metrics don’t matter in hockey i’m kidding kidding we are 43 minutes in wow time has flown by if you could please hit that like button subscribe to the channel if you’re watching on Twitter come over to YouTube the chat’s moving i haven’t really been looking at it i think Matthew has so thank you for that Matthew we’ll take care of the chat momentarily wanted to go back to Kevin M’s press conference real quick um I did jot down a couple things we covered a lot of it already um two things maybe to talk about briefly one my biggest was it the Samuelson thing it wasn’t like my my biggest takeaway was the assistant coaching staff they’re under contract and there’s nothing really imminent there it sounds like he’s open to adding but it didn’t sound like there was a lot of potential subtraction on the table because my opinion is that it would have happened by now if there was it’s the same what’s the deal there what’s your read the same answer that I got whenever we sat down for the story I wrote um which we sat down sometime in May and this answer was very similar it’s like well we could add and we’re evaluating and could something happen maybe but it sounds like if something happens it’s an addition and that nobody will necessarily be fired and that’s a decision i mean it’s some of these guys have been here for a while you know like Marty Wilfford’s been here since 2021 um that how does everybody feel about how Owen Power has done you know in that time or Matias Samuelson you know these two important young defenseman um Henrioki Haru you know went sideways it felt like so who among the defenseman besides Raasmus Dalene has taken a step forward and Raasmus Dalene’s a number one pick so I don’t know I mean the power play the penalty kill they both sucked last year and have for a while so I guess I I don’t know how you really justify that but it’s also it’s somewhat like I feel like Kevin Adams was a little bit talking out of both sides of his mouth because it’s like he said Lindy Ruff whoever he brings in he’s got to trust right he’s got to really trust them and yet last year he took over a coaching staff where he’d never worked with any of them how much trust was built up there you know so it’s like he didn’t get to pick his own coaches last year and now one whole year in the foxhole with these guys and he’s built up so much trust that he’s got to be careful about who he brings in and yet half the league has changed out at least one coach on their bench in the Sabres had 79 points right so it’s between that and I mean hardly anything has changed about this group they brought in a strength coach new strength coach who comes with rave reviews i’m sure he’ll maybe he’ll be an improvement i don’t know like I didn’t I didn’t think Ed Ganon was doing a bad job um I think Ed Ganon in the conversations I’ve had with him is a pretty bright guy um was he missing some things did could they have done a better job apparently so or they think that they can so we’ll see uh like I said the new strength coach comes with quite a track record and quite a reputation around hockey so that could very well be a good move but when you have as bad a power play and as bad a penalty kill as they have had those are the two biggest tactical things that coaches can impact right like Yeah and they’re also probably the biggest difference maker between being a below average team and a team that can squeak into the playoffs like you could ride a good power play to the playoffs and how many points did they piss away because of the power play and the penalty kill probably a lot so sure if that if that’s the line they want to go with and that’s what they want to sell then sure we’ll see maybe they can add somebody else at some point maybe they’ve tried and people don’t want to work for them i don’t know but the idea that it’s just guys that Lindy trusts or that you know they’ve got a great coaching staff blah blah blah it’s like it was Donniey’s fault couple years ago it was Ed Ganon’s fault I guess this year and we’ll see if uh the boys are feeling a little stronger in third periods this year I guess one name to throw on the radar so number one I think Jam Key we talked about it earlier in the postseason he has re-uped three-year deal stay as bench boss up for the Bulldogs in the OHL i think Stu Barnes left the Tri City Americans in WHL about three and a half weeks ago and I don’t think he’s landed anywhere yet he’s the owner of that franchise or part owner he’s been head coach on that team for a while i don’t think he’s landed anywhere but when he left on May 30th Barnes said he is pursuing other professional opportunities okay Buffalo maybe he’s got trust with Lindy right he’s got trust with Lindy just want to throw that out there food for thought i don’t know could be interesting could be nothing could be me just making up we’ll see but that’s a name that I would maybe understand if they had some dialogue with i don’t know i don’t know but I do want to talk about the draft let’s just kind of shift gears real quick there was more is there anything else in the press conference yeah yeah because I don’t want press conference that I found with Kevin’s presser that I found interesting is that Yarmmo Keolin will be based in Columbus not entirely unusual I will say for that role but notable i think people would probably prefer that he’s in the building living here but he’ll be in the building a lot even though he’s not living here would be my expectation um something people had asked me about though so I wanted to point that out laura Pagoula’s involvement was brought up and probably didn’t make people feel great that you know although again I don’t know how you win an answer like that but she’s been around a lot more and going to board of governor’s meetings and hanging out and scouting meetings and just getting a lay of the land i don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing people seem we gonna be upset about an owner being involved in their in fact I think people should if anything take it as any outside voice