“I Want To Be Part Of The Solution” | Michael Kesselring Introductory Press Conference | Sabres

“I Want To Be Part Of The Solution” | Michael Kesselring Introductory Press Conference | Sabres

hi Michael how are you today
good how are you
good do you prefer Michael mike do you have a preference
it doesn’t matter to me my mom likes Michael so then we’ll then we’ll go with Michael if that’s what mom prefers uh what has the last 24 hours been like for you
uh crazy uh obviously I got the call right around midnight last night um wave of emotions kind of in shock and then uh regular scheduled routine this morning i got up at 6:30 to go skate and stuff didn’t get much sleep last night but um this morning it’s turned to into a lot of excitement so um I think there’s a good opportunity for me here and uh I’m ready to prove that I can play in the elevated role for um extended time so um yeah it’s really exciting
that excitement I’m sure like you said a lot of it probably comes from the idea of playing with a player like Rasmine or Owen Power how much does that factor into that excitement and you know the prospect of that
yeah uh for sure i uh it’s funny honestly they’re they’re one of my favorite teams to watch just because uh of Rasmus and Owen and um obviously they’re a little bit more skilled than me but I like to think offensively I can learn some stuff from them and and implement it into my game so uh they’re always a fun team for me to watch and uh playing alongside one of them sounds even better so
awesome thank you Michael appreciate it no problem go ahead Rachel
right hi Michael thanks for joining us this afternoon um one of the things in Utah you really showed your versatility over 82 games this season how will that help you step into the lineup in Buffalo yeah um obviously like I said I got to earn it still and have a good camp and stuff like that but I think I just had a lot of experience this year up and down and um playing against top players playing against maybe third or fourth line guys and and just learning how to manage the game and and manage all different types of players and and things like that defending types uh different types of players so um I’m excited i think uh I’m a big guy that can move and and I think I’m good two ways so there’s a lot of ways I can impact the game and I’m hoping um this opportunity for me here uh helps me take off a little bit and I’m really excited and I know this is still you know what about 15 18 hours old but have you had conversations yet about what your role will or could be with the Sabres or are you still packing your bags at this point
yeah um a little bit uh I’ll keep that behind closed doors but um obviously like you said I want to earn the opportunity and earn the right to to play high up in the lineup and and be an impactful player for the organization and um I think that’s how they see me i think they they see me uh with a lot of potential and I played well when I when I had a lot of opportunity this year so um I think the goal is just to carry that over and keep getting better
thank you
no problem hey Michael john Scott from the NBC affiliate here in Buffalo uh you mentioned you believe Rasmus and Owen are more of a skilled defenseman compared to you how would your style of play though complement players like them yeah um it’s really exciting because I think I I have the skill to to help get them the puck and and uh obviously my shots probably one of my best attributes so if if they can set me up for good looks I can hopefully bury um but I can skate with them and um I think I move the puck pretty well but also bring that defensive side be reliable for one of those two guys hopefully and and kind of give them a steady Eddie partner that plays good defensively plays hard boxes out and and can kind of get them the puck and and let them play their game you’ve heard a lot from guys like Kevin Adams and uh Lindy Ruff that this team they want them to be harder to play against we’ve seen your physicality actually against the Sabres where where do you think that part of your game is in terms of the not being afraid to to get dirty and scrap it up yeah um I think um it’s a big part of my game the last few years and why I’ve become a better player i think I think defensively I’ve slowly become harder to play against since I signed pro and um that’s one thing I really want to take pride in this year even going into the year before the trade uh there’s a lot of talk about being consistently hard to play against all the time and I got to thank the people at USA Hockey with World Championships i think those games did a lot for me to play in those high pressure games and and play in kind of a defensive role there and I think it was really good experience for me and and I’m excited to keep that going and um honestly I’m not the biggest fan of fighting but um I like to think I’m a good teammate uh good locker room guy and when it has to happen it has to happen i’m 6’5 i got to stand up for myself for my teammates so um something I’m not afraid to do for sure and um I think there’s still a lot of value that in that in hockey today um you police you police the game you you help your team and um any way you can and and that’s another way you can do it appreciate it man welcome to Buffalo
