Potential Big Week Looms For Buffalo Sabres (Plus Bills Talk)

Potential Big Week Looms For Buffalo Sabres (Plus Bills Talk)

all right what is going on everybody how you doing welcome to episode 1 181 Talking Buffalo your weekday daily driver for Buffalo Sports Talk and more my name is Patrick Moran thank you to everyone out there as always for listening to the show for watching however you are consuming taking in talking Buffalo i appreciate you guys so very much also a big shout out to today’s sponsors Sunny Red’s 1841 Abbott Road brand new outdoor patio this weather is finally popping it is a a great time out there i was there over the weekend i’m going to be doing a live show there with Bulldog from WGR on Wednesday night uh July 2nd so if you’re in that area make sure you stop up also Imperial Pizza two locations 1655 Main Street near Kinesis College and the South Buffalo Staple 1035 Abbert Road the best lunch special anywhere in town i’ll also be doing a live show there this coming Sunday night my guy Joe from Queens is going to be in town so we’re going to hook up live and we will be at Imperial Sunday night at 8:00 p.m shout out again to our sponsors all right this is our Tuesday podcast i’m joined right now for the first time and good friend of mine we’ve been on his show a couple times now he’s returning the favor to me my buddy Matt Digger from Duke Champions man what’s going on dude how you doing not too much not too much Pat how are you tonight i’m good i’m good i appreciate you doing the show i especially appreciate it on uh relatively short notice you’ve been traveling today i know it’s been a a busy couple days uh for you guys um for you specifically you guys um over at Dude Champions uh we’ll talk some sabers and some Bills today this is going to be I I want to say potentially let’s use the word potentially Matt a potentially a big week certainly an important week for the Buffalo Sabres how it plays out remains to be seen we’ll talk about that as well we’ll get into some um I want to pick your brain a little bit on what you’re looking forward to seeing with Bill’s training camp coming up next month we’ll get into that in just uh a couple minutes but Matt I’ll tell you what Sunday the place to be was out in Hamburg at Soul Beach Club uh you um student body you you’re partner know Red Dude Champions he hosted a botchi ball tournament and it was a lot of fun it was very hot i um I tell you what it was hot wasn’t it dude that’s a word for it it It touched 90 yesterday on the beach so it was it was definitely a lot of fun it was a lot of fun for sure and um you guys you got some stroke dude because I am a Saturday guy you know this Saturday is my day man saturday is bang out the bush light apples and let’s have a party kind of day sunday usually you don’t get me out on a Sunday but I really wanted to be a part of that uh student reached out to me and uh and asked me to come and I was like “Yeah that would be really cool.” And there were a lot of um first of all there were a lot of people there uh secondly very impressive uh list of a couple former players that were there um Harrison Phillips he looks good too by the way yeah Harrison looks really good harrison always looks good yeah I my my thought I took my daughter there um my first thought was damn I still wish he was a Buffalo Bill especially right now man he would be a really good fit for this team right now but Harrison Phillips was in the house there uh Aaron Williams who looks you know he still looks like he could he could play man he hasn’t played since 2016 it’s been a while but he still looks like he can get out there and play uh S Kachio was in the house i talked to him for a little while unfortunately I left like right before Jim Kelly showed up man that sucked for me but anyway that was uh cool for you guys and I appreciate especially your partner man this dude body right dude he he made me um he made me feel like a star made me he gave me the rockstar type treatment so there’s how big this event was a combination of just being a a beautiful gorgeous day plus the event that was going on what that led to folks is people who were trying to go to the beach and park in the big public parking lot we’re getting turned away the cops had orange cones out it was barricaded off you could not get in I mean you couldn’t get in for a minute So we literally had to come up and grab you because uh they wouldn’t let you come in so it was wild man so I was with my daughter she she was driving and we couldn’t get in and I called student up and fortunately he answered i said “Yo I can’t get in dude there’s no parking they’re turning us away cuz what are you talking about?” I said “Well literally the lot is full there’s a cop out there and they’re turning us away.” Um he says “Circle back around come back five minutes.” I did he was out there and he talked to the cop and the cop let us in so I was like “Damn dude.” It kind of felt like a getting the rockstar treatment there a little bit you guys did a live show there too yeah talk about before we get into because this is a podcast too and everyone who listens to Talking Buffalo knows that i like to spend a little bit of time especially when I got a podcast guest on talking about actual podcasting uh you guys have been doing a lot of live shows lately and by the way if you don’t know this people Duke Champions is a is a podcast it’s a really good podcast and it is on the come up and you’ve had a really really impressive uh list of guests especially recently we’ll get into that in just a second but talk about the process of having to set up a live show you know with multiple microphones multiple cameras on a 90 plus degree day and at a location Matt that again was absolutely mobbed mhm yeah so I mean it was actually easier than it was last year and I will tell you that because we last year was our first year um of doing it and we ran into all sorts of issues i know you actually came over and helped us with the uh the road for a second um you know to you know cuz we were having a lot of choppiness issues yeah um so it was almost like too much processing so you got to get the audio correct and you got to get the video correct and you got to do just about everything and make sure everything is almost perfect but in a live scenario perfect is the imperfect right so um because you’re going to get the noise you’re going to get some of that you’re going to get So it’s just it comes down to it and it’s one of the most rewarding things but to get there is almost one of the most stressful things but I I’m glad it worked out yesterday um you know and just to kind of throw this out there real quickly do Champions is the media network we actually do Third and Manageable on Saturday nights with myself and student body right um and uh check out any of the other great shows on our network so um but Pat I I again I want to thank you for having us on i want to thank you for being there yesterday um I know you know you and I talked for about 10 minutes uh with with student pip piping in every once in a while but um you know he was all over the place man he was an animal man he was he he was an animal it was uh it was kind of fun watching him i was having my own little personal entertainment just watching him flying around you know trying to take care of a million different things at once that’s kind of like the perfect spot for him though because like it kind of gets his you know it kind of shows like his his ADHD or whatever you want to call it kind of just being able to kind of be all over the place um I I couldn’t do it i I I’m glad I could take care of the podcast stuff and the the the live stuff and everything like that and at least handle that side of it for him but um yeah I mean we had a we had a great time yesterday it was it was hot it touched like I said 90° and um it we luckily we had a tent because if we didn’t have that tent we probably would have been uh maybe on for 20 minutes and then been we’re out funny you should mention that Matt because I I’ll tell this quick story here uh involving the show the live show that you guys did on Sunday which again Jim Kelly was on there i want to get to that in a second so I mean that just that’s just such kickass but anyway you’re right you did have a tent for you and for student for other people but if you were the way it was and there’s nothing you could do because you got you know only so much room that you could put so many things you got to spread things out otherwise it’s just not going to work schematically but where I was because I did about a 10 minute or so guest spot uh on your show but that was outside the tent so you have a microphone that you hold and you have headphones and you got to have headphones especially you know if it’s you and I in a studio or somewhere like maybe even Ilios or something like you guys do a lot of shows there you could get away probably with not having to have headphones on because it’s not so loud but this was a packed ass house at a beach bar shout out DJ Jixer by the way um banging out some really good tunes it was loud it was fun headphones were a necessity so you got headphones on in the sun baking down on you which adds about 10 to 15 degrees of heat and uh I I watched it back holy [ __ ] man i was literally about 4 minutes in dripping with sweat student threw a bandana for me which I caught and I was wiping my face that was hot i was baking in the sun but you know what to say man all’s fair and loving podcasting it was fun it was definitely a lot of fun yeah to kind of go along with that like we had a little bit of an issue with the road too um our our road cable actually died so I had to run to Best Buy and um Really yeah and that’s why we were supposed to go on at noon and