BHFS 7/7/25: A new Byram deadline?

BHFS 7/7/25: A new Byram deadline?

All right, everyone. Happy Monday here on July 7th, 2025. The Baker Fab Hockey Show is live here on a beautiful Monday, lunchtime. Matthew and I thought we’d get together here for the second time in the month of July. No weeks off for us here thus far in this off seasonason. Thanks everyone for hopping in here on short notice. Numbers are already climbing. Matthew Fairburn, how was your Fourth of July? It was good. It was uh we finally got the summer weather here, right? And the Sabres did not do too much to throw a wrench into any Fourth of July plans. I was scrambling back from dinner last night when the news of the arbitration came down with Bow and Byum. So, uh, I was sort of on, you know, on watch all weekend wondering if something might happen with Byum. Rode a little bit on the morning of Fourth of July, but got to the zoo, you know, hung out by a pool. Yeah, overall can’t complain. How about you? Not bad. Not bad. I had a pretty chill weekend, I would say. Had a visitor come up. We just kind of went around the village of Hamburg. I’ve been kind of reclaiming my life catching up on TV shows. Apple TV’s been killing it. You and I were texting last night. Whether it’s your friends and neighbors went through succession going through succession right now on Max catching up on that. I can’t believe I never watched that. So, it’s been good. It’s been kind of getting a little mix of indoor and outdoor. Yeah. the the amount of shows that I I feel like the the listeners would be amazed by the amount of shows that you as of a few months ago hadn’t seen. You’re sort of uh diving into some of these these big hits. A lot of a lot of time spent watching these Sabres prospects has cost you uh has cost you some some good TV watching. That’s what I mean. I’m I’m reclaiming my life. you know, too much hockey and then if I’m not watching hockey, I’m watching golf or I’m out playing golf or some or watching golf. So, it’s good to actually feel normal. You know, believe it or not, I never watched Breaking Bad. Not one episode. I think I’m going to do that at some point, but got through Severance, first couple of seasons of that, The Bear. All caught up on that. I feel like a normal human being, like I can go out and actually like have conversations with people, including yourself, about these shows. So, it’s good. At any rate, enough about my TV watching life. Thanks everyone again for hopping in on this lovely Monday. On your way in, if you could please like this video, subscribe to the Sabres Prospects YouTube channel. If you’re watching the Baker Fair and Hockey Show over on X, come on over to YouTube. The chat’s already filling up. I see our friend Michael Hubanette from Northern Sweden is already in here calling us beautiful people. Thank you, Michael. We feel the same about you. What time is it? audio is your thing. It’s uh he’s probably what six hours ahead, Michael. It’s probably like 6:41, 7:41 over there right now. But if audio is your thing, you can find the Baker FBI hockey show on Apple or Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. And you could please leave a fivestar review for us and make Matthew happy. I didn’t do the proper introductions, but I am Chris Baker. You can find me on Exit Sabers Prospects. And with me as always, Matthew Fairburn, your Sabres writer from The Athletic. You can find all of Matthew’s work and he’s been busy at theathletic.com/sabers. There’s a deal over there. Go find one of Matthew’s stories. Check it out. Subscribe through one of his stories. His bosses like that and so do I. All right. Today on the Baker Fairburn Hockey Show, the Sabres still have some cap space to work with this summer. Where does Jack Quinn fit into this lineup? Plus, we have some housekeeping notes coming out of Sabres development camp. But first, Bo Byram and the Sabres get to duke it out in arbitration. Maybe. Maybe. We’ll see cuz as Matthew mentioned uh on Sunday, the dinner bell rang and word came out that the Sabres were taken Bow and Byron to team elected salary arbitration. So, kind of here’s what we know right now. Hearing date is to be determined. I haven’t seen anything yet. I think Matthew that’s the same. No hearing date set for that yet. This is a situation where going into arbitration by Roman’s agent Darren Ferris can choose a one or two-year deal. It’s binding and more importantly I think the threat of an offer sheet has gone away. So once this has been filed by the Sabres team elected arbitration teams can no longer tender an offer sheet to Bowen by Matthew thoughts on this situation? And I think it we knew that it was always a possibility that it could go this route. Even when Byum himself didn’t elect for arbitration to kind of keep some of that leverage on his side, right, with an offer sheet, Sabers just kind of nullified that went for team elected arbitration. Just thoughts on the development last night as you were coming home from dinner. Yeah, he did not file on Saturday night and then the Sabres file, you know, had that what 24 hours later they were able to file. So removing the threat of an offer sheet in theory I think is is a bonus here, but also given the landscape of the league and how things had settled down post July 1, any team that wanted to sign Boram to an offer sheet had an opportunity to do so and chose not to for whatever reason. So would that have become more of a threat later in the summer? Maybe. you know, some team would have after exploring all their options tried to make that happen. I think that it’s a curious move or I guess the offer sheet part of it is a little interesting because they kept all this cap space to prevent an offer sheet, right? And now the threat of an offer sheet is off the table and they still have all this cap space. So, that part of it is definitely uh you know raises some eyebrows. But from a pure, you know, leverage standpoint, both with the league and with Bum, I I like this move by Kevin Adams, because at the very least, Bo Byum is going to be under contract by the time training camp rolls around. And that was not a guarantee if you don’t go to arbitration. He could have dragged this out. This could have been like Swayman or different than Swayman and that maybe Bo Byum wants to be playing elsewhere, but this could have gotten messy and this eliminates all that. Yes, it does. You know, arbitration is something teams and players generally try to avoid, I think, because if the outcome like a Sway in Boston situation a couple years ago hurt some feelings, right? And this is a guy that was a big part of their franchise. he’s a big part of their future and teams try to avoid that when they can, but this is already a somewhat I don’t know if it’s contentuous, but it’s it’s not exactly like uh Kumbaya situation, right, where they’re just trying to figure out what the best long-term deal is. I mean, Adams is openly talking about exploring the trade market for this player. He hired a new agent. Like, clearly there’s a gap here. And this at least ensures that there’s a deadline on this. The arbitrator or arbiter, whichever term you prefer to use. In my googling last night, I found out that both are acceptable. Um I you know you that person will get to determine the value of the contract, the salary, and then Byron picks a one or two-year award. So, he walks to unrestricted free agency if he picks a two-year award. So, what, you know, I I don’t think that is all that important. You know, if he has a two-year contract, he’s still extremely tradable. And any team that wants to trade for him with the flexibility of signing him to a long-term contract has roughly a month to do so. you know that those arbitration hearings typically happen in August at some point. So, there’s still plenty of time for a team to make a deal. If anything, this is just a pressure point to make a decision if the long-term contract is important to you. If it’s not, then you might get a reasonable number. You’ll get a more reasonable number on the short-term deal. It’ll be somewhere in the five to six million range, I would think. And I think so. You get it for one or two years. He’ll probably pick two so that he isn’t going through all this next year and he can go right to UFA. But there’s a possibility that he picks one, I guess, and leaves open, you know, a chance to negotiate a long-term deal a little bit earlier. We know that Darren Ferris’s agent likes to get guys to unrestricted free agency as often as he possibly can, but you know, there’s still some some variables in that regard. I just like it from the standpoint of it puts a a deadline on things both from a trade perspective and a contract perspective. It’s like, okay, trade hasn’t happened by August. You get your award. Pick two years. Cool. Two years is a long time, right? Two years, a lot can happen. A lot can