that Terry Pagula might listen to I think should be a good thing any sort of some somebody to balance him out in some way it it won’t necessarily be a good thing but saying it is what it is nobody trusts Terry Pagula so right I mean I don’t know he needs somebody to help him out probably preferably somebody that has a little bit more hockey experience but again this is kind of why I wrote the story at the beginning of June like Kevin’s that guy for him so um but her involvement I think was notable something that that people were kind of curious about the only other thing that made you know and we can then spin into some of what Jerry Foron said and talk about the draft levi you know non-committal I guess on him being in the NHL but there seemed to be a certain comfort level with the possibility so we’ll see what they decide to do in net but it’s sort of a an undercover storyline I guess this summer but there’s a good chance they just run it back with what they have i wouldn’t i wouldn’t i think you got to bring someone in bring a tweener in a guy that you’re comfortable waving if Levi does win the job but create some competition don’t go into the season behind the eightball in a very important position i know it’s not a super great free agent class but the goalending in Buffalo wasn’t super great last year and I’m including James Ry Rhyr’s last season heroes late season heroics whatever you know what I mean like let’s just get over it is he retired yet Rhymer could you imagine if they brought him back like I don’t know i don’t know if that’s He is not officially retired he’s not officially retired i know i was being facicious but it’s like it’s almost like make the decision easier by retiring with a new strength and conditioning staff can they squeeze another good year out of him i don’t know i don’t know i just remember how Rhymer looked at the beginning of the year well you remember how Rhyr looked at sort of the tail end of that run too he was tired as where it finally ran out and it was like “Oh yeah there it is.” Like that’s why they didn’t ride this guy all year but the way he played makes it you saw the way the team played when he was playing that way granted meaningless games but they kept going back to him felt like a little bit of a message from Lindy Ruff of saying “I need somebody I can count on and right now I can count on this guy.” Is he going to go into the summer in a year that I don’t want to say it’s going to define his legacy but it might be the last image of him you know this this season his legacy is written like he is one of the great coaches in the history of the sport the best you know one of the best this franchise has had one of the icons of this franchise but the last impression people have of him is going to be what he did with this team is he going to go into next year with Levi and Lucinan i don’t know no I think that’s why you got to I don’t think he can but I don’t want to go like you would trust that but let’s let’s save this for free agency because we’re already an hour in and I don’t want to spend like too much more time here tonight and I want to talk about the draft if you don’t mind let’s just shift let’s do a hard shift we’re already an hour in almost 53 minutes let’s let’s leave some meat on the bone on the goending um pick a nine kevin’s open for business i’d love to see them get creative do something then stay at nine i think the more that I think about it when you look organizationally in the prospect ranks I was happy to hear that Jerry’s he said it you me and I have talked about it offline let’s not look at the top club roster in terms of building a draft list or picking a player regardless of where they’re picking look at what you have in the pipeline right now they lost a centerman on June 1st they lost a winger two wingers with Mida and Von Barnov threw them back into the pool mariala maybe they just made a judgment on him that he’s a great player good prospect signed with Edmonton pretty quickly by the way i just think that maybe he wasn’t maybe it was an indication if you look at them cutting Mariala loose and bringing in Tyler Coff after his collegiate season last year as an undrafted free agent big kid at 6’4 200 plus pounds kind of a moose can skate i think you’re kind of getting an idea of the types of players that they’re looking for mariala’s not that i think the Mariala thing was almost not gritty enough maybe doesn’t have the compete level super skilled playmaker totally to me worth it but maybe that was a sign that they have this character like a type of player that they’re looking for now organizationally Matt you know removing some of those guys um three players that they were currently on the depth chart you’re pretty good at center right now you can always use more centermen right but you have Helenius you have Koulique you have Austin you have Kak i think Constantini Bugan Chin non-factors moving forward left wing I’m feeling comfortable between the youth that you have on the top club roster i said you don’t look at it but you do have you know some guys who play left wing that are pretty fresh you know but Wahberg Rosane Popov Nov Cop when and you know beneath that Kizikov Bernson Carlson non-factors in all likelihood kizikov likes like we don’t know what’s going to happen with him right pretty clear that he’s not part of the plans moving forward right wing all of a sudden you’re really light on so I think right wing becomes kind of an area to to look at in terms of building some depth right D might be outside of center your strongest pipeline position with Sturbach Cleber Comro Gavin McCarthy and I’ll throw Brune in there who’s going to go play in the NCAA soon lefty might be an area that you might be able to work on and add a body at a pretty high pick ryan Johnson Nikita Novakov Luke Osbbor and then you have Sean Cohane Gary and Pinoa which I we’ll see what happens with those bottom three but I just wanted to kind of set the table there they need to get bigger up front and I think they want to get bigger regardless