didn’t go on until about 1:30 um but had to go to Best Buy and that I had to make two separate trips so just to cuz that kind of goes along with how it goes for a live show you want to make sure you have everything but um when something dies like that you kind of got to think on your feet and we we had to shoot up to Best Buy and uh unfortunately they gave me the wrong charger the first time um and then so I had to go back yeah so I had to go back and I took the road with me that time to to make sure that it actually worked and I was like “You guys sold me the wrong one this time um this time we’re gonna plug it in and you guys are gonna make sure we get the right one.” So they did and they were very accommodating but um yeah I mean you know Pat you know it’s just you saw it i mean it was just it was a mad house and just to be able to have um you know to be able to have the ability to do that yesterday to help Harrison’s playmakers to help um we had we had somebody we had somebody that on there uh Blake who’s a part of uh Harrison play Harrison’s playmakers um who’s you know uh um somebody who struggles with with not I don’t I don’t want to call it struggles i don’t know how to put that but somebody who’s afflicted with Down syndrome you know and he we had him on and he he gave us you know his thoughts about you know how much it means to him to be on or to be a part of Harrison’s playmakers and it was just that’s what it was about yesterday it’s not about it’s not about you and me and and the sponsors and trying to you know it was about charity yesterday and it was about phil philanthropy yesterday so I mean it was just a lot of lot of lot of lot of fun yesterday and I I don’t have anything more on that and no it was it it was a lot of fun and to your point all the other stuff like I said how hot it is outside the equipment issues you know doing a live setup and and the pitfalls that come with them none of that [ __ ] really matters at the end of the day like you said it was about charity it was a great event harrison Phillips’s foundation money was raised everyone that I ran into and talked to and I ran into a lot of people that I knew there all had a really good time like I said I was especially after doing this I was hot i was overheated um I I could only last so long dude I’m old man i can’t be out in the sun at a beach bar for more than two hours like that’s my max so anyway I tapped out at that point my daughter who had a great time too by the way um we left and I missed Jim Kelly so you got to interview Jim Kelly before we get into like I said Sabres and Bills here how’d that interview go um it was I I I did listen to most of it you know what I mean and I’ I have I’m not on my show but I’ve had opportunities to talk to Jim i know what Jim is um not you know he’s to the point with what he with what he wants to say and what he’s got to say but anyway first of all a great gift man you’re going to get a first Hall of Fame quarterback props to you guys that that [ __ ] is awesome but uh what did you guys talk about during the time you had with Jim well first and foremost shout out to Dennis Depalo for uh you know pulling him over there and basically sitting him down um you know and helping us get get that but um I as far as gym goes yeah it it’s a it was a great interview um you know definitely watch it it’s on our it’s on our Twitter and everything um it’s on our YouTube uh so definitely check that out but it it’s also comes down to it’s its time constraints as well so you know he’s very like you said to the point so you don’t want to take up and also because of who he is you don’t want to take up too much of his time um you know at an event like that like yes if if we’re having an actual sit down interview and and things like that going into then yeah you’re you might get more more questions out of him but to sit there and to you know on on Friday night we had uh we did a recording with uh Woody Rick um and I will tell you one of my childhood dreams was to put on like an AFC Championship ring or you know I got to put on all four of his that was probably that like check that off the bucket list that was that was probably the most thing fun thing um but then to be able to sit there in awe of just talk being able to talk to Jim Kelly like like and and that’s the thing i’ve talked to him before like he knows my name you know saying bye and things like that but it comes down and you’re just like “Oh that’s that’s really cool.” But to be able to sit across from and have a conversation that’s probably one of the coolest things kind of a you know listen man at the end of the day you’re content creator too and we do this we We have people on you’ve gotten used I’m sure at this point and it’s been a process for you guys I’m sure but you’ve gotten used to having people with recognizable names you just had Ruben Brown on the show you know the day before the event and I saw that as well a lot of names and you get used to it at some point but there’s always at least for me and I’m pretty sure I’m speaking for you as well there’s pinch me moments like in a moment you know even if it’s whether it’s for 5 minutes 15 minutes whatever it may be you may find yourself saying you know what I am a Bills fan i did grow up a Bills fan well at least that’s the case with me and I’m like man I’m sitting here and in your case uh the other day I’m in a conversation with you know one of the most recognizable players in the history of the Buffalo Bills man qb1 you know what I mean a again a first ballot hall of famer a guy who when he played here is was larger than life and he was larger than life in Buffalo and he still remains a larger than life type figure you ever get those kind of moments it’s like you got to you know you you want to do well you want the show to go well you’re worried about all the production aspects and all that stuff and then you know you you ask the right questions and you hopefully you engage in a good conversation but you ever find those moments where you’re like man this is really freaking cool you know yeah yeah no I mean it I had like I said I had one of those moments on Friday night and unfortunately when you’re you’re you’re doing it live recording it live um you know not a live stream but like kind of like a recording you know and we didn’t edit it we just literally took it and put it right up on on um uh you know YouTube Twitter all that and sitting there and after you I just had to sit down and be like “Holy cow like that just happened.” And then it was it was almost the same thing with uh with Jim Kelly on on uh on uh because he he truly is he’s QB1 until Josh Allen makes that Super Bowl until he gets there he Jim Kelly in my eyes is always going to be QB1 it’s it’s almost like that Jordan LeBron debate where Jordan’s won six is 6 and0 and he’s never going to LeBron’s never going to touch that record so you know I I if Josh never makes it you know knock on wood that he does and we as Bills fans want to sit here and say um you know he is going to 100% win one in his career but we got to remember Dan Marino never won one he only went to one you know he went to one second year too right that was it never never got back and and we can’t sit here and say 100% Josh is going to make it but in in my in my gut I think he is and I think by the time his career is over he will be QB1 but until that point yesterday was a very pinch me i’m you know type of moment as it should be and I’ll tell you what my my favorite my most fascinating thing about Jim Kelly this iteration of Jim Kelly this era of Jim Kelly I would say this and I look forward to hopefully you know I have things in the works to someday sit down with him in a setting and and have a a full interview but I I’ll tell you what to me is the most fascinating thing about him and it’s this Jim Kelly there’s one person on this earth right now literally who could when you talk about Josh Allen and what he’s doing on the football field and how large he’s become and how big of a of a part of the community he’s become where you can’t go to a restaurant you can’t go to Wegman’s you you can’t go to Barill you know without people just staring at you every single place you go the the the burden on your shoulders of winning trying to win a Super Bowl there’s lots of people who can understand it to an extent there’s one person on the face of this earth who can relate directly to what it is like to be QB1 at that level for the Buffalo Bills a larger than life guy and it’s Jim Kelly he’s the only person in the history of this organization that can look at Josh Allen and say “I’ve been there i know what it’s like i know what it’s like to have that responsibility i know what it’s like to have that level of popularity i know what it’s like to have you know that stigma or that that that stature that I’m larger than life literally every singlewhere I go you know what I’m saying that’s what Jim has and nobody else does yeah I do i I agree with you but I I also um you know want to bring up one other name on a lesser of a lesser extent i think Fitzpatrick you got to put up there as far as being and not because of how good he was on the field but I think that you know because of the beard because of Bill’s Mafia becoming a big thing at that time and I think that that and now with him being on Thursday Night Football and you know him doing all this stuff I think he he is like right there not necessarily in the the the skills talk but or what’s on the field talk but as far as if Josh Allen needed something I’m sure you could reach out to Fitz as well and and and kind of understand that as well sure on a on a popularity and personality level absolutely I would agree with you on a pressure to win and bring a Super Bowl the Bills never really