Sabres Offseason Update w/ Paul Hamilton | The Jeremy and Joe Show

Sabres Offseason Update w/ Paul Hamilton | The Jeremy and Joe Show

mr paul Hamilton his appearance brought to you by Ray Laconda we’re going to recap the Savers weekend that was couple of trades lots of draft picks a decentralized draft that took forever the first round
forever paul good morning
good morning how are you
all right how’d you like the decentralized draft
it was awful that That might have been the worst television I have ever seen in my life and I’m not exaggerating that
ESPN should be as embarrassed as embarrassed could be and the NHL that was horrendous the second day was much better i thought the NHL network did a much better job but that first day was an utter embarrassment
for people that weren’t tuned in what about it was so bad
well they’re trying to do interviews because of course the GMs and every aren’t there so they bring the pick over to do it some of them worked some of them didn’t and you see these GMs with a deer in headlines just looking like well are we going to talk or aren’t we going to talk or
Yeah
you know and they just such goofy we really liked you hi how are you it’s like stop i mean it was just everything was just so forced and fake and um I don’t think the analysis was as good at all i mean nobody was really talking about uh well I don’t think they knew the players that well quite honestly whereas in the past I think they had analysts on there who did know the players that are being drafted and the needs of teams and and that type of thing and it just wasn’t there at all yeah no no one on the panel was like a dedicated prospect person um
where’s Mel Kyper is what you’re saying
mel that would be funny um the draft house interviews for sure Paul and the length of it i really was wondering because like I wonder how the owners think of it because they voted 26 to6 I saw to have a decentralized draft i wonder if they’d almost be mad at ESPN or the league because if you wanted to see what that looked like it feels like you got like the worst effort possible like I’m I’m sure the owners were imagining something a thousand times better when they voted to to have it
you know what the owners were imagining is saving money m that’s what the owners were imagining because they didn’t have to move their whole operation charter a plane and move a whole operation to another city that so they were envisioning saving money
right but like for it to continue you need it to have you need it to be a little bit better than it was and if they go right back to the way that it has been you know you know what I mean like they would want the league and the and the ESPN to put a real effort in because if they want to save money well like I guess it’s only a one-year thing now cuz it was so bad i can’t imagine they do it again
this is the NHL so I don’t
Yeah you think they could
i don’t put any bets on that
i think it’s more likely Bman comes out and says our fans said it was the their favorite draft of all time that’s what he tends to do so all right Paul well the draft class itself the Sabres go in the first round with a right shot defenseman big guy right shot defenseman the third round big guy lots of big guys lots of defenseman and right shot you know there’s a there’s a trade in there as well so clearly uh attacking a position of need as they saw it
yeah and don’t forget too uh the Sabres have used second round picks the two years before last year Adam Clever is a right-handed shooting defenseman and the year before Matt Kemp Sturbick is a right-handed shooting defenseman both are playing in college hockey right now so it’s something they were they had been doing and it it also helps their prospect pool get a little bit bigger i mean if you look at you know basically for a while it was you know draft team Munchkin with skill and let their just outskill them well that’s great you need skill you really do but the Florida Panthers have shown us the past couple of years you need skill and size to go with it um you know the the Panthers can play any type of hockey you want to play because they have the team to do it they have size they have skill uh their skilled players is for the most part are big um and and and they can just grind you down in the playoffs the playoffs are a grind and if you just have little guys that you know are getting slapped around the whole time and they’re they’re just going to wear out on you you know when you’re if you’re going to go on a playoff run so um you know I obviously with the draft that’s something they had in mind is that the case with MKA too for you Paul their ninth overall pick he is definitely big i mean he’s 66 um but I have seen a lot of description of him as maybe not like he’s not he wasn’t drafted that high because he’s the meanest guy in the world like he might he uses his size in a different way which is more common I think in today’s game
yeah but Kowski the third round pick he is the meanest guy in the world but not not Murka um he he uh but the at 18 he had a lot going on when he got to Seattle he’s coming over found out he wasn’t as good at English as he thought he was and he had a problem with that and it was just trying to get himself used to playing in the Western Hockey League which is a a league that uh is is a tough league to play in so you know I think that will as he plays there I’m sure he will play there again next year um something that I think will help him with that too i mean he’ll realize it but you know he’s a good two-way defenseman he’s a guy that for his size you know I I think can move well now he talked about he wants to get his skating better but you know any anything I’ve seen of him I thought he moved pretty well so um you know I can guys grow into it well some can some can’t but he’s going to play in a league where to survive you might have to be a little bit tougher