oh thank you hi Michael i have a two-part question for you first of all I want to take you back to December December 7th I believe um you had a pretty good game here in Buffalo i think maybe you like this arena in the second period you started off with a fight against Beck Malenstein then you scored a goal and then you set up Schmaltz right before the end of the period for an assist uh how much fun was that game for you to play here in Buffalo and number two how well did you get to know Tage Thompson while you’re with Team USA yeah um so uh yeah the Gordio hat-tick is uh probably the highlight one of the highlights of my career so far so it was really fun and I was uh I was joking with Taige actually at Worlds that um it’s like my favorite arena to play in i scored my first NHL goal there too uh so there’s a lot of good memories in that arena so far so um maybe it was meant to be and um yeah obviously at Worlds I uh honestly Terra was in our group a lot he knows uh Keller who’s I’m pretty close with in Utah just from being out in a in the summers and um I I played against his brother a little bit growing up so uh I knew the name for a long time um great guy awesome awesome player um I already talked to him today a little bit on FaceTime so um we’re both really excited we got along really well at Worlds so um yeah it’s going to be fun to be a part of
who shoots harder you or Tage
i gotta give it to Tage right now but uh I was joking with him at Worlds i said “You couldn’t have let me have the record for a little bit longer.” I had it for like a day and then Taige broke it so uh no but it’s really fun and um I think we got a little chemistry going at Worlds too so hopefully we can carry that over to the year hi Michael two two things uh how well do you know Devin Levi i think you were teammates when uh he was injured and um just you know you were a sixth round pick you paid a lot of dues in the in the AHL just what what happened over those three four years in the minors that allowed you to kind of reach your potential and maybe exceed it I guess yeah um yeah so I play with Dev at Nor Eastern he like you said he was hurt most of that year he didn’t play a lot if at all for us um great kid uh extremely hard worker um I’m excited to talk to him i haven’t even reached out to him yet so it’s just been a busy busy uh last few hours obviously but um he’s an unbelievable goalie so it’ll be it’ll be cool to be reunited with him and I I got my first NHL goal on him so I can give him a little crap about it a little bit more often now and um and what was the second part sorry uh about just the last three or four years yeah just the time in the AHL and how it allowed you to develop and I guess the transformation I guess
yeah I think um the Oilers organization did a really good job with me when I signed to be completely honest I probably should have played one more year at college uh I wasn’t probably quite ready i was still pretty lanky skinny uh underdeveloped but um I think it was also really good for me too my first few years cuz I struggled a little bit and it just was extra motivation for me to go home in the summers and work hard and I think that was the biggest thing for me i was just a tall lanky guy kind of a late bloomer and I just needed a few extra years to in the gym to get my body ready and um you know I was kind of tagged as not a great skater and as I got stronger and stronger my skating became good again i was a good skater when I was little and I think that was kind of the biggest thing was just keep working on my skating and strength off the ice over the years i just needed a little more time and uh yeah then my last year in Bakersfield obviously it went really well i scored a lot and um got a good opportunity there so I think it was just more I was a late bloomer and you know I like to think I’m a very hard worker i mean sixth round pick it’s you don’t see too many guys in the league nowadays so um I pride myself on that hard work and and being um relentless in that sort of aspect of the game in the gym in the summer on the ice in the summer and just keep getting better and trying to be better every day thank you
no problem hi Michael mike Harrington of the Buffalo News here uh you you mentioned it briefly take me back to the first goal a a good game for the Coyotes like the Utah team had a good game here last year tell me your memories of that first goal against Devin
yeah um there was a little turnover at the blue line or something um and I believe Logan picked it up um and I kind of just saw the opportunity jumped into the play and uh I was actually using new sticks that game and I kind of fanned on the shot and it went five hole on Dev uh I don’t like to admit it but I’ll give it to Dev now that I’m a saber um but yeah I just uh remember the relief i I think it’d been 20some games I hadn’t scored yet and I scored a lot in the miners the year before so I was kind of like when when’s it going to come and I had a lot of good looks uh in that brief stint the year before and um yeah it was just a relief i got scratched the game before actually in Boston it was kind of heartbreaking first time I was going to play in Boston so I was really excited for the game and um luckily I got a good look there from KS um and yeah luckily it went by Levi and I’d be interested in your brief uh scouting report on Josh Don what he’s going to bring to this team
yeah um Josh um unbelievable person first and foremost uh I think every locker room can use a person like Josh Don he’s talker loves to be around the guys um and then I think he’s kind of a cool story too he was uh didn’t get drafted his first year went in the second round his second year but obviously the hockey family uh similar extremely hard worker played really well in the minors when he was in the minors lit it up um great release great shot um honestly one of the most underrated sticks I’ve seen stripping guys pokech checkcking guys for a forward um so that’s something that if he keeps hunting pucks he can get on the for check he can cause turnovers um and I think uh with a little bit more experience he’s going to start scoring some goals so um it’s exciting that uh he’s coming with me we live together in Utah too so it’s exciting