were a contender when Fitzy was here and trust me dude I love me some Ryan Fitzpatrick one of my favorite players crazy son of a [ __ ] man he was going to He had some Jim Kelly in him he was going to throw a ball in a triple coverage because he believed he can make every single throw every single time it’s a good example to use uh last question and then we’ll roll into some Buffalo sports talk here but doing these live shows and I’m just again podcast guy live shows um just the guests that you’ve had on and again a very impressive guest list that you guys have been compiling over there how long did did it take you to get a little more comfortable i don’t know i don’t know if you’re fully even comfortable yet but it sure seems that way but um getting comfortable with having a bigname guest cuz I’ll tell you man when I used to uh when I first started getting a lot of you know notable guest on Dave I I was nervous as [ __ ] man and I would have like I had Adam Shfter on once and this wasn’t in this was before video okay this was just audio but I knew I was going to have a 60-minute sitdown interview with Adam Shfter and I I was pacing like crazy probably the most nervous I’ve been since my wedding which was 20some years ago you know what I’m saying but you get used to it you get more confidence you know you gain comfortability with yourself but do you still get like you guys do a lot of shows at Ilios for an example um you still get some of those nerves sometimes a little bit it doesn’t necessarily have to be like the biggest name guest it could just be somebody you know this dude’s going to be a really great guest he’s going to be you know a great interview and you know you got to bring it you know you got to be at your best as well yeah i I I I’ll be honest with you i I get nervous on any any guest that we have on i I get nervous for any show because I want to you know I want to make sure that everything’s going right i want to make sure that the audio is working the the video is working the the guests can hear us you know and and the it’s coming out to be a a a great interview and um but I to kind of go to your question a little bit um if you go back on on my old podcast uh the Buffalo Basement I lost you quickly here no go ahead can you hear me you’re good yeah I can hear you if you go if you go back to my my original podcast The Buffalo Basement um we had Eric Wood on and he was like the biggest guest that we had on there um and you can kind of see that even though I was I was trying to portray confidence there was that nervousness there and and I’ll be honest that’s probably the the last time I’ve I’ve really felt that nervousness for an actual guest yeah I uh it’s funny you say Eric i I’ve had Eric on we we’ve had wings i I like to consider Eric actually a good friend at this point we’ve hung out and had wings even if it’s not podcast related and Eric is a super chill nice guy but he also has an aura and a presence to him that could kind of make you especially again if you’re not used to it or you’re in the process of getting used to it he could certainly make you nervous but yeah man Eric Wood is uh definitely one of the the more popular uh former Buffalo Bills who’s still very very I mean he’s got his own podcast of course um but he’s just also very involved here with uh the community the charities and um yeah just a really good interview let’s do this we’re going to take a quick break come back on the other side uh podcasting talk’s been fun sabres talk may not be as much fun but we got to get there because this is going to be potentially like I said a very big week for the Sabres much more coming up with Matt right after this quick break [Music] all right I am back here with Matt Digger from Do Champions is the media company like you said they’re manageable the podcast i always get the the companies in the pod Rob but make sure you guys check it out of course I’ll have a link to all that stuff too uh in my show notes if you’re watching this on the video side by the way we talked about this over the last week or so people have been asking me for months about getting some talking Buffalo gear it is available now we have actually a site we’re collaborating with uh Buffonwack so if you want to go to talking buffalo.buffweek.com we got hoodies crew necks t-shirts uh different couple different styles couple different colors so make sure uh you go and check that out all right Matt this is uh draft week for hockey you know the Stanley Cup just came to an end last week uh what are we thinking right now with the Sabres let’s start here because this feels like a goddamn double-edged sword to me on one hand dude Kevin Adams knows it’s now or never for him like time’s up and it’s not even about getting fired anymore we talked about this a little bit on your show the other day um it’s not even about him getting fired this is the last year of his contract it ain’t going to get renewed ain’t going to cost Harry no money to not bring him back after this year so he knows shit’s got to get done but if you’re Kevin Adams how do you convince an unrestricted free agent to actually want to come here or how do you convince somebody like I said with a no trade clause to wave it to come to Buffalo it feels like such a big dilemma right now for Kevin doesn’t it it does and I I truly think that um as far as in the free agency side of things um you know that starts July 1st um I I I truly think that he’s going to he’s not going to be able to be in on the big fish he’s not going to be able to be in on the Mitch Marers the you know whatever it it’s it’s going to be you know your lower fill-in guys and and to be honest with you give him a little bit of credit because um he’s always done the little little things that you know help with building a roster he’s just not done the stuff on the top top side of it to get those guys in here like a like a Person or like a Jason Robertson or like a Mitch Mner he he’s not getting those guys in here to help with that top six uh with the top six forward with the Ta Thompson the Alex Bucks and everything like that it’s frustrating you know this isn’t about free agency but a sidebar here a side point how frustrating is it to see two players on this team and Ta Thompson and Rasmus Stallene that have been everything that you could hope they could be like Rasm Stallene you know first overall pick they don’t always work out rasm Stallene has worked out he has been sensational i think you can make a very reasonable case that if Rasmman Stallene played for Dallas or Colorado he might have a Norris trophy in his in his living room right now that’s how good I think he’s been ta Thompson proved you know that one year where he scored a bunch of goals that it wasn’t a fluke man this guy is a great player how do you feel for them you know they’re sure they’re rich whatever but do you feel for them on a personal level that these guys are deserving and worthy of being on contenders and they’re special guys special players and it feels like their skills and their careers to some extent are you know on the verge of kind of rotting away here in Buffalo let’s just call it what it is yeah i I mean I I do feel for them in in a way you know you take the money side out of it and on on a you know personal humanizing level i do feel for them uh because Rasmus Deni’s been here since 2018 just saw just saw somebody share a picture of the tweet from Josh Allen when they both got drafted in the same year um you know wings on Josh you know so I I I wonder if that ever happened but um that that aside um Raspus has been kind of a model player model citizen model whatever you want to call it and you know even when when somebody like uh uh Paul Besonette wanted to come out and try and blow something up he’s like no like where’d that come from like why you know so that’s that’s Rasmus Dene but also on Taage Thompson I think it’s more on more on like the guys like Tage and even Alex Tuck and even a little bit Payton Krebs um I think that’s got to be wearing on them because Tage Tage was a big part of the deal for Ryan O’Reilly and then um Alex Tuck and Pton Krebs were the big parts of the uh uh the Jack Eel trade so you see Jack Eel and Ryan O’Reilly Ryan O’Reilly will go win win Stanley Cup and Khan Smite the the year he uh leaves the Sabres so I I mean I feel for these guys because as a content creator I look at it and I’m like okay what are these guys doing but as a as a Sabres fan taking that it’s like you know it’s 14 years but these guys have only been here four three four five years and it’s like that you can’t you can’t get away with it or you can’t get away from it rasmus Dene denied you know the anger that was publicly reported last year and I believe him i’m not saying he’s lying i do think there is a sense of frustration with him though and maybe he didn’t get to that level and maybe he didn’t say what was reported but do you get a sense that it’s close it’s coming like let’s say we get to February this year and what’s he going I don’t even know I’ve lost track of how many years he’s been in the league now but you know another year and it’s let’s just say it’s around Valentine’s Day you’re freezing your balls off in Buffalo like that’s what happens here in Western New York and you’re buried near the bot bottom maybe even at the bottom of the conference are you concerned that it gets to a point where Rasma says “You know what man i I want out i don’t want to be here no more.” See and that that’s the thing like I I kind of equate it a little bit to the Jack Eel thing like I don’t care you you decided to sign the deal you decided to sign for eight years you’re here if you you know as long as your your the um your play on the ice is not suffering then you’re going to just suck