shake out on Buffalo’s blue line. Maybe he ends up stay here long term. If not, maybe he can help you short term. Maybe you can trade them at any given point during that 2-year contract. So, I don’t mind this. I don’t think they’ve lost leverage in any way by doing this. And I think in some ways they’ve gained it. And now they don’t even have to deal with contract negotiations essentially. They can just leave it to especially if if he’s not trying to sign a long-term deal, then you just leave it to arbitration. Yeah. I think that my my first thought on this was that Byum would take a two-year I think to get himself to arbitration. But like I don’t know how it’s going to go. I really don’t know what the strategy is going to be with Darren Ferris. Someone had asked in the chat and I’ll throw it up. Um about thoughts on Darren Ferris. This is Michael Paclo. Thoughts on Darren Ferris and his relationship with Adams and the Sabres. Darren Ferris currently, to my knowledge, doesn’t have any current sabers besides Bow and Byum that he’s working with. Now, this is he’s got a pretty healthy book of business going with Mitchell Marner, Sam Bennett, he’s got Cadri, Josh Anderson. I think this is Darren Ferris. Yeah, Cortex Management. He does have Byum, Evan Rodriguez, and Zack Bosian are probably the closest things. And I don’t know if he was, you know, with them uh with those players when they were here. you know, they’re a few years removed. Maybe they’ve changed since then, but um no real insight, Mike, but we have heard kind of Matthew has already alluded to it that Ferris kind of his motus operande is to walk his players to unrestricted free agency. And I mean, if you look, he did that um with a few of these guys that I had already mentioned. So, I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes. But my other initial thought on this was that I do think that this forces any trade suitors to step up and make what in this window anyway is best and final offers because if there were some conversations going we know that there’s an arbitration date that likely is going to be midsummer. You already mentioned it. There’s a window. If teams want to get this player, Byerum, and negotiate a contract on their own terms, maybe they’ll be a little more motivated to to have some more healthy discussions, substantive discussions with Kevin Adams. That’s probably the most likely scenario that I see is he gets traded. I’ve say I’ve stated on this show that I’m comfortable taking this player into the season because, you know, all signs are that this is just about money. sitting about an unhappy Bowen Bum. And you know, I think that’s not a bad thing here for Kevin Adams. I think this is an opportunity for Kevin Adams to hold the hammer a little bit, go to arbitration. Hopefully, it is a two-year deal. And to your point, sort things out. I’m still, like I said, I’m into inking him, making him part of the solution. He played all 82 games last year. He played 18 the year before that. He’s played a hundred games with the franchise. He could still determine what his role is. And the vibe that I get, Matthew, from fans on Bow and Bum is that it’s already done. He’s going to sign it. They’re going to trade him. It’s already done. When I don’t know if it’s wise to write him off yet, Byum, things can change. Um, why do you need to make a like a a Bum versus Owen Power decision right now? because we don’t know like number one I mean Owen Power probably will come back fine from the injury but we don’t know Jack Quinn didn’t necessarily right away right two years can feel like an eternity things can change I hope it’s a two-year deal that Darren Ferris really wants to go for on behalf of his client and just use that runway sort things out and don’t have this itchy trigger finger I know that it’s tantalizing to use Byum as this piece to maybe go out and get more firepower in your forward ranks, but you might not need Byum to do that. They still have assets. They still have They do prospects and young roster players. They still have Jack Quinn, Payton Krebs, youngish roster players who hold some value, I would think, around the league, as well as prospects that are inching closer to being NHL ready, whether it’s Esach Rosanne or Constellaneous, Anton Wahlberg, you know, Ryan Johnson on defense. Like these are pieces that for a team looking to acquire futures, the Pittsburgh Penguins, I would think, you know, those are assets that you could use. Keeping Byum and letting this play out, you know, it’s an option worth discussing right now because it’s still one of the options, right? And in 3 days, they could trade him and we’ll be talking about how what type of return they got and, you know, the the fit of the new players and stuff like that. But while he’s still here, it’s a useful exercise to go through because in two seasons, I’m thinking about all the things that could change with what they have on the blue line. Right now, I can see why this is a frustrating situation for Bow and Byum. two number one overall picks who are left-handed, puck moving, offensive-minded defenseman are ahead of them in the pecking order in terms of power play time and in terms of those guys are already locked up. Diene makes 11 million a year. Power makes 8.3 million a year and it’s tough to see a path to a bigger role than what he had last season for him. But you already mentioned power and maybe letting this play out and making a determination on which guy you should really commit to long term. The other piece of this too, I mean the doomsday variable is getting really pissed off right with losing and I don’t see that as particularly close to happening like him wanting to to leave. But we’ve got to think of doomsday scenarios when it comes to this franchise. sometimes, but also just looking at, you know, you have Kessle Ring that I think is going to be a really nice piece in the top four. And you have a lot of guys coming up that are going to be pushing for, you know, NHL roles. You just spent a top 10 pick on a defenseman. So, just thinking long term about all this, moving somebody like Power instead of Byum at some point might factor into the equation. I also wonder so I I’ll go back to the cap space because they have what almost 13 million in cap space almost 13. Yeah. And this summer’s reasoning for that was that they were saving it so that a team would not come over the top with an offer sheet on Bow and Bum. Last summer it was saving the money for the restricted free agents of which only one has signed and he signed for what 3.375 million. JJ Purka got traded. Byum hasn’t signed. Devin Levi not yet signed, Mloud signed. So, um, you know, he he made five million bucks. But the money piece of this makes me wonder, could if it is a money issue for Bow and Byum, could you push to sign him long term? Like, has that factored in here? Like if he wants 9 million a year, would giving it to him be the worst idea in the world to in a couple years 9 million a year on the cap is going to look like, you know, 7 million did a few years ago and that’s not an unreasonable number depending on how how he develops, right? We still I don’t know if he’s a $9 million player right now the way he played last season, but you know, you’re making projections on these sort of things. I just think there are more variables on Buffalo’s blue line than maybe we would have thought when they had two number one picks anchoring it, right? Because we don’t know what direction Power is going to go after the season he had last year coming off an injury. We know the potential is there. We know the belief in him from Kevin Adams and company is skyhigh. But we were talking a few months ago and both of us agreed that if you were trying to trade one of these guys, power might be our pick. A because you could get more and b because might give you a little bit more in that role. The question is can you convince by? You have to know as a general manager and this goes back to conversations we’ve had about different players whether it was Middlestat a few years ago, Purka, you have to know and gauge as the general manager. We haven’t been in the conversations, right? We haven’t been sitting in the room gauging really how willing would Bow and Byron be to stick around beyond the two years or is he dead set on getting to free agency because that would change your uh thinking a little bit I think. Can you convince him over the course of these two years? And you have to have a good gauge on that. If you don’t feel like that’s a reasonable bet to make, then you know, I can see moving the player and getting something else. It’s not cut and dry, though, because your blue line does look pretty good right now with him on the left, Dene on the right, Power and Kessle Ring, and Samuelson and Timmons as a top six is is a pretty good group. So, I don’t mind it if they go into the season