if they go right shot left shot on the blue line we got some predictions we got some thoughts on how they might act what are you feeling draftwise coming into Friday night i think they make a pick you do i think they might not they might not they might not that’s why I feel like that’s a little bold right like I think they make a pick where it’s probably going to be at nine i think it’s going to like I think the betting odds would tell you the history of the NHL is that they won’t be able to move up or move the pick even if those are the two preferred situations so Jerry Foron said today that he views it as kind of a five to seven player draft at the top before it starts to drop off so initially you know my first thought upon hearing that was like well have you thought about trading up you know you know well I asked Kevin have you sensed any sort of willingness from teams up top to maybe move down but it’s just a hard trade to envision when we don’t see it a lot they do have the pieces to make it work though they do have prospects they do have you know we’re talking about Jerry Foron did say you don’t usually see that unless it’s some sort of major trade well Jerry funny you say that because the Sabres have what two of the top seven players on CJ’s trade board both of whom who I would say would constitute major trades so you know you could use one of those guys to move up so Corey Ponman had Hagens and Martone falling to eight and nine in one of his recent mocks hagens 8 Martone 9 i’m waiting to see what Corey’s mock draft looks like as we get closer um he’ll probably have one more I think i don’t know that for sure but I think he’ll have another one and the guy is nails like the guy he’s he’s plugged in uh he was all over Shane Wright not going one when everybody said he was going one um I was fresh on the NHL beat and I thought this guy over here he knows his so uh I when he put out that Hagen’s and Martone at 8 and N I thought this is coming from somewhere right this is uh some some intel but and then I immediately thought wow this is best case scenario for the Sabres one of those two players we may have some disagreement here like for me it’s Hagens all day if they’re both sitting there um I like both but they’re two of my favorite guys in the whole draft and if they were sitting there at eight and nine I think would be a super super exciting scenario how does that happen murka goes top eight and Jake O’Brien goes top eight and then it’s in play not saying it would for sure happen but I think Brady Martin I’ve stopped even considering him because I just feel like he’s not going to make it there you know he went out to dinner with Nashville Boston Philly and Utah at the combine four five six and seven um he is that guy that hockey guys will get in a room with and be like this they fall in love with that type of kid the the work ethic the personality not to mention his game the physicality he says all the right things he does all the right things he’s he’s probably play wing though maybe i think I think play wing that’s what you know that would change the calculus a little bit mka I don’t know like does he go top eight ultimately we’re probably just pipe dreaming here right like the the idea that Hagens or Martone could possibly be there but that’s why you talk about the idea of you know moving up because man if they start to fall those are I say Hagens because I don’t know if there’s a number one center in the organization right now now that Taige Thompson’s on the wing hagens would make a lot of sense hagens I I just don’t see the eight and nine scenario that Corey had and I know what you’re saying um because of his network and the information just doesn’t make sense in this class if if Jerry Foron is saying five to seven and Hagens and Mark Tone are not five to seven then that list is not right i’m talking about Cory’s list it’s not right because Hagens and Marton are in the five to seven period end of story so I think to your point I’d rather see another mock i’d rather look at Wheelers that he put out today because that’s not the situation that you want to be in if you’re the Sabres i don’t think Well that’s kind of a worst case scenario that Wheeler laid out today and it might be more realistic potentially right it probably it could be i mean we’ll see i’m not knocking Cory by the I’m just saying like he’s I think he’s got one more sketch to put out and that’s the draft game right like some years you’re going to nail it some years you’re going to miss you’re not going to you’re not going to bat a thousand on these things wheeler has it going schaefer Misa Fondelle Denoy Martone at five Brady Martin at six Hagens at seven Jake O’Brien at eight leaving the Sabres with Ready Murka at nine okay so in this scenario let’s just zoom in on this scenario because I would say we’re both in agreement that really if Marton or Hagens are there they’re no-brainers i’d even maybe throw Brady Martin into that bucket um you know you’re looking at that that’s what you’re rooting for on draft day one of those guys to fall after that jake O’Brien doesn’t doesn’t do it for me because I think skill set wise he’s a little redundant you can correct me if I’m wrong i just don’t see some of the differentiating factors that would make him and maybe this is zeroing in too much on the physicality component of things not my preferred option I guess and he’s gone in this version so yeah no he’s a he’s a very impressive offensive playmaker um there could I think there is redundancy a little bit i mean I he could be a top centerman i think he’s skating will get better i just think his playmaking instincts are really really really good super cerebral like smooth i like when he passes the puck man everything is flat with that kid um so from that sense I mean I wouldn’t have a huge problem with him i think he’s getting a little steam from teams um I don’t think I I think with others that may have had questionable interviews I don’t think he was one of them i just think he’s kind of knows how to play the game