it up and and until we can find something that works because you know and I wish they would have done the same thing minus the whole neck thing with Jack Eel is I think that that’s where it would have gone with him but um as far as Rasmus Dalene I I don’t worry as much on him because he’s not had that major injury he’s not had anything like that so they kind of hold all the all the uh the cards on him um but I do worry for the locker room side of it is maybe destroying a locker room maybe you know something like that and I’m not saying it gets to that point but I I I think you know I I worry for that side of it i’ll say this about Rasmus and what the difference with him and I believe Jack was both are frustrated by the losing jack Eel was very frustrated i mean sick of losing and I understand that he is a superstar player and the dude was just sick of losing i would also say that there was a part of Jack Eel that just wasn’t happy being a Buffalo Saber i’m not sure how the organization other players his relationship with a lot of other guys on the team with management things like that we all know about you know the surgery and the beef that came of that he wanted out i do think Rasmus Stallene desperately wants to be a Buffalo Saber he just is sick of losing like if he were to ask out like with Jack I was like whatever with Rasmus i would be team Rasmus if it came down to it because I’m just saying the dude wants to be here i truly believe that he genuinely wants to be a Buffalo Saber i just think that the losing is really starting to wear thin on him and I believe the same when it comes to Ta Thompson as well and furthermore a guy I probably shouldn’t have mentioned along these guys of like why is this team not good because you look at Alex Tuck alex Tuck scores 33 goals this year alex Tuck at 29 years old said I thought he was sensational man and you know to Kevin Adams’s uh credit as much as we [ __ ] on him and I certainly do plenty myself I know that and I don’t run from it but you look at that trade all things considered i mean you got tucked back you still got Oscelin to see how he turns out um Karez has been okay wasn’t an awful trade i mean considering that you had to trade Jack you know and you were limited in your leverage because of that pretty good return kevin Adams has done some good things the the Mloud trade was a good trade last year the Jason Zucker signing was a good free agent signing you add all this up Madd and it’s like well why is this team not better man i I don’t have that answer um no one does the only thing I can come up with and I’ll be honest with you is uh just from a from a uh watching it knowing hockey um I’ve been on the ice since I’ve been three years old to be honest with you um but just to uh is the goalending the goalending the way that um whatever whether it’s the uh goalending coach the way that they have him you know uh working or whether it’s um you know whether it’s his confidence or anything like that uh but UPPL is not the answer anymore and at this point for three months he has showed that he can do it the rest of his career has been what he’s been so at this point we got to sit here and say that’s who he is so either you’re gonna have to go get Aaron Ecklad you’re going to have to go get a partner for uh for for Rasmus Dalene you’re going to have to you know go you know hope that JBD and Connor Clifton play well together so that they can play on the defensive side but until you fit like unless you go spend a lot of money on the on the defense it’s not he’s not going to be anything and um for for me to hear Kevin Adams in his end of year press conference have as much confidence in UPPL as he does it it just it blows my mind yeah look I’m with you in fact uh I’ve asked people I’m Look I’m more of a football guy i’m a hockey guy too but not on the same level as football more of a frustrated disgruntled fan i talk about the team and I rely on having a lot of good hockey guests who come on and provide the insight i am not Mr inside provider when it comes to the Buffalo Sabers i’ll be the first to admit that but I do know that the goalending has not been good enough um and the problem with this offseason is everyone I’ve talked to Chris Austrian or Chad D dominus some others Mike Arrington the goalending pool’s just not good out there like Jonathan Allen’s like the one free agent I believe out there Jake Allen whoever something Allen he’s a he’s a good quality free agent after that not a lot and and even in the trade market there’s just it doesn’t seem to be a lot when it comes to goalending which kind of leads to well Deon Levi you know hopefully Levi could be the guy but Pat real quick not to interrupt you but um I do want to let you know that I I I think I saw I think I saw he went to the Flyers today Jake Allen for uh they they traded for his rights to uh be able along with along with Trevor Ziggress today so they’re getting better as well oh I knew Ziggress got traded I didn’t know Allen was part of it though well not not not part of it but that was a separate trade but about like an hour later they traded for his rights to be able to negotiate with him so he made agency he wouldn’t come to Buffalo anyway so like like I was saying but the problem is the goalending it’s like you’re almost handcuffed and you just have to hope that I think that Levi is going to be answer because I’m with you on UPL i think UPPL is what he is streaky also you know it doesn’t have uh the perfect uh career when it comes to staying healthy too so you know that’s an issue but with Levi it was like “All right well first of all he’s in Rochester so you can only put so much stock into what a player does in the AHL.” But uh he looked good but then in that playoff series that they lost from what I hear cuz I’m not going to sit there and act like I watch all the games not so much so I don’t know dude i don’t know but what I do know is this is a hockey team like I said that has to find a way to improve just It’s simple as that they need two defenseman they need probably a top six forward especially if JJ Purka gets traded if he doesn’t Yeah and plus they’re relying on Norris to be healthy which has not worked out that’s a headscratching type trade that I know a lot of people are still kind of puzzled about i guess what what I want to ask you I I kind of did earlier i’ll bring this back around is you’re right about the Mitch Marers stop thinking about those guys man ain’t [ __ ] ain’t happening you know marching if he even hits free agency those dudes ain’t coming to Buffalo why would you come let me ask you this Matt you’re a free agent and you’re a quality free agent and you’re not long in the tooth like say Jason Zucker who turn out to be a great signing i want to be clear about that but you’re a guy who could go get four or five years a good contract and you’re going to have interest around the league maybe you might listen to the Sabres to see if they could kind of catapult an offer to get you more money somewhere else but right now why are you coming to Buffalo this is the dilemma that Kevin Adams has you’re Matt Diger you’re a quality free agent why do you want to be a Buffalo Saber um and you you just said it is because they’re going to pay more money than than the other teams and that’s unfortunately what it comes down to is because the Sabres aren’t winning it it comes down to money and I think Jason Zucker had he gotten any offers from any other contending team or anything um more and yes he might like the Sabres he might but if you have a chance as a what a 35year-old Jason Zucker uh you know he’s going to he’s and he gets an offer from Dallas or Colorado or uh Florida or anything like that he’s going to go there for less money so you know for us to be able to you know keep hold on to him great i’m I’m happy about that but um I there is no reason that that any team or any player should be coming to Buffalo unless they have to well you just said it you have to overpay to get a guy here’s the problem if it’s are you talking a mid-30s one-year guy maybe a two-year contract at the most okay they’ll they’ll swing that they’ve shown it they’ve done it but you look at the history of the free agent now I’m not saying Terry Beul has never spent any money he has spent a pretty buck on his own guys own core locking guys up longterm a couple of them look like great deals right now like Tay Thompson actually looks like a bargain to be honest with you with what he’s doing other ones like Dylan Cousin obviously that didn’t work out samson being signed for as long as he is that’s a disaster that I think the Sabres are actively trying to get out of if they can right now so it’s been a mixed bag but one thing that’s been consistent is the Sabres ain’t spending money on free agents i don’t think I’ve seen a contract i think I saw something where there hasn’t been a contract more than $10 million went to any unrestricted free agent in quite a while so do you think and we’re speculating of course but if that’s what it’s going to take you’re going to get a guy who’s 27 28 years old who can get you 25 goals be a top six maybe a top nine guy fouryear contract whatever is Terry Beula willing to open up and spend a lot of money on a unrestricted free agent do you think he would at this point i think it depends honestly I think it really depends on on what Kevin Adams brings to him because we saw him spend the money on Taylor Hall he was the best player in free agency that year they spent the they gave him one year’s $8 million and so fine like I get that so if it if but if the if I hear that the Sabres go out and offer Mitch Mner $14 million and he goes to Vegas for seven or eight it’s just going to again be kind of like that palm tree in tax talk like you