like that. be nice to see them use some of their other assets though to acquire a forward because I think the reason people are jumping to trading by is a because it looks like the most likely outcome. It looks like maybe the preferred outcome for the player but it’s also the most you know it’s the biggest lever that Adams has left to pull in terms of improving this roster elsewhere and adding a forward replacing the goals that they lost in JJ Purka. So, I see, you know, both sides of it, keeping him and and trading him. But it is, you know, bringing him back, you know, all of a sudden you have a strength on the blue line and you have some injury insurance and maybe you have an option to fix your power play. I feel like all options should be on the table for the power play given how bad it was. And putting maybe Byum and Dene out there at the same time or replacing power with Byum. Yeah, these could be options that you go to to make the player a little happier and maybe make your power play better. Remember when he first got here and he was like running the power play on the fly on his own trying to figure out what the hell everybody was doing? It was uh you know, I think it’s worth exploring. I think that alone might be something that helps him picture his role here long term if he got more power play time because that’s how you get points and that’s how you get paid. We talked about it probably threearters of the way through the season last year when we were saying like when Yuri Koulik was starting to heat up, we’re like, “What does this kid need to do to get on the power play?” I felt the same way about Byum. Just because you’re seeing a five forward unit here and there or definitely four and one doesn’t mean you can’t go three and two. Especially when they were rolling out Cousins and Quinn, these guys weren’t doing jack Even at even strength last year, they were still putting them out on the power play and Byron was just not getting the looks where I would I would put him out there with Dene. Screw it. um three and two when one of those guys situationally anyways when one of those guys is Dene. I mean, yeah, come on. The way how many defensemen in the NHL play the way he does. Not a lot, right? And you know, just because it’s unconventional, Matthew, like like positionally doesn’t mean you can’t do it or doesn’t make sense for the team. And that’s kind of how I look at the Byum power play situation. But, you know, you mentioned um trade and I’m with you. Kevin Adams is openly talking about it, which is peculiar. That’s that’s openly just being like, “Hey, I’ll trade him.” You know, that’s not typically that I mean that is it’s a little weird. It’s that’s why I say it’s a different situation. Like it’s pretty clear that some that contract talks are not either either not progressing or they’re not even the preferred outcome here because if you’re openly talking about trading a guy is the type of guy that can handle that and that it won’t be too too big of a deal. But it’s a bit of a tell on the situation I think. Well, so I mean I guess where I was going with this is that I think that all signs point to that being the likely outcome here, whether it’s before or after arbitration, what you and I just talked about keeping him here and making him part of the solution and seeing where it goes and keep reassessing, keep assessing the left side of your blue line, that’s probably not going to happen, right? So let’s talk about potential suitors. Like at one point, I think it was a week ago on July 1st, Darren Dreger put out there, and I wrote this down. It was Calgary, Vegas, LA, St. Lewis among the suitors. Now, I don’t know if the Kings would still be in the mix after they kind of, you know, are they still in the chase or not, right, after they went and got um Dumlain and Cece when they lost Gabricov, they might actually when you look at their blue line, like if there’s a deal to be had with right-handed defenseman Brandt Clark for Byum, you probably talk about that. But let’s talk about Calgary, Vegas, St. Louis. You did an article with Jeremy Rutherford from The Athletic just talking about the Sabres and Blues as potential trade partners in a Bowen buyer room deal and I like both of the names even though one might be more of a dream than the other that you were kind of focused on. You want to just talk about that a little bit because I can see that being a very attractive option St. Louis for Kevin Adams and moving bone and Byron. Yeah, I think it was Thursday night that Jeremy reported that the Blues have been trying hard to get Byum. And so that was sort of the seed of the idea for us teaming up to see what that might look like. And it’s always funny when you do these stories. It’s informative first of all to get it a read on what the other team might be willing to part with and and what they feel like they need, how they view their roster, but also to see the fan reaction, right? Sabres fans being like, “If it’s Byron for Jake Neighbors, this is what a bust of a summer.” And then Blues fans being like, “If they want Jake Neighbors, forget it.” You know, like, “Hang up the phone.” So Jake Neighbors is the name I keep coming back to. Dylan Holloway was the other one I threw out there. I think he’s a bit more of a pipe dream, frankly. Um, I think you got to add to that deal to get Holloway, which is funny because he was available uh a year ago. and nice bit of business by the Blues to to sign him to that offer sheet. But the issue now with a team like the Blues, they’re good trade partners, I think, because the Blues are a competitive team that I think is on the fly trying to turn over parts of their roster, get a little bit younger, but so many guys have no trade protection on that team, and it it is a definite roadblock. Kyru’s trade protection went into effect on July 1st. Braden Shen has it. I mean, even Fowler has it, you know. So, like these little pieces that you could think to combine, you almost have to look at the guys without it. I mean, how many of these guys played with Patrick Berglin, you think that are left? Has he poisoned the well out there? Is there any hope of of getting these guys to wave their their no trade? I doubt it. I mean, you’d have to maybe fly out there and convince them, you know, Kevin Durant style at at their summer home to to wave trade protection, but Neighbors doesn’t have it. Holloway doesn’t either. But, um, Neighbors is just a player I’ve liked for a while and fits, I think, a pretty fair one for one value. Pretty close to fair. U, you know, maybe a little bit goes each way. Maybe there’s a way to build out a bigger deal so the Sabres can get a defenseman back, but that doesn’t sound like a preferred option necessarily for St. Louis. Uh you can see why. I mean, he’s a multiple 20 goal scorer and plays the brand of hockey I think that St. Louis has built their identity around over the last few years. So, and you know, the question becomes cap space for them. You know, I think they have about 7 million once crew goes on long-term injured reserve, but they’re going to need, you know, obviously three plus would be coming out with neighbors. But I think the question will be if St. Louis is willing to to give a little bit or if they’re trying to build something around future assets. And if it’s the latter, you know, and they’re trying to build around more future assets, I don’t know if that gets done, but they feel like one of the few logical trade partners left in this whole thing. We’ve talked about Calgary a little bit, too. But St. Louis, both from the reports and from the roster and how the pieces match up, I think makes makes more sense than most at this point. Neighbors is a really good St. Louis blue, but he also fits the identity that Kevin Adams is clearly trying to put together here in Buffalo. Another Western Canadian kid, hard-nosed dog for if you look at the Don signing or trade acquisition that they made in Don getting Danforth, guys like that. Extending Greenway Neighbors is really good on the forche, really good in front of the net. one of the best netfront players in my opinion in the entire league and a young guy. I think Sabres fans probably don’t he doesn’t have the name value that some of the other players have there, but he would really fit. He’s a guy. I think we may have even talked about him like earlier in the year like when we were talking about like the Sabres has struggled to get to the net. Where’s their Jake neighbors? He is kind of that almost that prototype for me and he’s always been that way. Always been that way. played for the Oil Kings out like they just always they just churn players out like that and he’s doing it. He’s continued to do it in the NHL. So, I think that that would be a very very attractive option for me. No doubt. Um I I don’t like it more than Holloway, but I agree with you. I think Holloway is