and I think he did pretty well for himself um but I I So here’s here’s where I’m at murka would almost be a safe pick for the Sabres they would have a luxury it would be a luxury pick because you have Sturbach Cleber Kamarov in your pipeline mccarthy to a lesser extent you I know he’s a third round pick he’s not chopped liver i think he could be a really good depth guy for you and he might play someday blocks a ton of shots we talk about that warrior mentality he’s a little He’s a piss pot out there he’s got good size doesn’t back down brings a stick up on guys like I think he’s got a little bit of that snarl that we don’t talk about enough with Gavin McCarthy not an afterthought I guess is what I’m saying comro’s the guy there that maybe gets maybe too much love gets a lot of shots through though he’s got a lot of offense like he does a lot of good things i think he plays big skating you kind of worry about right but I mean long story short though they have guys that are in there that are cooking and you’re fine and you add Murka to that you are rock solid in terms of right-handed defensive prospects for a while i go back to rightwing when I look at this list brody Zeamer Jake Rashard Sardarion who probably not completely out of the picture i know it’s kind of if you go on Puck Pedia they removed him from the Sabres page we’ll talk about that nadau Zelena that’s it that is not outside of Zemer zemer to me is like the only like really sure thing jay Brard had a great season not a sure thing no you know it’s a sure thing to me in this draft class who’s a right winger and competes and gets to the net and he might not be the biggest guy i keep going back to Victor Ecklund and that’s going to drive Sabres fans bonkers but I’ll argue that I’ve seen him more than most Sabres fans that would go bunkers and I’m not being that guy i’m just saying seen him enough to not worry about him at all i think I would argue that you you’ve seen him more than anybody who would go by i’m not You’re being modest you’re being I don’t know what people are doing i’m just saying I don’t know that’s true that’s true you don’t know how people spend their time but what I’m saying is I’ve watched him enough for a while now to be very comfortable if they took him and I don’t care that he’s 5’11 and a half and presently weighs 165 pounds i don’t care i really don’t care you got nine other picks and you can go really hard the player that we’re not talking about yet in this whole thing is Roger McQueen mcqueen’s right there i don’t know i don’t know i don’t have insight in the medical i don’t know it seems like the medical like he’s feeling fine and there was a it’s not like a muscular issue in the back and so I think I feel okay about that i go back and forth on him i go back and forth on him like I go back and forth on the thought Matt that they could afford to take the swing they could and they could I I go back and forth on that yeah okay but but their prospect pool is not as good as it was a few years ago it’s it was middle of the pack in Scott Wheeler’s latest rundown i think 15th or 16th and because a lot of the guys are in the NHL a lot of the guys that would be prospects on other teams you know maybe Benson or whoever else are you know these really young guys are in the NHL so they can afford to take the risk but you’d also really like to hit on this pick and and strengthen your pipeline with some more you know Koulik’s already up so you’ve got Osland as looking like a a potential NHLer and I think I like some of the defenseman that you mentioned right um Wahlberg maybe gets there if he can sign Paul Topov like there’s some there’s still some good players in their prospect pool but as far as like legit potential difference makers that’s what top 10 picks are for right that’s where you find those players and so you pointing out Ecklland doesn’t drive me crazy because it’s like first of all he’s 5’11 and a half it’s not that small he’s taller than me um he could be six foot by the fall at 5’11 and a half he’s only 18 years old like height is not too big of a deal uh you’d like for him to put on some weight but you know 180 pound hockey players can make a difference compete is what what matters um he’s like a right right yeah it’s like yes you know I you’d be happy with more Benson’s on the team well we would i don’t know if everybody in the chat always agrees with us on that we get a lot of uh we get some people that are down on Benson but I don’t have a problem with Ekkan i I’ would throw almost throw out the medical on McQueen not entirely throw it out but like if I’m having the conversation at the draft table I’m saying let’s throw that out let’s debate these players like who’s the better player who who’s more of what the Sabres need and then you bring in medical and and kind of if you if it’s so close that you need to break a tie those are probably the forwards though right like it would have to be one of those guys if you’re in this spot the way it fell in Wheeler’s mock draft so the other the other options are um you know you’re getting into I guess it is that Carter Bear territory it’s too high probably right like there’s a drop off here n look I mean I like bear I don’t have problems I’ve mentioned this I think the after the lottery when you and I together I love him not probably at nine not probably at nine It’s also territory it’s HSN territory it’s actually Jackson Smith territory um bigger more you know just slicker with the puck i like HSN though i think HS’s would be perfectly fine a lot of his look I when I look at the left and the right shot D actually I I need a lefty more but in the prospect ranks but again when you factor in you know Dalene and power and it’s like who knows what the hell is going to happen with Byum you know do you really you know maybe if you’re trading B things move up but like when I look at the prospect ranks yeah Bryson right yeah you had to go there um I see I see a kind of a need for you know one more guy i could go either way at the end of the day how about this idea