yeah well Paul they they want to be tougher to play against they’ve added a couple pieces here the Purka trade then there’s the Connor Clifton trade as well so we’ve seen them uh make some roster moves are they a better hockey team today or or is very much the message right now the offseason has just begun um you know would Kevin Adams want to preach patience on what they’re still going to do for me they’re very much incomplete today um per specifically Timonss for Clifton yes they’re a better team clifton nicest guy in the world and uh I you know I think he was liked in the locker room but for especially for a third pair guy I mean way too many turnovers he and then it w he wound up you know being a healthy scratch because of it they just couldn’t do it or or taking too many penalties you know Lindy Ruff has kept pounding the table we got to stop with the penalties well he was one of the guys that didn’t stop with the penalties but it’s the it’s the turnovers when he’s under pressure turning the puck over and quite often it would wind up in the net it just had to stop and it wasn’t and I I I had heard and I I think I we have talked about it when the season ended that Lindy Ruff just wasn’t satisfied with that he felt they needed to get better in some areas and I know that was an area right there uh on the third pair you can’t have because your third pair most of the time isn’t playing the top six guys against the top six guys and when they’re turning the puck over and the puck’s in the net and you’re handing it to the guys who aren’t the top six guys um you know it just you can’t you can’t have that so Lindy Ruff definitely has more of a say in the roster and I felt even before Kevin Adams talked about this and when I was on the air I talked about it that this this was I think a trade maybe for Lindy Ruff and Timmons Paul just quickly on him because he if anyone that doesn’t know him pulls up his stat page they might go okay this guy’s kind of he’s barely played in the league you know relatively he’s been in the league he’s appeared in six seasons only 159 games but I don’t know like this might be one of those savier moves where you look at some of the numbers in Pittsburgh and his ability as a puck mover and think like what you just said that this is a better third pair defenseman than what they had in Clifton yeah he certainly isn’t going to play with Dalene or if he does it’s going to be trouble i mean you have to understand your the limitations of what you got there and the limitations are you want them on your third pair and if you keep them on the third pair and don’t play him out of place I I’ll go back uh more than a couple of years josh Georgees was that I mean Josh Georgees were they were forcing him onto the top pair and he wasn’t very good then all of a sudden they put him on the third pair it’s like well wait a minute josh George is playing pretty well here and because they had him out of out of position you he wasn’t a top pair guy so and Timonss isn’t a top pair of guy but if you keep him where he should be I I think he’s going to be just fine and I and I think the turnovers will be reduced he can step into Clifton’s penalty killing role and again I do think they they’ve improved in that area
with that being said and ask about Bum now because he I think anyone that would do the defense groups on paper right now you might just put Byum with Diene just because he’s still on the team and they played together a lot last year um Adam’s talking about Byron Paul and like being open to him coming back and we’ve talked so much and have assumed I think for so long now that he would be traded do you think that’s just Adams talking that way just in case a deal doesn’t get done do you still feel that the most likely outcome for Byum is that he will be traded and we’ll be talking about somebody else that opens the season with Delen
i think Adams is right in what he says it doesn’t necessarily have to be if it has to be done it doesn’t necessarily have to be done this year because if you just sign Bo Byron to a one-year contract and do it again next year if you if you just don’t like the trades that you’ve been seeing and and you know maybe you’re going to continue to try to trade him but all right let’s sign him to a one-year deal bo Byum is not going to pout bo Byum is going to come out and give you everything he has um JJ Purka pouted last year at times and you could see it on the ice and he he addressed that at at the end of the year that his body language needs to be better that’s not what’s going to happen with Bo Byum if he’s here for another year or two um you know because the Sabres are looking for better value or a better trade uh so you know I don’t think you have to worry about him if it’s not done it seems like from what Adams said the other day that you know as he said they’ve been transparent both ways that you know he they’re the Sabres they’ve explained to him what they’re going to do to make the team better and what they want to do with him to help him and to help him maybe feel more part of you know not part of the team but more towards the role of what he wants and the only thing I think he if you sign him and keep him here and tell him he’s going to play with Dene that’s basically what he wants because he’s going to get top pair minutes he’s going to be out there all the time against the other team’s best players the only thing he’s not going to do is be on the power play because Dene and Power have that so all right can he live with that playing top pair of minutes and being on the top pair and on the ice all the time for that but you’re not going to be on the power play i mean that’s you know something you know they would have to talk to him about but um you know and and obviously with what what Adams said he wanted to hear about what’s the plan moving forward i don’t want to sit here if we’re going to lose for another five years you know what’s the plan to make this team better to get us in the playoffs and and and get us headed in the right direction here paul you know that that idea in the right direction you know I feel like a GM that’s getting another year i don’t know if he he’s surprised to get another year or he pleads his case and he feels very safe but I I want to I guess I want to see any bit of desperation or real aggressiveness you know the Purka move sounds like it’s something they kind of had to do and they felt like they maybe had to do and they got something for it and that’s fine maybe they feel like they’re better defensively but whether it’s something in goal or really aggressively getting after their top six you know as you’re laying out Byum he could he could stay I think all right well then what avenue will they take to get better and for a GM that’s I don’t know i would I would like to think he’s got some sort of make the playoffs or else compete or else is there going to be a move in there that looks like that it looks like the GM is feeling like he’s got to get something done i don’t know i This is just my impression i don’t think Terry Pigoul is the or else guy um but you what you know I talked about what they what we heard with Byum i didn’t like what I heard when we talked about well all right you’ve made yourself better defensively with Kessle Ring and and I think fans are going to enjoy watching