clearly just, you know, that was a huge win getting him and he just took his game to the next level and like they would be foolish to actually trade him. Like as good as Bo Byum can be or maybe presently is, Neighbors is more realistic in my opinion. Any thoughts? They have like I don’t think it would be ideal for them. like they don’t want to lose neighbors obviously, but they have some guys coming that could backfill that, you know, and it’s a winger for a potential number one defenseman, number two defenseman, however you want to slot by him. I could see them coming around. Do you have to give a little bit extra even to get neighbors? I don’t know. That’s where this could get tough, right? And I feel like it’s actually a decent one forone swap in terms of value. Um, you know, Byum, there’s a lot of question marks with, you know, we’ve talked about the play with Dalene, the play away from Dalene, you know, the, you know, he’s reaching that point in his career where the potential, you know, is it starts to fade a little bit, right? And it just you start to reach a point where there’s now the reality of who you’ve been as a player. So, is he a really a number one defenseman? I’m not sure that he is, but you know, that’s the gamble the next team is taking. So, Neighbors would be I’d be okay with that deal from a Sabres perspective. I feel like Neighbors is the forward version of Kessle Ring for me. Just a guy that I’ve liked watching the last few years that has, you know, taken his game to a next level and maybe has even more to to give. I think you could pluck that guy, put him right on your top line, frankly, put him next to Norris and Thompson and and go to work. I think he’d be a good stylistic fit um from a skill set standpoint. Calgary I can get being a name that may have made may have made calls to Kevin Adams on bowl by room. I don’t know about Vegas. Like how does that even fit? How does that work? Like I know like Petrangelo is I I don’t know what went into that whole thing. Seems almost like this is another Vegas move where maybe they’re just kind of pushing him aside for a little bit. I don’t know. But I don’t know. I don’t even know how that fits really. I mean like unless you’re moving like a white cloud or something like that, you know, because they have Theodore, they have McNab. Cororsac plays well for them. They acquired Lzison. Hannifan’s there. like where like Bowen Bum is he gonna face the same type of playing time issues or concerns that he might have in Vegas that he would here? I don’t know. But like maybe it’s easy to do in Vegas, right? You’re winning. You’re I guess in the warm weather taxes aren’t coming out of your paycheck, etc. But if this is more of a money thing, where’s the money going to come from? Like I don’t I don’t know. That’s a good question. I I you know, I don’t get it. They haven’t made a lot of sense. LA makes less sense now that they’ve added to their I’m not convinced that they don’t I’m not but they have shown a willingness to to be pretty aggressive with um changes to that group. So you could get a Yeah. Do you want a defenseman back though? Can you get a defenseman and a forward from that group? cuz you could get a they have some some pretty pretty good forwards that that would help the Sabres um in their top six, maybe middle six depending on how you’re putting together a deal. That’s a conclusion that’s being jumped to that they’re out just because they signed Dumlain and CC. I don’t see it that way. You know, I think they’re totally different players. like if the opportunity to get Byum and have him for seven or eight years should be pretty exciting to the Kings. So, you know, again, I’ve mentioned it already on this show the past couple. Dowy’s on the downward side. Duelan’s up there in short-term fix. CC warm body knee-jerk almost for them to go and sign him even though they gave him I think some term. It would have to be Brandt Clark. like they would have to want to move off of him for some reason, I think, because you’re kind of in that neighbor zone in a way of like a player that they would be reluctant to move that would make sense for the Sabres. I don’t know. But Calgary, when we look at that roster, I don’t know if I get excited about that as a potential trade partner for Byum. They’re tough. Any thoughts on LA or Calgary? Yeah, I mean, you shared some thoughts on LA. I don’t know if you want to complete some thoughts there, but I mean, look, Quinton Biffield’s not likely on the table in LA. If he were and that deal isn’t made yet, then that’s terrible because that would be the easiest easiest trade to make to me. I mean, Biffield would be an absolute home run um for he would change the Sabres in a huge way. Another thought that crossed my mind as we’re going through this because we’re going through all these rosters and just crossing off the guys that have trade protection, right? Like I do wonder if that’s Adams’s approach or if there’s an effort being made in any of these cases and what that effort looks like because can you think of anything that would be a bigger morale boost at least locally to the fan base to acquire a player and be like wait a second this guy had a a no trade list like like remember when Omar went to Ottawa and they asked, you know, one of the reporters asked, you know, what was the process, you know, deciding to wave your no trade clause? And he said, Ottawa wasn’t on my list. And it was like, oh my god, Ottawa wasn’t on his list. Could you imagine if you could either convince somebody or get a guy who by some snowballs chance in hell doesn’t have Buffalo on his list? Just the the mindset change you’d be making there. Maybe even in your dressing room, right? the guy comes in and says, “Yeah, I waved my my my no trade because these guys really wanted me like badly saw a role for me and I want to help. I’m the type of guy that wants to be part of a solution.” It’d be a nice uh I think it’d be a good morale boost. probably not likely, but something I thought about as I’m looking at all these. It’s an it’s an effort you should probably be making is trying to break down some of those walls by other means rather than just saying, “Oh, Coleman has a no trade clause. Are we on it?” Yeah. All right. Well, oh well. You know, and instead of saying, “Hey, is there any any chance we can convince this guy to to wave this thing? And can we get a conversation with this guy? Can we try to sell him on what what we’re doing? I know, crazy thought because uh this is not not the easiest product to sell within the league or or to fans. I’m looking at LA and I’m thinking, you know, of the guys without protection, you’ve got Biffield, who seems like a pipe dream, and then really what Trevor Moore would be the winger that you could potentially you know, go and get um you know, as a throwin maybe with with a defenseman, but it would almost have to be I mean Mikey Anderson doesn’t have trade protection either. Um and then neither does Clark because he’s so young. So those are probably the pieces you’re looking at. Calgary is definitely tricky for this trade compared to the Purka trade. I think you know Coleman is you know both high on both of our lists but that’s a guy that has a 10 team trade list. So Farab doesn’t have one. Coronado doesn’t but they just signed him. He’s a big part of what they’re doing. Morgan Frost, Ryan Lombberg, you know, these are not really pieces that you want to be central. Connor Zary is an RFA and then you’re looking at the blue line, right? And the same kind of conversation we’ve had about Weaguer and Anderson and maybe not the the route you want to go down. So, takes you back. It takes you back to Jake Neighbors in St. those I guess is where I was because I would go the other thing I was going to say to your your Clark point if you make a trade centered around Byron and and Clark are you a better team for making that trade like tomorrow? No, you’re probably better long term maybe. I don’t know. I mean, it’s a tossup over which player is going to have the better career, but are you a better team tomorrow? Well, I don’t think it meets Kevin Adams objective for the type of team that he’s trying to build. And he wants to get I think he wants to get a forward, right? Which brings me to another It brings me back to St. Louis for sure. But it also brings me to another thought I had early earlier while you were talking about something which is like it feels like you don’t want to entirely pigeon hole yourself either, right? like, okay, we need to get a forward. It was like the talk before with Burka and Byron, you know, early on in the offseason was like, they need a right-handed defenseman in one of these trades. They need a right-handed defenseman. There’s ways to make your team better without zeroing in on a very specific type of deal, whether that’s collecting some future assets and spinning those to make