couldn’t get the big fish you couldn’t get the get the you know call in Josh Allen do whatever you have to do like at this point like you’re offering $14 million and somebody doesn’t want to come play with you or play play for you like what are we doing like there’s that you know so I think that he and I want to get your opinion on this because I I I was actually you know thinking about this um uh and probably going to talk a little bit more about it on Saturday morning when uh Brian Brian and I do uh our hockey do hockey hotline so um if the Sabres wanted a top top line 1C center um topline player a guy that can drive the drive the play and things like that and it’s a guy that uh for July 1st is going to have a no movement kick in i think you know who I’m talking about but Person it came out today that uh from Elliot Freriedman that they are not going to trade Person unless they get a quality center back mhm they were the other team involved with Ottawa for Josh Norris would you take um a 25-year-old Elias Pas and trade him for like a Josh Norris and and other pieces because of basically it comes down to would you rather have the injury concern with Josh Norris or would you have rather have the the concern of Elias Person not going back to his original form his 100 point form i would make that trade in a second if I were to save her i’m so right now I just it’s Josh Norris to me is a younger Joey Bosa if that makes any sense to you joey Bosa is 29 years old i just you get to a point where I don’t trust somebody to stay healthy and look I don’t know and I also think the Sabres stunk last year and maybe and correct me if I’m wrong they just felt like it wasn’t even worth risking Norris to come back and maybe get hurt worse but you trade for a guy you give up Dylan Cousins dylan Cousins was the subject of trade rumors forever and you finally deal him and the main piece you get back is a guy with an injury history talent but an injury history who gets hurt three games into his Sabres career and doesn’t play again for the rest of season yeah it’s it’s that’s tough i mean it it you know JB JBD uh Jacob Bernard Docker uh may end up being the best piece in that deal and that’s that’s that’s unfortunate um because you could have gotten a heck of a lot more for for Dylan Cousins if to to answer your question the another reason why yes is because anybody who’s got a no trade is not coming to the Buffalo Sabres right now that’s just what it is i’ll read you a tweet that I put out earlier on Tuesday i said it half sarcastically but I also mean it i said “Here’s the simple two-step process regarding players on the trade block potentially getting dealt to the savers number one see if the player has any form of a no trade clause number two if player has only any no trade clause protection immediately scratch him off the list for the Sabres cuz he ain’t waving it.” That’s how I feel right now and the magic formula is this how do you get there i don’t know but you got to catch lightning in a bottle that’s how the Sabres are going to get good you’re not going to get a stud 1C center i don’t think prove me wrong I hope they do but I don’t think you’re going to get one via a trade because I don’t think anyone’s going to want to come here maybe using Peterson as one guy or other people may say you know what I will never sign an extension here i’m going to make this difficult you’re not going to want me on your organ in your organization there’s little things that they can say to kind of prevent it even if they happen to have a no trade clause at that time for the Sabres to return to the point where guys do want to come well first of all it’s going to take Terry Bula spending the money which again the Sabres have had what $6 million of cap space left what five straight $30 million for the last five years unbelievable for a team that can’t win that’s just unbelievable to me but what’s got to happen is like a couple years ago where they almost made the playoffs they just missed out you get good goalending whether it’s UPL whether it’s Levi whether it’s both whether it’s somebody you low-key trade for sign who again catching lightning in a bottle you get good health tage and Dene and Tuck and your core stay healthy guys uh take that next step some players like Mloud’s been good he can even be better you know maybe Jack Quinn if he stays in Buffalo he takes that next step a Turka if he’s here takes that next step there’s guys you know what I mean like those guys taking that next step um and you make the playoffs you start winning if you start winning all of a sudden Buffalo becomes a bigger destination that’s what happened with the Buffalo Bills now the Bills have you know the larger than life superstar now in Josh Allen but it’s the winning it was the winning that made people interested in coming to Buffalo a new culture that’s what attracts free agents to want to come here or guys to want to get traded to the Sabres it’s winning that’s it nothing else but how do you win how do you get there that’s the problem when you can’t get guys to want to come here right now and they don’t m they don’t lack I I feel like if the Savers want to make a trade and I know they do they don’t lack the ammunition do they cuz I mean you got Byum you got Burka you got the ninth pick of the draft on Friday you got maybe Oscelin or even Helenius if you wanted to dangle a prospect there’s ammunition right there’s only four guys that are either in the don’t even think about it unless you’re getting a McDavid um so there’s only two guys that that I consider that way um and then there’s two guys that are very very close um to to you know yes you if you’re not listening to the offers you’re doing malpractice as an NHL GM but if you trade them for a bag of pucks then you should be fired almost immediately so it’s kind of like that double-edged sword those players are Dene Owen Power uh Rasmus Dene or um uh Taage Thompson and uh Alex Tuck you would actually you would have Alex Tuck there i would because uh because I think that you get him in slotted in that second line uh you know helping to uh to to open up space i think he’s going to end up being uh that 35 to 40 goal score consistently and I think that they need to get him on a uh uh a five-year deal um and I think he’s probably going to be right between that like 75 and eight million dollars right around there is where I think he’s gonna going to slot for five years but um also too I want to kind of go back to your point real quickly i know I’m I’m the eternal optimist when it comes to the Sabres and everything like that but I truly do I I I truly do believe this wholeheartedly that they would have ended the drought last year had they had they held on to Jeff Skinner and the reason why I say that and it might be a hot take and things like that but that’s that’s a sizzly take dude he had he had all he had 30 goals the year before mhm you did not do a single thing to replace that scoring on the top line so not only it’s kind of like it’s kind of like uh playing uh you know um you know pickup basketball against a bunch of kids right you’re like “Oh we’ll give you guys 10 points.” So already you’re already behind the you’re already behind the um uh uh behind the eight-ball on that but now you have to make up that goal scoring and you don’t do anything and you don’t use that money to do anything so you’re sitting there with that his $7.5 million and you give it to Jason Zucker and um and and Jordan Greenway as an extension what are we doing here like and yes I I could be wrong i like I I’m I have many takes where I’m wrong but I think that if you have if his name is not Jeff Skinner and he’s not you know he maybe plays a little bit more defense maybe see what he does in Lindy’s system before you just all outright cut him because now this year if you if you if you held on to him last year and it didn’t work out you’re you’re you’re saving $4 million this year and the $6 million is coming next year yeah look first and foremost I trust me if anyone can respect hot sizzly takes it’s me i promise you that much right now i will say this i would say that the combination of not having Skinner and especially not spending his money I would definitely put him in the top three as a reason why maybe playoffs maybe not playoffs but at the very least I think we could agree on the last three four weeks of the season they’re playing meaningful hockey we I I think we could at least definitely arrive arrive to that for sure um yeah listen and I kind of tie one in the number one so I would say that would be like in my top three i think the goalending being crappy for a lot of the season I mean Rhymer should not be your best goalie and he was for the second half of the season and that’s just unacceptable to me upl was not good enough just straight up that’s a big reason but to me the biggest one is they fell off too early they didn’t know how and which is surprising and disappointing to have a a veteran coach like Glendy Ruff the wheels fell off and they did not know how to stop it until that losing streak or the winless streak I should say got to 13 games that put him behind the eightball to a point that they just were not going to be able to to climb out of and to your point if you have Skinner or if you adequately replace that money and you get someone else who could stop the bleeding by you know scoring a couple key goals or whatever you don’t get to that 13 game winless streak so right go get Patrick L go sign one of these guys off of waiverss i think it was I think that Kevin Adams should have been fired after that 13game losing streak when I think it should have been during the the 13ame losing streak after seeing these guys that were on waiverss and him not do anything didn’t even take