from Wayne he wants at converted to left wing would be exactly what the Sabres need it’s not wrong the way he plays um I don’t know no he I’ll tell you what a lot of his a lot of his action like he likes to sprint out of the zone and race up ice and get involved and sometimes he’s the first guy out legging forwards on his own team getting up ahead of them crossing the red line before them he likes I I I think I’ve said this before on this show i like the way that he reads the play and he sneaks back door like I I’ve seen people say that HS’s offense might not I think it’s going to be fine especially with creative forwards and just you know the way that you move the puck around positionless hockey concepts and everything he’s a great guy for that um I could understand HS i don’t think I don’t think they would do it uh ahead of MKA i think that they did uh Jerry Foron’s I mean he was asked directly about two players so I don’t read too much into him keeping praise on either one but the way he spoke about them specifically like comparing and contrasting to one another like did you read much into like one answer maybe pointing them in one direction over the other i think he definitely has an appreciation for Mertka’s route and it tends to and it tends to think that as this kid gets more comfortable in North America and you put resources around him that the his game is going to go to this next level and here he is a 6’6 kid and they just saw him play a ton because he was playing up in front of Rats laugh for half a year that they probably have some really good information on him um the way that he spoke about HSN was glowing too throwback old school that’s what you need um the one thing he said there was that might be and we had just you know I had just asked him about the toughness component at the top of the draft and teams trying to build more like the Panthers and so he was talking about how sometimes there can be a recency bias where teams and there are players in this draft that fit that and he me you know then he’s talking about HSN and he brought up he could fall into that recency bias that’s also though he could get overdrafted well that’s why I brought up that portion of his answer is he was saying he loves the player but he could fall into that and that to me said okay so maybe not nine now that’s again we read between the lines at this time of year right that’s what we do but Murka Murk has been tied to them quite a bit wheeler’s had them connected for a while so I think if they were between those two guys that’s probably And Kevin Adams says you can never have enough right shot defenseman and like you said it’s kind of the safe pick but it’s I wouldn’t think a bad one but McQueen and Ekklund end up being kind of the an interesting draft table conversation that they can have in the big fancy draft room now and they can all yell it out because they’re not going to be at the table uh undraft day i have no information that suggests that the Sabers like Ecklund but he does fit i’m telling you like in terms of that firecracker he fits said it before I’ll say it again it’s not the the dog in the fight it’s the fight in the dog and he is that guy for me i just like the way he plays someone’s going to get a good player there may very well not be Buffalo a likely How likely is it that they move up for Brady Martin who do you got to jump ahead of because I do think that Brady Martin would uh be a very good ad to this mix because again when I look it’s about physicality compete for said it today you and I talked about it this morning before the press conference right there’s a type when you’re building a team that they have to target I don’t want that’s why that’s what draws me back into Ecklund he is the type that I think they need what I will say about Brady Martin he could play center We know that great if I think he’s going to be a wing great he’s a right chat he’ll play right wing again right wing if you add him to the stable where you have Brody Zeamer makes a lot of sense do you have to move up to get him do you like him enough where you just go up and take the thought out of it not waiting for him to fall that’s a possibility for me got to get up to what five maybe four four we know three and four are in play right chicago Utah it’s four too high i don’t know if player you like who gives a go get him force too high cuz I’m taking Hagens if he’s on the board at four i agree with you i agree okay here’s the thing though take the thought of making a not a mistake but maybe like where you have to really have this conversation about McQueen and make a decision they already made the decision he’s either on the board or he’s not right in the range right but if it’s a five to seven get in there and and get in there get in there go get one of those guys because the Cousin we talked about it after the Cousins trade but by trading Cousins their highest drafted forward on their roster right now is Jack Quinn right and I mean you look at where the best players in the league get drafted it’s at the very top you know you know the whole like Florida’s roster was built in a somewhat unconventional way but a lot of their difference makers were what top seven picks like where was Kachchuck seven eight six somewhere in there barov super high reinhardt number two overall pick bennett number four overall pick like you find you can find them wherever but it doesn’t hurt to be uh finding that difference making talent like I don’t know when I saw that from Pronman I thought wow the idea that Hagens could fall feels like a big mistake to me from the league if that happens if that hap if he’s outside of the top five if he’s outside of the top four I’m calling every team from five until I’m on the clock as long as Hakens is there and I’m trying to make something happen because I just think that’s a potential number one center that you don’t know that you have at this point and I I like you know he’s not the biggest guy but I I think he has the requisite compete level and push back and all those things and