something else happen. There were different ways to go about this, but now that they’re in this position, it does feel like they need a forward, doesn’t it? if they’re going to make their team better, which is the objective, which is again the danger of going into this off season with the same front office, same coaching staff, is these big decisions on talented young players are being made and they’re being made with the objective, the singular objective of making the playoffs this year, which I think should be the goal. Obviously, you got to end the drought. You’ve got to get that boulder off your back. But it’s why I mention Brian Rust every episode, right? But it I I do wonder, you know, when when you’re doing it out of preservation, right? Are you seeing all the best deals for what they might be? Hey, maybe we’re giving up a little present day here, but man, I can’t believe this team threw in this prospect or this draft pick that we can maybe package. Again, it creates extra steps and with the current general manager in place, we haven’t seen him able to package any of the future assets that he does have other than Seavoi in the Mloud deal. So, that’s easier said than done. It’s easier on paper than it has been in reality for this organization. But, just something I thought about as we’re like, it’s like, man, you have a really big asset here in Bow and Byum. And we’re talking about at the beginning that you don’t want to force trading this player because he might be able to help your team win games. But you also don’t want to force a certain trade just because you feel like that is exactly what you need. You know, this might fill a depth chart hole right now or I don’t know. You you definitely don’t want to sit there and just take the best deal you get and move on. You got to take the right deal. And that’s probably why this is taking a little longer than people would like. If if you’re in win now mode, and you said that last year, and you crap down your leg, you got to really turn the knob up to 12 in win now mode this year. Good organizations trade their prospects all the time when they’re trying to win. When you have a window that’s open, the Sabres, going back to Darcy, were reluctant to trade their prospects because small market, always have to draft, develop. It hasn’t gotten you anywhere. Go all in this year. I someone put a comment in here. I mentioned this to you on a call that we had a while ago. I would if it meant trading your first round pick next year and giving up the Gavin McKenna lottery ticket to get something that’s going to help you because some team would say, “Yeah, I’m going to give you a really good asset and part of that deal because I think that you’re going to fall in your face again.” I would trade the first round pick next year in order to get better. Now, I’m tired of watching this team lose when I sit down in the middle of winter. Tired of watching a fragile team. Tired of watching a fragile team mentally and guys that don’t hit don’t go to the net. Tired of it. Let it all hang out. If you’re Kevin Adams, save your job because guess what? This season is going to be all about taking it to Thanksgiving again. If you’re Kevin Adams and you want to continue to be like, you know, here’s the thing. Someone could say, “Oh, he’s going to be the president of the team anyways.” and he could just, you know, step away and leave on his own accord, move up the ranks and let Yarmmo take the GM job maybe. But he’s got he’s also could have a massive stain on him if he doesn’t go all in here. Now, I understand that the Gavin M I just I don’t want to hear about Gavin McKenna. I don’t want to hear about it. I don’t I want the team to focus on just winning. I feel there. My thought on that draft pick is twofold. It 100% depends what’s coming back. Symbolically, it definitely shows you’re going all in. You’re letting it all hang out there and unprotected, right? Unprotected 2026 first. I mean, you should be able to get a really good player, but is a a player worth it available to trade or protected? Or protected. Yeah, protected top five. If you protect the top line, it just becomes the Duma DuPont sweep stakes and not the McKenna sweep stakes, right? Then I’d be, you know, I’d be more inclined to do it. My big hesitation with that, I I get what you’re saying. Go all in. I don’t know that Kevin Adams has earned the ability to trade that pick. You don’t even know if he’s going to be the one making that pick. And given the strength of that draft at the top, particularly the singular player at the top, it just would feel it if it were a different GM, a new GM that came in and said, “We’re doing this.” Then you know what? Yeah, sure. This is this is the course you want to take and you’re But a general manager that doesn’t matter time to begin with. I don’t know. I just don’t love I don’t trust him to Is he on time? Well, he should be. Do we know? But he’s the general manager right now. Do the job. Right. That’s true. But it would it would border on reckless to me um organizationally to let Kevin Adams make it available. You might have some really crazy top five or top eight protected probably even top five then yeah put it out there for that changes it for me. I think it’s the possibility of them falling on their face and then also missing the chance to draft a player. Forget McKenna, just a top five forward, right? Somebody that could really change their future outlook is it would be a little reckless. But hey, top five protected, top eight protected. Yeah, screw it. Cuz the number nine overall pick next year, what the hell does that matter to anybody? Um, I’m sure it would get you a nice little prospect, maybe a stronger draft than this year. I don’t know. But yeah, the that’s why the number nine pick this year, the number 11 pick last year. Like, those are assets that should have been aggressively in play because they’re not impacting your team right now. And nothing nothing will impact this this franchise more than making the playoffs. Even just making it and getting swept like the way that would change just a little bit the way you’re perceived to change change the way guys in the locker room feel the pride they might feel about being here so that you don’t have a a line of players at Kevin Adams door at the end of the season telling them they want to be traded. I mean, they should be between the money they have and the future assets they have, the summer should not be done. But I think a lot of people are getting the the feeling that maybe the summer is pretty close to done outside of Byum, but we’ll see. You know, I think they say, you know, Chris Johnston and a few others have said this could be a more active summer in the NHL in terms of trades. There’s a lot of teams with cap space left. And I do want to point that out in fairness, you know, to the Sabres that there are teams out there with, you know, almost half the league has $10 million in cap space. And there’s RFAS, so not every team is truly sitting on 10 million cap space like the Sabres. Because if they get Byum for six and Timmans for two and a half or three, they’ll be sitting on what, four millionish in cap space. And with a 4 million plus dead hit for Skinner, the true, you know, salary of the roster is pretty low. But there’s time for things to shake out across the NHL. I think the the core of your point about trading the pick is a good one. Like enough is enough. Just I’m not sitting here saying traded, right? Because it’s a lazy I’m just saying everything should be on the table. Yeah. Yes. Because and here’s the thing like it’s incredibly depressing to hear people in Buffalo talk about the 2026 NHL draft already. It’s July. It’s it’s defeist. This team purposely went to the bottom a decade ago. What did it get you? Jack Eel. It also got you Jack Don’t be afraid to trade it if you can is my point. Anyways, I’ll stop there. Super chats always get read. We got one that came in. This is addressed to you, Matthew. Super chats get read immediately. This one came in 10 minutes ago, so I apologize, Clinton, but let’s throw it up. Fairgoat. I like that. People think you’re doing a good job, Matthew. You should hang your hat on that nickname. Fair Goat settle a debate from the XB Discord. In your personal opinion, gun to your head. That’s not nice. Clinton, would you prefer to keep Byum or Power? Can only pick one. We’ve gone down this path before, but you’re being asked for $5 Canadian to give an answer right now. I think water pistol to your head. It’s hard to do it in a vacuum. If you were doing it in a vacuum, I might pick Byum, but I’m picking Power because he’s under contract. At a number that I think will be fine as the cap grows. If you’re asking me who I think is a better player right now, it’s Byum. But given his contract situation and the fact that it’s already becoming difficult and he might be