Kessle Ring play but you’ve also lost 27 goals off your team and Adams almost talked like he’s setting setting the fans up for well you know Benson and Quinn could you know we’ve got them and they you know we’re looking to them to take the next step and and you know we’re not worried about that we’re more worried about keeping pucks out of our net because we got to get much better defensively well that’s not wrong but uh it was almost like they were saying he said “I’m not sure we’re going to be able to you know do what you guys are thinking.” And you know but Benson and Quinn are young players and we’re expecting them to get better and he didn’t say that’s the end end result yeah but you know he kind of le you know well if that’s what we have you know we we’ll be fine because I know they’re going to work hard and get better and and I thought no no no that’s not um hope is not a strategy in goal hope is not a strategy hoping that two young go one of the two or both of the two young goalenders are going to really hit their stride next year or that Benson and Quinn are going to hit their stride next year um that’s hoping and if you’re going to hope you’re you’re going to be out of the playoffs for the 15th straight year because hope is not a strategy so uh whatever the strategy it has it has to be better than “Well we’ve got we’ve got guys because how many years have we heard now we got guys.” Yeah
you know especially after the year where they all had career years
well why would why do we got to do it we We got guys and they’re only going to get better they had career years and they’re only going to get better hm okay uh yeah Peter got better um
the rest maybe regressed
yeah uh Lucin got better for 35 games
and then that regressed again so you know that just to me that’s unacceptable that is not what they need to do they need to find some top six forwards and if you trade by that would be where you can you can look at free agency you can look in you know other trades you essentially have to get Alex Tuck signed you just have to because if you don’t that is a huge step backwards for this team so and you know Timonss just for that one particular thing you were trying to get better at that one particular area yeah you went for it there yeah you threw a second round pick in there you know if you if you boil it down is Timworth a second round pick in Clifton i don’t know but you made yourself better do you need a second round pick right now no how many picks do you have how many prospects do you have so I I’ve kind of as soon as I The first thing I said I couldn’t care less about the second round pick i don’t whatever i’m I’m more interested did you get better in the positions you were trying to get better in and you did you threw a second round pick and I couldn’t have cared less
so how do they get their hands Paul top six forward if they go for a goalie there’s the Byron piece but beyond that like I guess how hard do you expect them to push tomorrow like will we see them sign we I mentioned Zucker earlier like a guy maybe a guy they can get to sign on a one or a two-year deal cuz they’re willing to give him a couple million more than maybe somebody else is like do you think that’s likely for them that they will at least one forward maybe a goalie that they are going to push for that tomorrow well July 1st is stupid time anyway and uh so the yeah it’s overpayment and it’s going to for to to come to a team that hasn’t been in the playoffs for 14 years it’s going to have to be a severe overpayment um you know with you know if they’re looking in free agency so um I mean and and you know you you can find other ways tradewise to get those players um especially teams that are looking for other things and maybe you’re looking for younger players or or things like that but it can’t be well it takes two to trade um you know it’s it’s it’s it’s difficult you know you got to have a trading partner i understand it’s hard i get it and it’s your job and you didn’t do your job the last two years the two off seasons for whatever the reason be maybe it was too hard or whatever well if it’s too hard for you let’s find a GM that’s not too hard for because it has to be done and you have to find a way to do it and the well you have to have a trading partner you have to have this or you know you it’s a hard sell yeah I know i know it is and if you want to be a champion you better get it done
paul Hamilton on the Western Hotline all right Paul we’ll be uh ready to talk tomorrow as the Sabres look for I don’t know some help somewhere maybe they find their next Jason Zucker which did work out well you know I’ll just say like sometimes we read stories about how they might have been scared off of idea XYZ because it didn’t go well in the case of Zucker that worked out really well maybe that encourages them to try and do something similar with a player this year here i mean Zucker was I think when they signed viewed as a little bit of an overpay and everything worked out really well there so maybe we see them do that again we’ll see
yeah with the production they wound up with it didn’t it wasn’t an overpay but at the time yes I was neutral about it when they signed him i didn’t hate it i didn’t love it i was like “Okay whatever.”
And it turned into more than whatever and and you know he the same with goalending free agent goalending is not very good this year so if they’re if they’re going to add to the goalending I think in a significant way it’s going to have to be done through a trade
yeah thanks Paul
okay
paul Hamilton joining us his appearance brought to you by RAX Honda rax we got this on uh free agency head

Jeremy and Joe are joined by Paul Hamilton to recap the 2025 NHL draft that finished up over the weekend. The guys start off by asking Paul about the decentralized draft which we saw for the first time this year, and Paul shares why he HATED it. Then the guys get into the selections by the Buffalo Sabres, primarily the first two picks being a pair of massive right handed defenseman. Paul points to the Florida Panthers as the cause for so much of the NHL swinging for bigger heavier players as opposed to lighter higher skill players. Then the guys dive into the trades the Sabres made, which resulted in similar results. Big, well-skating defenseman being added to the Sabres organization. Paul breaks down why Connor Clifton was moved out of the organization and what the team acquired in Conor Timmins. Paul also shares an update on D Bowen Byram who is still heavily involved in trade rumors in the league.

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