a swing like that’s the that’s the part that bothers me is he didn’t even take a swing will you be disappointed on Friday night Sabres the ninth overall pick make the selection will that disappoint you it depends on who the pick is um I think that I I if you have somebody like a a Brady Martin um a Porter Martone um uh uh I’m trying to remember the defenseman Murka um uh yeah the big boy yeah uh you know if you don’t have one of those guys fall to you and you just randomly take somebody that is you know like Helenius last year what are we doing like like we gotta have some you got to have some sort of urgency but I I personally and this is only gut feeling what I think is going to happen and I think you might see a little bit of like the NFL type thing here where the Sabres may wait till they’re on the clock to pull it pull a trigger on a deal because if their guy falls to them that they think that you know because both Brian my uh Brian uh my partner on uh uh Hockey Hotline both of us think that Porter Martone is going to end up being that that Matthew Kachchuck Brady Kachchuck kind of like in between um type of player some people don’t feel that way they think he’s he his his toughness isn’t as much as it’s there um but I I think he’s I think he’s more Matthew Kachchuck than he is Brady Kachchuck but um he has skill he has all that stuff so if if their player isn’t there I could see them moving that pick in combination uh to try but if they if at the end of the night they don’t get one of those guys or um or trade the pick I I would be disappointed one thing I think we can agree on and I think is a consensus because it’s just glaringly obvious at this point any move that Kevin Adams makes it needs to be something that he feels is going to make this team better in 2025 2026 who gives a [ __ ] about a prospect that could help this team two three years from now because Kevin Adams is a smart enough man to know that he’s not going to be the general manager of the Buffalo Sabres in two to three years at this team doesn’t dramatically improve make the playoffs i don’t know if there’s a playoff mandate but it sure as hell is not going to be you know seller dweller near the bottom so he knows any move they make it’s got to be with the present that in mind a week from now this is Tuesday so we’re getting eight days from now free agency starts byum JJ Purka do you expect one or both of them to still be Buffalo Sabres once we get to July 1st and unrestricted free agency starts bow and Byum no i I fully expect him to be uh dealt during the draft um JJ Purka I I think it’s less likely could I see it happen yes I could see I could see JJ Purka move being on the move but do I expect it no I do not expect it because the Sabres do not want to trade him they want to get him signed long term they they want him to be part of it but they could they could get blown away by something that happens at the draft and and and you know uh have the ability to move on from JJ Purka he could be a part you talked about Peterson earlier they could be like that kind of key piece in a deal like that the uh the Rumblings and I’m not even just talking about Twitter i’m talking about like actual from what I understand legit rum is JJ Burka is even though he’s only been here for three years and look he does not have the cards right now like the the Sabres could stop him from going anywhere for a number of years right now at this point but dude ain’t happy man he’s not happy and I don’t know again because it’s a fine line because I think if you go with Kevin Adams is we want players who want to be here thing I don’t know if they’d have enough guys to to feel the team right now you know what I mean to put enough skaters on this ice So look winning cures all at the end of the day um I don’t think and we’ll start to know a lot more a week from now it only take a week 8 to 10 days at the most and we’ll start to know the direction of this team i don’t know that you’re going to get the the headliner but I absolutely think there’s going to be multiple trades there has to be you got to go you got to get a pair of defenseman you got to find Owen Power a partner rasp could play with you out there right and he’ll he’ll be all right and you would look you would look all right playing with him owen power different story man you got to get him a steady reliable partner the Sabres have tried a bunch of dudes and nothing is seem to work byum could play with Dene but that kind of might even decrease his value a little bit because it’s like again almost anybody could play with him i I’m with you there i think Byum gets dealt i think Murk is 50/50 though i think there’s a 50/50 chance that he can get dealt put it this way i hope before we finish up with some Bills talk here for a few I hope they shake something up do we agree with that like I I will be very disappointed and I know a lot of fans will be too if they just go status quo like if they go get a one-year $4 million Jason Zucker type and I don’t like [ __ ] on Jason Zucker man hell he was one of the better players on the team this year but if you go get that type of mid30s guy on a one-year deal for four maybe $5 million and a defenseman on a two-year contract for four million per or something like that that is going you’re going to leave an incredibly angry fan base that don’t want to buy tickets man i mean it’s tough it is tough right now you’re seeing these ads on Twitter selling 10ame packs i’m like I don’t know man i I mean here’s the thing so uh and this is the last thing I’ll say in the Sabres so I’ll give you I’ll give you one uh one player to watch that I I truly think because it just came out today i don’t think I I I can’t remember who it was it was either Johnston or Freriedman um but it seems like they they’re saying Ebbled is not returning to Florida i could see them trying to bring in somebody like him to play with and Owen Power yeah um and be his partner um and uh you know that’s that’s the last thing I got for you on this what kind of what kind of cost does something like that come because again Eklad is not like the Sabres would be the one team in the NHL that would have some interest in him and you are up against the eightball anytime you have a market if there’s a player with a market Buffalo like we we talked about this man you better be prepared to pay is Terry Beula prepared to give a guy two million two and a half million more than he would go get if he signed with the Rangers or Toronto or like I said Dallas or or a team like that well we we do know that um you know we do know that they did offer Stamco $12 million and he signed for eight so we know that that part of the the ability is there and the the want is there it’s just whether these guys are and that’s that’s one of the things I was saying all off seasonason so far is I don’t care if Mitch Mner chooses LA or LA or or Vegas or or Dallas or Florida or wherever he goes i just want the Sabres to be in it like and to hear them be like one of the last few names you know that they’re still in it and they just just to say you’re trying right because it it doesn’t come like yes they’re not going to choose you but you’re at least trying you’re at least putting your best foot forward to try and make this team better and I can sit here and say “Okay you know cool.” Like I I’m perfectly fine with that but if you’re literally just sitting on your hands and doing nothing like you need to be gone i agree with you 100% dude and this is where I almost on a human level at least I absolutely feel a little bit for Kevin Adams and I’ll explain what I’m talking about like we say with Brandon Bean if they’re making a play let’s say they’re in on Devonte Adams and it doesn’t work out for whatever reason brandon Bean don’t need to talk about that [ __ ] he don’t need to this is a good team they’re a good organization he doesn’t have to explain himself oh this guy doesn’t want to come here this and that kevin Adams it’s like almost like damned if you do damned if you don’t generally speaking I don’t need my GM talking about players that they can’t get we tried we couldn’t get them in the case of the Sabres it’s like well if he says that you know they want player X they want Chver all right and they try to get and they can’t kevin Adams goes out it sounds like he’s whining well we’re trying we’re trying we can’t get nobody you know what I mean that gets him ridiculed but then again if they don’t get a Tarver and he doesn’t say that they’re trying to go out and get somebody like that then it’s like well this team doesn’t give a [ __ ] they’re not even trying you know what I mean it’s like a I feel like Kevin Adams is in a complete damned if you do damned if you don’t situation right now right it’s that double-edged sword where you know did I do enough to make my hockey team better but also did I do enough to allow the you know allow the fan base to you know be ecstatic about having to come in and you know the ability to purchase tickets you know because you know you have to as as the Buffalo Sabres you’ve been in a playoff draft for 14 years so that has to be part of it now too is it can’t just be oh we’re we’re trying to make the playoffs yes that should be your end goal as a general manager but also because you have no no hockey ops you have no um you know anybody really running the Sabres anymore other than Kevin Adams he’s got to think about did I do enough to put fans in the seats so I keep my job next year as well yeah look it’s the thing with the Sabres is when when you have a drought for that has lasted as long as it has with Buffalo you know and I’ve heard people say “Who cares it’s over with it’s done with that doesn’t mean anything this is a new year everyone’s zero and zero not really because