thank you
no problem hey Michael um just looking at the Utah perspective what did it mean to you to be part of the first season out in Salt Lake and I don’t know if you had a message for the fans who were pretty upset to see you go last night
yeah um good to see you obviously sucks um but it’s exciting as well um yeah it was unbelievable first season um it was something I’ll never forget it’s kind of special to be part of a team’s first year uh the fan support was crazy um obviously even just with me personally they were they were so good to me throughout the year um but they’re in good hands um everybody in that locker room is a great guy that’s probably the hardest part for me get a little emotional talking to Kools and Kells and stuff it’s that’s the tough side of the game you’re going to miss your best friends but um yeah I I have nothing but thanks for Ryan and and Chris and everybody in the organization it was it was a really special first year for me and I really kind of launch pad myself this year into uh earning a good opportunity here in Buffalo so it’s sad but it’s also exciting
and going off the Don question how does that make the transition easier if at all like you said you guys were roommates and will the two cats and the dog be making their way to Buffalo with you guys as well yeah we’ll have to i haven’t talked to Josh about Hank yet but um we’re planning on living together for sure still so that does make things uh a little bit easier to have uh one of your best buddies coming with you so it’s a little unique that doesn’t happen every day um but yeah it’ll definitely make it easier and like these guys were talking I know Dev a little bit um I know Tage from Worlds and a few years ago I played golf with them stuff like that and uh Jason Zucker was in um in a with me too so um there’s some familiar faces so it won’t be too hard of a transition obviously I’m an East Coast kid too so that’s a exciting part about it but um yeah it’s hard to see uh it’s hard to say bye to those guys today for sure hi Michael uh welcome to Buffalo uh Joe from Bleacher Report um I wanted to know what kind of um when you had your postseason meetings with Utah and coaches what did they want you working on this summer that now you you got to carry over to to take it to Buffalo
yeah I’d say uh even me myself I’m I feel like I’m pretty self-aware it was a lot of talking about just being more consistent i think uh my peaks this season were really really high i showed a a lot of um potential um and there were some ups and downs and I think basically I just want to go more like this instead of riding the wave a little bit um and then just keep being mean physically i think I’ve started to develop it the last few years um just being hard to play against i use my reach and my skating well to be hard to play against and I think the next step is being a little bit meaner uh boxing out harder all the time stuff like that and I’ve gotten better with it and and that’s just something I want to keep improving i think uh on the offensive side I understand that side of the game i get it i know what my limits are what I can do um so I think just keep growing that defensive side of my game and um it’ll help me as a player a lot and one more thing uh have you gotten a scouting report on what it’s like to play for Lindy Ruff yet
uh I have not he was joking with me today saying camp will be hard and I said that’s no problem i’ll come I’ll come in shape but um I didn’t even talk to Tage about it honestly yet i talked to him a little bit earlier today uh just joking around about worlds and stuff like that but um no it’ll be all good i’m I’m pretty easy i’m coachable i want to get better um and that’s the thing with me i’ll put the work in so um as long as I uh as I earn my chance it will go well
right on thank you hey Michael matt Fairburn from the here welcome to Buffalo um I wanted to kind of ask what your you know you’ve bounced around a lot um between getting traded once and then the franchise relocates and now you get traded again i’m curious you know what your perspective is on hopefully trying to uh carve out a place where you can you can you know be here for a number of years like are you open to to kind of hanging out here for a while
yeah um obviously I don’t want to say anything crazy it’s only been 12 hours or whatever but I’m an East Coast kid it’s close to home for me uh hour flight from my mom and and family out here so that’s really important to me that was something I was really excited about when I got the news that it was Buffalo uh right away um and yeah it’s it’s never fun bouncing around leaving friends leaving teammates leaving the the chef you know in Utah everybody the whole staff i was close with the whole staff um so it’s disappointing and yeah so it it makes it even more of a reason you know I want to succeed here i want to be a part of the solution here um just talking to Ta about it Ta had nothing but good things to say about Buffalo and um I think the potential of the team’s huge so it’s just about uh finding my fit in the team and and keep earning that opportunity every day and yeah I’d love to stick around i I’m an East Coast guy like I said and it’s really nice to be close to home and I’ve always been out west my whole career so it’s it’s really exciting
you mentioned you were up early this morning training where are you training and and who are you training with