he didn’t light the world on fire in college hockey but he didn’t have a bad year by any means on uh you know playing in a tough conference so just because he wasn’t Mlin Celibbrini or uh Frank Tilly or one of doesn’t mean that he’s not a good prospect he is the guy so I you know I came into the seasons of saying you know you watch all the prospects all year you know what they’re missing in in the pipeline porter Marone fits that but what they’re also missing in the pipeline to your point is a number one centerman hagens is over analyzed because he’s been the guy for so long and someone I think there are teams that are going to make a mistake on him if Buffalo can get him great if you move up and you’re in this Martone Hagen thing and they go Hagens I could totally justified as much as I like Martone 100% with you on that and I’d love to see it go up and get the guy don’t sit there don’t move back you got assets get aggressive be convicted i’d love to see that you know i don’t want to and listen I’d be shocked if one of those guys falls in shocked i just don’t see it i just don’t see it and I would And and we were a little surprised that Benson fallen as far as he fell too so sometimes it happens but you don’t want to sit there and hope hope is a pretty shitty strategy somebody wants it that’s right jason’s it’s like um you miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take right it was like Wayne Gretzky Michael Scott and I have it written on my whiteboard and it says Chris Baker i’m the third leg of that i’d like to see who it was like is someone else jason Zucker Matthew Fairburn um no so that’s where I’m at look other names i wish we could get another one in but we’re not going to be able to um we’ll be having a lot of this conversation tomorrow on Sabers Live uh I’ll be on with Duffer and Marty at noon um I wish we could do another one because I have the these day two guys just like for day two some names that I just want to throw out there i’m looking for out folks i’m looking for I’m looking for you know I’m not going to go too deep you know but um the types of players that I want I probably would go heavy forward but there’s like big burly defenseman too david Bkowski played for Owens sound grew up watching the Bruins bullies intimidating tough mobile safe right shot right shot another right shot but um he’s a guy that if I go forward I’d be happy to get him in not not 39 but maybe later but in the second round Ethan Zatada Eddie Genberg two guys that I would definitely really look hard at if they’re available they should be forch beasts don’t care about their points they’ll get them team value unafraid getting your hands dirty body shoulder forearm to the face all that love it old school let’s play hockey those are two guys that I really like there um I’m not going to go too deep i did like I I mentioned um on an earlier podcast I do have a couple knuckleheads you know I do think that but these are guys that they could also maybe not bring in um you know via draft there’s a couple guys late that they could maybe uh pick up you know as like undrafted you know like invites but they have a couple seventh rounders just burn some lottery tickets use a seventh rounder on a lunkhead absolutely that’s what they’re honestly you as a seventhrounder on a lunkhead aiden Foster is one of my favorite lunkheads go look at some He He gets punched in the face a lot but he can he can give a lot too and he likes to run through guys he’s just reckless abandon he’s later on um I’m just going through like I have some names and you know just guys that I like we’re going to run out of time here but I do think they’ll take a goalie also mid round i’m looking at Pradle the kid from Tri City Storm um really good link Gretzky i just think that he’s big enough he’s got potential i think Sheamus Cat could do some really good work with him and he could be a longer road guy get another goalie in this draft you have 10 picks i don’t know if they’ll use them all um Max Westerard is a player I like in the fourth round just another highly competitive guy plays pro hockey uh over for the Funda system i think that he’s he’s not the biggest guy but again compete motor you’re you’re not going to be able to maybe check both of those boxes of the compete motor fearlessness and a guy that’s 63 and a half that’s what I like about you know like when I look at Genberg I think he’s coming in at 62 194 zada’s right around the same 61 closing in on 180 but um those are two names that I want to look at early on day two on Saturday they’re they’re really and listen that’s how I was with like you know in that Sturbach Wahberg range kind of had a a profile um and then that big kid from Michigan State too I think he’s going to be on the radar also played fourth line minutes as a freshman for Michigan State i could see just with the the whole connection with their Yeah i just think there’s something there so um just a couple I’m I’m doing speed round here because we’re already an hour and 20 in and I kind of wanna kind of get move I gotta get moving on to a couple other things here that’s why I wanted to start a little early so thank you for accommodating me tonight matthew I just did speed round there’s more i have like you know 20 guys that I really like for for day two but I don’t want to go through them all i will throw out one other name and he might be able to be gotten in the fourth or fifth round i’ve mentioned his name in passing he’s another right-winger aiden Lane Bmpton Steelheads 61 193 committed to Harvard i think that when teams do their homework on this kid i think teams that saw him that were going to Scott Martone probably came away with this kid and they were just very impressed really good puck support creative gets to the net likes a you know he’s makes contact to make plays i think there’s some like Zack Heyman type of potential in this kid at least in terms of mindset and how he scores his goals fourth round fifth round for me maybe thick but it’s more about the character the team first mentality