going to unrestricted free agency, he might have his eyes set on that regardless of what happens. That is different. So like the reason we’ve talked about trading power instead of Byum, this was going back to the winter, is that you could probably get more and you might get a better version of Bum if he gets more power play time or whatever else, but you probably getting more for power, especially with the fact that he’s already under contract. So, but I’m keeping power. And I also don’t think it’s a slam dunk that when we look back at the end of their careers, like I think Power still very much has a chance to be clearly the better player between the two. So, is that a guarantee? I think it’s still a tossup one way or the other, but the fact that he’s under contract makes it, you know, makes it power for me. But it’s a it’s an interesting debate that I feel like we started to have over the winter and that maybe internally they should be having more of if Byron stays on the roster. Fair enough. Thank you for the super chat, Clinton. Appreciate it. You mentioned Papa Duke. It was Canad $5 Canadian super chat. He said you should only read 60% of it because of the exchange rate. Papa Duke coming in hot. Coming in hot. Um, you mentioned a morale boost and, you know, like getting a player who, you know, acquiring a player who maybe everyone thinks Buffalo’s on his list or getting them to wave if Buffalo is, whatever the case, right? Wave their no trade to come to Buffalo. I think the greatest piece of business that the Sabres can do right now to build any semblance of goodwill with the fan base is to get Alex Tuck done quickly immediately. And kind of the trigger that went off in my mind to make sure I wanted to say that is because, you know, you went down the path earlier saying, you know, could you sign Byum to a long-term deal 9 million and get away with you could, but I think that you can’t do anything like that with Byum until you get Tuck done. And I do think that the fans it would take the edge off a little bit if the Sabres were to get that done. I don’t imagine there’s been any movement that you’re hearing any scuttlebutt from league insiders on that, but my expectation is that it gets done pretty quickly. I don’t know if you’re agreeing with my gut instinct on this one. I think my instinct has been that there’s openness from Tuck to get it done and I think you need to take advantage of that openness, you know, and I think it’s just a matter of getting the right salary and term and frankly the guy should almost get whatever the hell he wants. I am not. If they sign Alex Tuck, you’re gonna have a hard time almost regardless of what the number and term is getting me to criticize that. Like you’re sitting on $12.8 million in salary cap space. I don’t know the exact number for next year, but I’m sure it’s a bunch. The cap keeps going up. the confidence of people in this market that they’ll actually spend to that ceiling each and every year is not high. And so 9 million plus for Tuck, I’m not really going to bat an eye, frankly, because he is that important on the ice, that important off the ice. I keep going back to the idea of how devastating it would be for a player like that to leave. You know, we’ve talked about the perception of this team, not not just in the market, but nationally around the league, within with players, and Tuck is a a connector around the league, right? He’s got a lot of friends. He’s he’s played a handful of different places. He’s sort of friendly with everybody, it feels like. And if that guy, the the local guy who grew up a fan of your team doesn’t want to commit, I mean, what does that what type of red flag does that raise to to other players around the league and your ability to attract talent? So, I feel like he is he’s so important and it’s hard to envision a desperate need for the extra million plus or whatever savings you might get, right? If it’s, oh, I’d love to get them at 8 million. Sure, whatever. Or I can’t believe they did six or seven years instead of five, like, who the hell cares? That’s a problem for And it probably won’t even be that big of a problem with a rising cap. Uh, and unless they’re really spending to the ceiling every damn year if things change drastically. So, I think there’s an openness there from Tuck. And I think it would be foolish to let it sit too long because if it lingers into the season, then we know how how quickly the the vibe can change around here, right, with this team, you know, when they lose some games and, you know, within that dressing room and all that. And then you’re that much closer to free agency if you’re Tuck and you’re thinking, h, I don’t know, honey. Can we can we pack up these two little kids? And you know, I don’t know. What do you think we could get for this house? You know, like I think your mind starts to wander the closer you get. But before you’ve played and you’re thinking about the possibilities of what the season can bring, you’re maybe in the back of your head, if you’re Alex Tuck, worried about staying healthy, right? You know, I don’t think any, you know, I don’t think that’s too big of a of a fear, but it’s always in the back of your head, right? This you’re sitting on a guaranteed payday. You know, that even if it’s five years, 9 million, you know, then you’re, you know, 45 million bucks. So, they got to get that done. They really got to get that done. And I think especially with what work is left to do, right? Obviously last week there was stuff to do, signings to make, couple trades, the Byum stuff. You want to show this guy he’s a priority, you circle back as soon as possible. We’re almost an hour in. If you could please hit that like button, subscribe to the channel, send Matthew another super chat, I’ll gladly read that. So, in your article, I want to go back to that athletic article that you wrote with Jeremy Rutherford, you sketched out some lines. We touched upon this a little bit last week. You got a shitty eating grin. Let me finish before you go there. You got something. I know. I know. I’m looking at the chat. There’s um Yeah. So, you sketched out some lines. I think the premise of what you were doing there was Byum for Neighbors, one for one. And there was a notable omission on your forward lines in that article. And I kind of have a similar problem. I hinted at it last week. Where does Jack Quinn fit in this whole puzzle? Because when you sketch out lines and you’re kind of getting this vision for what we think the Sabres want to be as an identity have has an have as an identity which they said last year by the way when they signed Obeell and Lafery and Malenstein make the bottom six harder to play against right if you’re forcing Quinn in there he’s in the bottom six he’s not making you necessarily harder to play against and they just signed him to an extension for $3.3 million like I’m looking at 3.3 and I’m looking at other guys that make less than Quinn that make you harder to play against and I just don’t see where he fits. I especially don’t see where he fits if you add another winger. If you don’t add another winger, I can make it work. If you do add another winger, let’s say it’s Neighbors, like you can put him right on your top line and you have Neighbors Norris Thompson. You have Zooker and either Koulak or Mloud on your second line with Tuck. Third line becomes uh Don probably on the right, you know, I would think Benson on the left and whichever center you didn’t have on the second line plays there. And then your fourth line, are you putting Quinn on the fourth line? You know, I I don’t see him as a fit for that role. So you have Greenway and Danforth. You know, Danforth could play center or wing, but you could put Krebs in between those guys and it’s pretty good fourth line. And then Malenstein and Quinn are your extras. If you don’t get neighbors, I can start to make it work. I can make him a third line left wing. I can make him maybe a second line left wing and put Zooker down with Mloud or or Benson, you know, because those guys have the versatility to play that role. So, I can I can make it work without a new winger, but with a new winger, I’m looking at it and I’m thinking I want Don, and I think I want Danforth, too, just for the role. Well, on that that bottom line, unless you’re putting Don on the bottom line and you’re putting Quinn on the third line, but I don’t think you signed Danforth to just hang out. This does put, you know, like without a trade right now, I still have a hard time putting Quinn or at least figuring him out. Now, you mentioned left wing for Quinn. I don’t mind him playing his off wing because I don’t think it matters. Like, he could play left or right, so I’m with you there. Um, but like I don’t know, like Malenstein, do you take him out of the lineup? You know, I think there’s value in him, especially the way he ended the year. And