yeah um I’m in New Hampshire in the summers i’m right on the border of uh New Hampshire and Mass i grew up in New Hampshire um so I skate in Habil Massachusetts uh small group of guys uh Cooper Flinton just fine with Tampa Bay uh my brother skates with me uh Joe and Jake Dunlap uh college kids um we’ve got a small group like that I do for skills and then I go down and skate with a bunch of the NHL guys at Warrior in Boston a few times a week too so I got a pretty good setup here i work out with that small group I was just talking about um so yeah I got a got a good little group here got a good skills coach so uh just keep pushing and keep getting better
averil’s my hometown so Okay all right yeah
um
Valley Forum
yeah right
well better than the rank I grew up playing I guess but um the experience of winning at Worlds um what was that like to to you know on that stage be a part of a team that that won a gold medal just having not had a ton of playoff experience in your career yeah I think um in the minors I played a little bit in the playoffs um and obviously I haven’t got to do it in the NHL yet uh but Worlds honestly just fueled the the fire to play in big games like that it was I never really played for USA other than the last two years um at Worlds so and last year at Worlds we lost in the quarters this year had a little bit bigger role obviously and just like the the pressure of the games um every shift counts every puck touch counts um and I think that experience was really good for me obviously I was playing in a more of a defensive role and I think learning how to do that and and be shut down and manage the puck was really good for my game because I can play offensively i know what I can do on that side of the game um so I learned a lot about myself a lot about what it takes to win in those high pressure games and it was an unbelievable experience obviously being that team that kind of breaks that long curse and um it’s something it’s probably my it’s my coolest hockey memory so far winning that gold medal so um but I think it really helped me mature as a player and and helped me realize what what it takes to win at at this high level obviously the NHL is a little bit higher of a level but I mean when we played Sweden it’s there’s a lot of good players out there so uh Switzerland I know there’s not a ton of NHL regulars but they’re a good hockey team and they know how to use the big ice um so it was really really good experience
thanks Michael appreciate it no problem hi Michael john Warl with the Associated Press
how you doing
good um just you spoke about um being part of the solution here in Buffalo um what are the challenges and maybe opportunities that come with you know having been in this situation with Arizona and and and knowing that you know there is a lot of eyes and and an urgency to win u and to turn this thing around yeah i I mean honestly I think it’s uh a regular in the NHL everybody wants to win right there’s always pressure i think we felt the pressure in Utah a little bit this year um obviously towards the end we were in the mix a little bit i know St louis kind of ran away with it um but it was really really good experience um to be in those games kind of like I was just talking about pressure situations pressure games where every puck touch matters a little bit more and um yeah a lot of eyes on you but as a hockey player you want those eyes on you you want to be the difference maker you want to be the guy that helps the team get over the hump and um am I going to do it in a little bit of a different way than Thompson for sure but um I think I can be a valuable asset to a winning team and like I just was talking about Worlds i think Worlds was another good experience where playing those high pressure games you got a lot of eyes on you it means a lot and um I think that experience will help me too in Buffalo is it well um I apologies for my phone going off um that’s that’s on me um I I guess just um is it different um going to a team on the rise than than it would be if you had landed on a team that’s been in the playoffs
um uh I don’t honestly I don’t know necessarily i think my approach is the same i want to win uh it was fun winning at Worlds it’s it’s fun to be a winner it’s always more fun when you’re winning um but I think my mindset’s the same i got to be hard to play against defensively i got to use my skating to create plays offensively and defensively so I think my approach is pretty similar um but yeah you want to you want to be one of those guys that that’s part of the solution and uh obviously I know a lot of guys in that room and and I think uh there’s a lot of talent here and and there’s no reason we we can’t turn it around pretty quick and um talking to Tage a little bit already and I haven’t reached out to any of the other guys i talked to Zach a little bit because I was with him in a but um I think there’s a a really good opportunity for our team this year to to make a push
good stuff thanks so much Michael
no problem all right thanks everybody and thank you Michael for your time this afternoon thank you thank you guys

Buffalo Sabres defenseman Michael Kesselring spoke to the media during his first press conference with the team after being acquired via trade on June 26, 2025. Kesselring talked about his time in Utah and with Team USA in the IIHF World Championship, where he played with Tage Thompson. Kesselring discussed what the transition to Buffalo will be like with teammate Josh Doan and how excited he is for the opportunity to play with Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.

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