um the reason that you know everything sounds great about the kid right it’s just the skating needs to get more explosive with this kid but I think the frame is there i just like this kid a lot i can go on and on but he’s another kid though by the way he was already set to go to Harvard before they changed the rules and um he went to Bmpton or uh yeah he went to play for the Steelheads after like he just said okay I’m going to go play in the OHL left prep and uh good move for him I think it got more eyes on him um player I really I’ve I’ve liked him for a while I think that he could be really interesting again skill set culture to get integrated into this system i I’ I’d be really curious to see if Sabres like him i’m going to shut up this one’s speed round number it’s always fun to hear the names you throw out there write them down because I feel like inevitably every year a couple of them end up being Sabres so nobody’s got for lefty Brady Pedal another Michigan State commit well Michigan State we got to we got to be mindful of the connections uh any Green Bay Gamblers that could be uh I think we’re tapped out on Leo could be on their radar you know they like the program any guys at the program that maybe Gall Brian Galvin this new strength coach could lend some uh insight into always got to be mindful of those connections and you know late in the draft we always like to maybe look at guys that were passed over i will throw out Tanner Adams plays for Providence not the biggest guy but another just high i think he’s a kid who could play i always like looking at those guys from Providence that like like you know had a I had like big thing for Parker Ford i’m actually going with the Parker Ford route on this one i wanted to you know he made his NHL debut this year for Winnipeg by the way i think he played a game but um I like looking at those guys that kid’s just relentless he should have been drafted last year he wasn’t i think a team will probably take a look at him she’s probably like close to six foot 200 lb but just again just dog on a bone relentless that’s what I’m looking for energy compete i want fewer you know rosaines more just dogs start sprinkling them in start staggering getting them into the pipeline get a couple from the you know the OHL get a couple that are going to go to college route start sprinkling them in and that’s how you’re going to change your culture over the long term who’s this um there’s a Russian guy people were talking about denil Proarov i like him that has some nastiness to his game um Yuri Rumo he probably won’t get drafted maybe it was um I came across his name uh in his game and was kind of uh so I think well Proarov’s getting a lot of steam lately 6’5 but I mean he’s physical but I don’t I don’t know if we’re necessarily gonna call him nasty um I’m not sure Nestzel oh yeah he plays in the USA so he’s kid from Moskegan um he’s in like he played on a really good team this year i think he’s got a lot of potential a kid like that with his skill set and like should go higher than he is i think he’s I don’t know how he interviewed i’d be curious to see because I’m pretty sure he’s at the combine um he’s going to be right in the range for the like where I think that you look at Genberg or you look at you know Zata he’s going to be right in that range i think he’s going to be actually right there i don’t know i think that there’s a lot to like in the package skills there he’s like 6’5 that kid you got his numbers up in front of you 6 foot five 100 6 foot 65 and a quarter 187 pounds yeah mkegan um he’s No I think he’s right there in range too you know I I think there’s people that like him more than I do personally i thought he was a little inconsistent at times but again they’re young kids you know what I mean and it’s like they’re not all perfectly polished and sometimes you got to just project the body but no he fits i think he fits kind of what you’re looking at but like I don’t think he’s got the same Well he does actually you know when you really dig in i just there’s something I have a comfort level with like Genberg i like his attitude i like the way he speaks about his game he’s just confident and that’s a kid he’s just no just going to go out lower his shoulder loves stirring it up loves driving through the body going through the chest hits the hurt i like that i’m looking for that on day two i’ll take I’ll take less of that on the at the first round if I was going to say that i was going to say that that’s why people shouldn’t panic necessarily if it’s Ekan and Ekkan does have competitiveness so I’m not saying he doesn’t but they shouldn’t panic if the Sabres get somebody who’s perceived as smaller or not that type because I know you’ve said a bunch that you find those guys a lot of times on day two i think what makes And it’s why I asked Jerry Foron this question about the Panthers today what makes the Kachchuck unique or even I’d throw Barov and Bennett into that mix it’s like to get the skill with the other stuff is rare you know to get the high-end top of the draft skill with high-end nastiness that you’re probably going to get in Martone and Martin you know it’s it’s hard to find so that’s where teams may overcorrect it’s why I have a hard time seeing either Martone or Martin on the board for the Sabres at nine yeah I don’t know it’s it’s it’s it’s tough to forecast i think there could be some chaos but um at the end of the day I want him to move up and just get one of their guys be convicted that’s kind of where I’m at i don’t I don’t I don’t want him to take Eklund i want him to go up and get a Martin a Martone a Hagens those one of those three that’s really what I want will they i don’t know we’ll see cliffhanger i’m gonna end Matt i know we got the chat do you want to go through a couple things real quick because I kind of got to get out of here a lot of it we kind of hit on we had um you know Mike Leinsky noted that Adams confirmed there was no coaching staff changes we hit on that i threw up a few of these just to reflect the sentiment