when you have a drought that has lasted that long you lose grace from the fans you lose the benefit of the doubt from the fans like there’s no you got to earn the trust from the fans now you got to go out you have to win that’s the only way you’re getting the fans back the the good faith is gone with the Buffalo Sabres because it’s been so long and Kevin Adams is going into his sixth year now as GM never had made the playoffs there’s no good faith there left with the Sabres and that’s the thing like with the with the Bills if they go out next year and have a have an off season everybody’s everybody’s going to be like “Oh okay they had an off seasonason.” Yes it sucks oh gosh we got to wait another year but with the Sabres Kevin Adams had that coming in he went out and signed Taylor Hall went out and traded for Eric Stall went out in that COVID year and did what he pot what he whatever he could to potentially get over that hump and get them right into the playoffs and be that you know I’m going to break the drought right now okay cool traded the the you know the players and everything we gave them that extra year and then they came back and they missed the playoffs by one point so it’s like okay let’s give them another year oh now they’re injured they’re a lot of their guys are injured you know okay we’ll give them one more year last year should have been the year that it was like it’s do or die you know urgency uh it’s either playoffs or bust and whatever happened like he must be a real good salesman because you know he’s selling something to Terry Pigula that I I don’t know it’s ironic you said that because my last thought in my mind was actually the opposite of what you just said however you are right about the begula part he must be an excellent salesperson to Terry i think more than anything he’s just the classic yes man that Terry has wanted all along i’ve said this joke on the show before i’ll say it again the the reason why Kevin Adams is still GM right now is because Kevin Adams will say “My favorite color is blue.” Terry will say “Nah your favorite color is green.” And Kevin’s going to be like “You know what my favorite color is green Terry you are right.” That’s how I feel about Kevin Adams and in terms of being a salesman I think my biggest beef with him right now at this point is I don’t know that he might be a good hockey guy i think he’s made reasonably good hockey moves as a whole during his tenure the problem is the things that he complains about the palm trees the taxes getting people to want to come here part of your job when you’re a general manager whether it’s the general manager of a NHL team or whether you’re the general manager of of a coffee shop you got to sell people man you got to go out you got to convince player X wave your no trade here’s why you should come to Buffalo or player Z you’re a free agent i want you want a three-year deal here’s why you should be a Buffalo Saber you got to be able to sell and I just think there’s a lack of respect maybe with players and other GMs and stuff around the league right now with Kevin Adams in part maybe because of what Matthew Furburn wrote a couple weeks ago at the Athletic that he didn’t really pay his dues to to become GM and I think there might be a little bit of a lack respect for that maybe I would agree and I would agree with that uh very very much um but I also think that’s why Yarma was brought in is not only to give credibility but and I’ll be honest with you I this is only for myself personally again this this may be a hot take but I truly think no matter what happens with the Sabres this year I still think Kevin Adams is here now it’s not going to be in a general manager role i think he moves up i think Yarmmo takes the general manager spot no matter what and I think I think Lindy moves up into the uh into the into uh out of the uh the the coaching role and Seth Appert takes over for him and I I I truly think just from just from writing on the wall I feel like that that’s what’s going to happen either way whether they make the playoffs or not this year i will reserve judgment on that for seven months and I’ll circle that as am I saying you’re wrong i don’t know how to feel about that i don’t want it to happen i’m just saying like that’s that’s the way that I feel because Kevin Adams I is that yes man he’s the guy that like you said he you know oh my favorite color is blue no it’s green it’s no okay it’s it my favorite color is green i I truly think that that I truly think that that’s that’s how Kevin Adams is and I think that uh Pigula wants somebody underneath of him that’s going to be able to you know be Yes Terry yes Terry so let’s um let’s dude I could I don’t I don’t talk about the Sabres often but when I get going with them I could talk about them forever and look man it again it bears repeating this is a big week a big week is looming for the Buffalo Sabres and we will find out important week most important week in their history their history their history their history i would say Wow you’re a hottake machine tonight man fire it up dude i like it i I certainly agree that it’s the most important week in this regime of the Buffalo Sabres this iteration of the Buffalo Sabres for sure if if this team looks mostly the same on July 3rd I think you should mostly expect the same results going forward that’s just the way it’s going to be i still say though at the end of the day it’s a couple moderate moves and they’re banking on like I told you earlier catching lightning in the bottle and all the things that could go right for a team to be good they’re going to bank on them uh to happen the one team that does not need to have a bunch of factors go good for them to be a competitive contending team of course is the Buffalo Bills let’s use our last few minutes here uh to talk about that let me ask you a real quick question too because I’m still getting to know you a little bit on a personal level Matt um are you more of a Sabres guy or a Bills guy or is it kind of 50-50 down the middle i kind of get a sense you’re a little more of a Sabres guy but I could easily be wrong like I said I’m just getting to know you a little bit here i I actually am a a bigger Bills fan okay than I am uh a Sabres fan but I I’m a bigger NHL fan than I am a football fan okay that makes sense yeah it makes a lot of sense sure all right well training camp is coming July 23rd to Rochester of course every year at training camp and of course it’s going to be you know magnified this year because HBO Hard Knox is going to be on hand i can’t wait to kind of see how that plays out um I don’t think the Bills love it per se um we’ll we’ll see how much they fight the access that HBO is going to get we’ll see how guarded certain players and coaches are when HBO is there got a really strong feeling that Josh Allen is going to be incredibly heavily guarded uh during as he should be man all right the guy’s already big enough anyway that stuff aside what I’m what I’m trying to get at here is there’s always interesting even without HBO being there there’s always storylines that people are into the reasons why they want to either whether they go to camp in person or whether they want to at least look at the highlights and you know look at Twitter clips and listen to podcasts and stuff like that following along at training camp as we approach now a couple weeks away what are one or two things that when we get there that you’re going to be kind of locked in on the most like things that are going to be interesting to you revolving around the Bills in this year’s training camp uh honestly uh uh the the main thing that I’m going to be looking at is the is the wide receiver room um because I want to see how things kind of full unfold i personally think that Elijah Moore could be as high as um wide receiver three i think he could be as low as not being on this team um but I I do think that he I think he finds a spot on this team i you know we we talk about it all the time um Zack Wilson uh uh uh Joe Flacco coming off his parents’ couch um Mike White yes he’s here in Buffalo but th those are the quarterbacks that Elijah Moore has had throwing to him and a and um you know uh Deshun Watson a guy that you know was basically injured and then um took the year off and then came back to not being Deshun Watson anymore so it it’s tough for to sit here and say what’s going to happen within the wide receiver room we do know that Keon Coleman’s probably going to be one of the top top three guys um we we know that um uh Khal Shakare is probably your wide receiver one next year as he should be um and also too uh uh you know as far as the I don’t want to say slander but um a lot of people talking down on Khil Shakir go do me a favor and go look at Diggs’ numbers when he was with the Bills compared to Khalil Shakir’s numbers with the Bills uh they’re very very close they’re very very close and and he’s actually about the same size so we want to sit here and call him a slot receiver and and and this that why why is he just that um so I I truly think that he can be a wide receiver one on this team um I think he could be a wide receiver one in most places in the NFL um but I’m I’m very excited to see what Curtis Samuel can do with a with a um non-injured foot non-injured toe um I I can tell you from personal experience turftoe is not something to be Yeah fun it’s not a fun thing it’s not a fun thing to deal with um it it it hurts um you could just be mowing the lawn and step wrong and it hurts so I’m very excited to see what the wide receiver room shakes out to be um I personally have the the five receivers i think they’re already set i think it’s I think it’s Shakir i think it’s Coleman i think it’s uh Elijah Moore i think it’s um um Palmer palmer and