even if he’s not a primary penalty killer, I would hate to take Malenstein Malenstein out of the lineup, even at the expense of of Quinn, I guess, right? It’s like it gets it gets a little tricky. But to your point, like so my lines, I’m going Benson Norris Thompson still just to start. See what happens. I like Benson and this is no new winger. I’m probably going that too, isn’t there? Yeah. No new winger, right? Zooker, Koulik, Tuck, Greenway, Mloud, Don. I like that idea of two four checkers coming down the wings. Really good responsible speed in the middle with Mloud. And I think you’ll get some offense out of that line, especially with Mloud. I don’t see you’ll I don’t think you’ll get like a drop off. And I do have Malinstein Quinn Krebs Danforth. Malenstein Krebs Danforth as like ideal sketch. I know it sounds crazy to not jam Quinn in there somewhere by keeping like a Malenstein in the lineup, but it’s like again I’m just trying to think of like the identity and like actually having a team that four checks and you know what I mean? Um can play special teams penalty kill. I don’t know. It’s just it’s push comes to shove, you can find a spot for Quinn there. You take Malenstein out, you drop Greenway down for example on the fourth line. Then you have a $4 million guy playing on your fourth line, right? We talked a little bit about this last week, but I kind of I guess that goes back to where I’m going with Quinn. Not the easiest fit and I think he’s a really viable trade ship. If you circle back to Pittsburgh and we and if anyone wants to know what any my trade proposal thoughts are, go to back to last week’s episode or last episode. This is our 75th episode, by the way, the Baker Favor Hockey Show. Matthew, I’m pretty sure this number 75. So, congratulations to you. That’s pretty big for having 75 chats with me. I’m sure you’re richer for it. Your point about Quinn. Yeah. Oh, we’ve got a another super chat here, so we’ll get to that. Robert Marada asks, “Have the Sabres objectively done enough this off seasonason to break the drought? Is the improved defense worse forwards and same coaching enough?” And it actually, as you were talking about, Quinn, I think this this kind of bleeds together because it makes me feel like there’s more to be done. like there’s another trade to make up front whether it’s Krebs or Quinn. Krebs is now tradable because you have Danforth who can play that fourth line center role all day long and Quinn is tradable because I don’t know where he fits otherwise. And I think have they done enough? My answer would be no. Are they on the right track? I think yes. Have they done some decent things? Yes. But I don’t think they’ve done enough because I still don’t think the puzzle pieces fit together the way I would like them to. And it still feels like they need more pop at wing up top, you know, on the top two lines. And it does make you wonder, I think why I like Robert’s question here, because as you’re talking, I’m thinking, what do they think? Right? How are they sketching it out? And is this a case where we’ve been guilty of this before on the Baker FBurn hockey show, we are placing a higher value on Zack Benson than they maybe are internally. I don’t know. Do they view him as that topline left wing or are they going to gamble with Quinn there and be safe and put Benson in his defensive, you know, third line role? But it all goes back to Robert’s point that like I don’t think they’ve done enough. Like there’s very clearly more work to be done just from making all the pieces fit together. Not to mention upgrading the roster. And I do think the defense is better. I might contend with the idea that the forwards are worse. Depends on dome. They’re definitely not as offensively dangerous without Purka. They haven’t done enough to to close that gap. But the last part is still a point of contention for me, too. The same coaches, I think it’s a a very fair question here by Robert because the same coaches coming back, you know, when we talk about the power play and coming up with some creative ideas to to maybe get that back to, I don’t know, league average. And it you talked about Kevin Adams was harping on last week. Got to be harder to play against. Got to be better defensively. That was the talking point last year. That was the goal of signing those guys. Like you mentioned, Obe Cubell, Sam Laughaferty, both gone. Malenstein, we’re talking about is he a 13th forward now. So that whole fourth line, you know, Ryan Mloud worked out. The rest of it really didn’t. And now the talk is about being better defensively. And I can’t can’t help but wonder if that’s so important. And if it was so unacceptable, why is the same guy coaching defense again for what, the fifth year now? So, yeah, this will be his fifth, right? I think, you know, Robert kind of gets to the heart of it here. Like, have they done enough? Like, no, I don’t think they have. Do I see the logic in a lot of what they’ve done? Do I like some of the pieces that they’ve added? And even sort of like the idea of moving Purka out, you know, to get some of those pieces. Yes. But it’s not time to uh hit the cottage for Kevin Adams. I don’t think this the Sabres have not objectively done enough to break the drought, but I don’t think they’re done. That’s why we’re spending the time talking about where does Quinn fit and what are the needs and this and that and um and I and I do I do believe that Kevin Adams has two more deals to make. Um the same coaches again I mentioned Stu Barnes. Let’s throw another one in because Steu Barnes, I just checked again, I don’t see any reports that he’s landed anywhere. Just throwing it out there to freshen it up. That doesn’t do anything for your defense, but James Patrick would Maybe go back to the James Patrick. Well, maybe you go back to the Well, Lindy’s gonna be here what, another year. Let’s get the band back together. You don’t need to get McCutchen, you know what I mean? But like, let’s get James Patrick back. James Patrick, did he win another award last year? It feels like that guy, he’s bounced around the WHL, but it seems like he’s like, he’s just a machine. He gets results. He’s uh get the band back together. Yeah, but he’s out in Victoria and that team, their rebuild just got their rebuild just got well, not their rebuild really. I think they’re going to be forced into kind of a semi-rebuild on the fly. Um because I’m pretty sure Rashny is going to North Dakota next year. Cole Rashny left with the new rules, left Victoria. That kind of changes the whole dynamic out there in Victoria with Rashny going to North Dakota next year. So I don’t know. We’ll see. James could be do this again. He’s good with young players, but he’s also tough, you know, and he was sort of known as kind of a guy that as a player set the standard in terms of off ice work habits and things like that. He’s got familiarity with Benson. You know, Benson loves him. I think he’d be a good addition to the staff. I think any fresh people want to see that they are that there’s efforts being made to improve and to not just sit on what has happened, right? and bring guys back because they’re under contract or, you know, too much evidence starts pointing to that, you know, and you get it’s like last week with development camp. Like in theory, you know, holding some guys out because they had a long season and everything makes sense, but it’s like when you just lump it into a lot of other decisions that they’ve made, I don’t blame people who come to the conclusion that it might have had something to do with saving some money, right? like, “Yeah, it’s you.” And so it feels like that’s where they’re at with the coaching staff, but again, still time. I believe trying to remember the exact date. There were a lot of dates in that Kevin Adams story I wrote, but he didn’t get his first coaching job. I believe he was hired in August to Lindy Ruff’s coaching staff when he got bumped up from his other job. So after golf tournament, right? Well, no, that was when he got the first and then he got bumped up to the coaching staff. I feel like it happened later in the summer. So, maybe they have something up their sleeve. A lot of the coaching carousel, the dust is kind of settled, but we’ll see. After a somewhat overcast morning, I just peaked out my window and the sun is out. You know what that means? On my day off, I’m going to want to get outside. But, let’s hit the chat. If you have a couple things started, we can dive into those. But you mentioned development camp. So, while you’re looking through the chat, let me just do some quick housekeeping notes on some of the players that were at development camp last week. Just real quick hits. Melvin Noatne, uh, a day two pick for the Sabres out of Lexan in Sweden this week. Uh, did commit to the University of Massachusetts for 2026 27. So, he’s going to do a gap year in the