of the chat here mikey C says “Today was another low moment for this hockey team.” Uh BIP 1812 can the front office pretend they want to win and Kevin notes another PR master class from our favorite hockey team’s GM it’s kind of we hit on that when we talked about like seems like every time Kevin Adams speaks he just can’t can’t win people over like nothing he says is going to and I’m not saying he did a great job today i’m just saying it’s hard for it seems like these press conference are a reminder that he is in the job and that pisses people off enough that no matter what he says uh he’s not really going to come out on top um Anthony S with a Jacob Bryson shout out said “If we get rid of every player who doesn’t want to be here we’ll be left with a roster of only Jacob Bryson.” Uh also uh Michael Pakla should have mentioned it congrats to Alexander McGilly for getting into the Hockey Hall of Fame that was a surprise today that he finally got the call um somewhere McGilly’s sitting on his deck smoking a camel and uh getting ready to write his speech um Kevin Adams did say something today about like you can pay guys money and it doesn’t always solve everything like about Right right i thought that was kind of interesting i don’t want to go too deep on that but I did write that down as something that was interesting yeah he’s like you can’t if you pay somebody more money hoping that will make them happy it’s you know risky or whatever he said it doesn’t always work out that way all I know do you have a comment is there a comment about tuck at all anywhere in there because I my only other thought right away is like if I’m Alex Tuck I’m going JG Wentworth 877 cash now i think that’s the number right like that’s what he should be doing ben the Sabres over a barrel capitalize on a desperate Kevin Adams get that guaranteed max dollars in term right now because what and whatever he gets will be tradable that was my one thought that I was taking it away he’s gonna get he’ll get what he wants oh JT Worth here he should get plenty um yeah definitely he’s in a good position and I think five plus years at least and um I still think somewhere in that 8 to nine is going to be a comfortable comfortable spot for Tuck take his cash now take it with the Buffalo Sabres i I would if I were him i mean I know you could get traded another time patrick Wolf brought up an interesting point is this time to use Purka or Byum level player to target a legit goalie i mean no I don’t think they’ll do that but um I wouldn’t use Purka to get a goalie by the only goalies I would do it for maybe the only goalie is Jeremy Swayman but that’s uh that a bit of a It’s a bit of a risky deal makes a lot of money he’s coming off i like Swayman plenty listen I like him but not not for the money right now i’m not I’m not I’m not there not for the money not for the cost to acquire not for the opportunity cost of the other holes you have on your roster i agree with when he says “Play better D and your goalending gets better.” It feels like a move to try to end the drought right like let’s find a goalie that can carry us to the playoffs but that’s maybe not the most sustainable route to building a consistent playoff team although ending the drought would be would be nice so that was the majority of what I starred there was a lot of other good chats we we threw up a few as we were talking about stuff i tried to hit on stuff as we were coming as they were coming up like hit different topics we hit a lot of different stuff today so yeah I apologize to the chat um normally we’d go through spend a little more time with it i think we went a little longer than we probably wanted to on the press conference today wanted to spend a little more time on the draft but it’s good we covered we we killed some multiple birds here with a couple stones um I’m good Matt i kind of I wish we can go longer but we cannot i got to move on here with my evening and do a couple things um you got any plugs for your work at the Athletic that you want to get i think we’re running a dollar a month special right now and there’ll be new Sabres content for you every day this week and hopefully you know there’ll be lots of stuff from development camp and the draft and hopefully lots of activity from Kevin Adams on the trademark free agency um we got a whole stable of hockey reporters uh that I would put up against anybody in the business so good time of year to get in at a dollar it’s a good roster not a lot of holes on that roster no good roster stephen Caner asks if there will be a draft Baker Fairburn draft party in 2026 it’s a good idea it’s a good idea um we’ll consider or maybe we’ll do it on a night where we’re not so busy maybe we should have a Baker Fairburn watch party for a road game or something there you go that Caner can organize i think Caner owes you a drink still he does very early on in the show oh I haven’t forgotten i haven’t forgotten it was about a year and a half ago but I haven’t forgotten got a little post-it note right here all the people that have wronged me in life and owe me drinks stephen Ky you’re on the list it’s like that what was that movie billy Madison putting my lipstick on all right I’m gonna get us out of here um again apologize for the abrupt ending apologize for the low chat we will get back to more chat involvement next show I promise we’ll be back for free agency there will not be a long gap between shows because after the draft July one baby july one going to be fun gonna be fun for Matthew Fairburn who again you can find at the athletic.com/sabers for the production crew who is monitoring all the people that owe me a drink and want the Sabres to move up to four four yeah four i’m Chris Baker thanks everyone for hopping in on short notice we appreciate you guys showing up every week to the Baker Hawk Show hit that like button if you haven’t already on your way out and we’ll see you next time

It’s draft week as Kris Baker and The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn discuss everything Buffalo Sabres.