then uh Curtis Samuel uh well I’m with you in terms of probably the thing I’ll be watching the most is also the wide receiving room uh I would say that I think there’s a specific battle for wide receiver for right now between Elijah Moore and Curtis Samuel i think I you know and you’re not wrong about Khloe i want to be clear about that too i don’t really think this team has a number one and I also if if you’re not the Bengals if you’re not the Vikings or a handful of other teams I don’t think most teams really have a wide receiver one i think Shakir Coleman and Joshua Palmer and who I like Joshua Palmer a lot man i was pounding the table for him before free agency started i think he is going to be a really good fit for the Buffalo Bills i think he will give you more potentially significantly more than what Amari Cooper gave the Bills last year when he came here mid-season anyway if those are your three guys in whatever order you want to put them in wide receiver four carries weight because the winner is going to have a role in the offense uh the winner is going to dress the loser wide receiver five on this team probably doesn’t play they probably are in a track suit on the sideline during football games now I want to be clear because originally my first thought was let’s say Moore wins the job why not cut Curtis Samuel well it doesn’t make any financial sense to cut him so that’s not going to happen if you could trade him you could open up like $7 million of cap space i don’t know but I also the way these receivers get hurt I want a guy like that even if he’s not going to dress right away if it’s Samuel or if it’s more one of those guys as insurance because ultimately one you’re going to get a receiver hurt but anyway my thing is this you don’t dress five receivers on game day who don’t play special teams keon Josh Shakir they ain’t playing special teams elijah Moore Curtis Samuel they are not special teams players if you carry that six receiver it’s going to be a guy like a a Shavers or a Virgil or maybe someone who’s not even on this roster right now somebody who can give you special teams help especially with new rules this year with a kickoff there’ll be more returns so that matters but I think more to your point shitty quarterbacks in front of him but you know what Matt a year ago 15 months ago what were we doing about Curtis Samuel saying the same exact thing he played with the Redskins bummy ass quarterbacks and uh Carolina before that kind of the same deal he hurt his toe didn’t have a good year came out a little bit at the end i think it’s a wideopen battle to your point more could be on this team he could he could be a have a roll or it could be cut mhm and I I I agree with you i I I really truly do um you know to to that point um that you know Curtis Samuel didn’t have anything we were saying the same thing last year um but I think that it’s a little bit more serious with with Elijah Moore um also too you brought up with uh special teams elijah Moore said “I I would get back there and return kicks.” Uh so that’s that’s another thing that that he has going for him is he he said I would I would gladly hop back there and return kicks especially with it being basically just a run play now so if he can use his 435 speed um and get through there I mean that can that can kind of free up somewhere else that doesn’t need to be yeah that well certainly an extra path for him potentially making the team but they got to have a receiver at least one guy who could be a gunner somebody who could cover kicks um and it’s none of those guys and then the other thing we’ll hit on real quick then we’re going to get out of here we’ll save some meat i’m sure I’ll have you back on again camp like I said Cam’s still a couple of weeks away but Max Er is he going to be ready to wrestle that number one well not number one number two quarterback job away from Trey White because I do think Trey White will go into camp knowing Shawn McDermott i think Trey will be the starter to begin and it will be when and if Max Harrison could take the job away so watching Max Harrison in camp how he looks not overreacting too much if he doesn’t pick up everything right away not saying that the dude after six practices is the next Kyrie Elum because he looks like [ __ ] for a practice or two um that’s something I’m going to be really locked in on trey White versus Max yeah I I’m I’m in full agreement with you on that because I I thought when we signed Trey White that he is going to instantly be the CB2 on this team um obviously behind CB1 Christian Benford um but I thought that Max Harrison may have a chance at some point during the season to take that job away from Trey uh but the more and more I think about it is you’re you it might not be the worst thing to have those three guys on the field at the same time against you know some of the guy some of the other some of these other teams like the Bengals or the um I’m trying to think who else will we play the um the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or um the Steelers now that that that they have um you know they they do have some good weapons there so I mean we we’ll definitely see what what happens but I I that’s going to be a fun b that’s going to be more fun I think than the wide receiver room um I think that that’s going to be a fun battle cuz you obviously Trey is going to be on this team like there’s no cutting Trey White i’ll tell you like I said Samuel or Moore one of them got to play bad to not make this team right somebody’s going to win that job and the other person’s going to be the we got I got to wait my turn but I think both of them make the team when it comes to cornerback and the defensive backs generally speaking I think this the one position on this football team where jobs will be competitively on the line trey White could start week one trey White could get cut trey White has no special teams value by the way so if Trey White’s not starting Trey White’s not dressing and if he has a bad rough summer Trey White might not even be on this football team who knows but not even just him cam Lewis Jammarcus Ingram somebody Demar Hamlin potentially some of these guys the Bills drafted a couple rookie defensive backs who I think are going to make this team so who’s going to get pushed out it’s going to be a lot of fun to cover love Dorian Strong loved him at Virginia Tech love love his game yeah he’s going to He will be on this team he will be He will have the role i I I love Jamarcus Sing such a feel-good story ub kid man i love him to you know he’s been here for a couple years i hope he can catch on on another team and he has a nice career in the NFL i just don’t I think Dorian Strong takes that job i think he does what Jamarcus Ingram does i think Jordan Hancock does what Cam Lewis does so you know that could be that or if or Jordan Hancock goes a safety maybe that pushes Derrick Forest or Demar Hamlin out a lot of moving parts when it comes to the defensive secondary so that’ll definitely be something to keep our eyes on and we will um on that note let’s uh let’s wrap this one up guys make sure you’re following Matt on Twitter Mike Matt Diggurt um go to Duke Champions 2 for all the podcast information him student body right man he do a a really good job and like I said uh I love the live shows i’m a live show guy i mean it’s cool and relaxing to be in studio like this and stuff but I still love getting out and doing the live show seeing you guys doing it Sunday kind of got my juices flowing too so I can’t wait to get back and uh do some live shows really good guests that you guys have too thanks a lot buddy i really appreciate you yeah absolutely i can’t wait to see you at Sunny Reds can’t get can’t wait to get some of their wings and that that uh that coal fired pizza it’s so good it is so good you see that Justin another shout out for you there at Sunny Reds here at the end of the show all right guys that’s going to do it thank you very much for watching and for listening i’ll be back brand new episode matt Warren from SP Nation joins me tomorrow

On this episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran is joined by Matt Diegert from the Due Champions podcast to discuss a handful of topics, including a potential very big week looming for the Buffalo Sabres as well as some Bills talk.

Matt’s co-host of the Due Champions podcast alongside his partner Student Body Right. Together they’ve been banging on some really good Bills content for quite a while and their list of notable guests has been quite impressive. Patrick spends a few minutes getting to know Matt and their show a little bit and discusses the charity event they had in Hamburg over the weekend Patrick attended that included several notable athletes, including Harrison Phillips, Jim Kelly and Aaron Williams.

The central theme of today’s episode is hockey and more specifically the Sabres. The Stanley Cup is over and the NHL draft is this coming in Friday, with free agency barely a week away. It’s imperative the Sabres make a trade or preferably multiple trades, because it’s (highly) unlikely any free agent of value is going to want to sign with Buffalo without getting potentially grossly overpaid. The guys talk about what an important time of year this is for a team that’s desperate to rid itself of the historic 14-year playoff drought they’re stuck in.

They also spend some time talking about the Bills. What are a few things Matt’s locked in on as the team gets ready for training camp a few weeks from now in Rochester? That and much more. Be sure to follow Matt on Twitter @MattDiegert and check out the Due Champions podcast.

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00:00:00 Intro/Podcasting
00:22:57 Sabres Talk
01:03:42 Bills Talk