USL this year with Moskegan. He’ll leave Sweden late August. I think August 25th is when he’s going to leave. He’ll head over to lovely Moskegan and uh play a year there and then head to UMass to play for Greg Carell in 2026 27. And then two prospects that were drafted this year by the Savers were selected in the CHL import draft. So uh Matus Kuharic was scooped up by Owen Sound and he could play with David Bedkowski. It sounds like David Bkowski is kind of having to put the screws to him a little bit to do some recruiting. Um, good opportunity for the Sabres to be economic and efficient by having two prospects, play for one team that’s not incredibly far from Buffalo. Owen Sound has had a hard time uh getting good hits from the CHL import draft. Kind of changed up their mindset with how they approach the CHL import draft this year. So took the big two-way centerman and uh put Bcowsky to work. I’m sure he was talking him up a little bit. Of course, Bkowski wasn’t on the ice at development camp, but I’m sure was chatting him up and has continued to do so via text message here to see if he can help lure him over. I expect the Sabres to bring uh Koharic to training camp, prospect challenge, and see if they can kind of hey, while you’re here, why don’t you stay and go to Sound type of deal. And then also the second player that was taken in the CHL in poor draft uh ifi procarov Russian goalender who played for Babusk last year in the NHL was taken by the Flint Firebirds. So another one in the OHL um and that job in Flint is totally up for grabs. Flint kind of changed some things over in the crease. At a minimum he could be in a time share. Proarov could be, but he has a clear path, I think, to being their like undisputed number one guy even as an OHL rookie next year. So, just some quick news and notes there. And then I also wrote a note down here, just kind of a prediction. I know he was a mid round pick, but we’ve seen this happen before. Samuel Malashsh. The more that I think about it and I look at Canada, Team Canada’s kind of forecast for, you know, young goalenders for the World Juniors, I think Malash can get himself into the conversation for Canada’s World Junior team in the next two seasons. Maybe not next year, but in two years. I just want to throw that out there for food for thought. I think that he’s got what it takes to kind of get himself well positioned to be one of the three that they take to that tournament every year. But I’ll end there um on that and let’s hop into the chat. Yeah, I didn’t have too much to add on development camp other than Jake Rashard had a pretty nice week and seems pretty supercharged confident heading into his college season. I think of the guys that were out there, you know, the older guys, he was, you know, notable. Um, somebody posed this question to me and you’re probably the the one to answer, but of on that development camp roster, over under five NHLers. Um, probably under. That’s what I was thinking. Zemer, Mertka. I’d have to go back and look. I mean, half the freaking prospect pipeline wasn’t even there. They’re they’re they’re tanning themselves. But uh but um no, I’d have to bring that up and see. But uh no, Murka Bedowski I think is going to play, but he wasn’t on the ice. I mean, we count him though. He was on the roster. I think Bkowski will play in the NHL. Cleber shot. Zemer’s got Clever’s got a good shot. Yeah, it’s going to be close. I mean, I don’t want to say under, but you know, things change. They could move some guys out. they could change their whole philosophy, but you know, but um without having that gaggle of amirs there, you know, you’re just your natural instinct is to say and throw a goalie in there though, by the way. That’s right. One of those guys, you know, throw a goalie in there. So, if you say if you look at just the skaters, I think it’s going to be five or like less maybe. Like Rashard, I don’t think is a as a guarantee. And I understand he looked good. He he looks good. I don’t care. I don’t care what these guys do in a threeon three either. I don’t care what they do in a threeon three. And like it’s good for the fans to go and like get familiar with the players and see them skate up, you know, see them in person and just kind of get a feel for what they do and how they shoot the puck and how they pass and things like that. Um, but you know, the true indicator is is watching them play on the weekends, you know, during the season. That’s the true indicator. And Rashard had a hell of a season last year, especially when he came back from that injury. He missed a month. when he came back, he and Maldown just went, you know, and uh sounds like they’re gonna be going back together and keep that Yukon program ascending. Um he can hang he can definitely hang his hat on that at the end of his collegiate career for what he and Muldown and some of the other guys, not just them, have done for that program. But yeah, it’s it’s kind of interesting. I’d have to go back and like look at the roster, but my instinct is to say five skaters. It’s probably the line. Five’s a good line to set there because it’s going to be close. I’m with you on Rashard. Going back to his first development camp always stood out to me. And then I think you got to consider context in this situation in terms of how you know there was what seven other forwards there. And a lot of the attendees of this camp were leaning on the younger side. So this is a he should stand out and he had a few goals and you know it was nice. You know it was good confidence booth perform. I you know the fact that he’s hanging out in Buffalo skating with the academy bunking with Gavin Mcken Gav McCarthy don’t I don’t want to hear it McKenna that people would get really excited about that Gav McKenna skating at the Academy of Hockey right now we know the plan but yeah those are little things that make you confident that maybe they can get him in the organization when the time comes. He’s got some familiarity with Leone. So yeah, um biggest thing about Rashard is his acceleration. He’s more explosive. He’s still not like crazy two three-step accelerator by any means, but definitely better. I think you and I both watched him at his first development camp in person, and you can see boots were a little bit heavy. He’s developed. He’s gotten stronger. He’s put the work in. And he could he could have a chance because of his net front ability. Kind of get those greasy ones. Really good at tipping pucks. Good cleanup guy around the net. Loves being in front of the net. Loves working beneath the goal line, getting in the front of the net. Has a good shot from range. He’ll score more goals in college that way than he will in the pros, though. I think he realizes that he’s kind of folded in a different element of his game because yeah, you’re not beating goalies that way in the NHL all the time. Anyways, he does have an NHL shot, but it’s his net front ability that I’ve I’ve liked seeing over the last few years be fun to watch him in college this year. But he was really him. Schultz, Ashton Schultz, this recent draft pick popped a little bit for me. another guy that slippery around the net, kind of, you know, makes makes some things happen down there. But I didn’t read too much into Murka. You know, you talk about not taking away too much from a threeon-ree. I especially don’t take much away from a three-on-ree for defenseman. At least with the forwards, you can see some skill stuff. With the defenseman, it’s not the type of hockey that they’re going to be playing structurally. So, it doesn’t really, you know, uh, do much for me. But he’s got a maturity to him as an 18-year-old, I think, on and off the ice that will serve him well as he goes through the rigors of, you know, being a young defenseman trying to crack into the league. But no, Sturbach, he was, you know, dealing with a personal matter, which maybe we touched on last week. And Sardarian, the Sabres no longer hold his rights. That is confirmed. So whether he’s playing I don’t know where the hell he’s playing next year to be honest, but um won’t be in this organization. Mka is not like super polished by any means, but he’s not as raw as some of your peers have stated in some reports. And for him, just go back to Seattle, put him in juniors, like just let him, you know what I mean? Play 30 minutes a night, just be the guy and he’ll be better long term. That was the other thought I had on just Murka postdraft. But yeah, let’s get into the chat and see. I had some things start. I don’t know if you start anything. I’ll kick us off just because I think it’s a quick one. People, I think, are sick of me. Uh maybe less you, but sick of me mentioning Brian Russ, but Michael Pas says, “Is Brian Rust on their mind at all?” I I think he is. I think he is. We’ll leave it at that. Um we had another I did not star it, but it was if I hear Brian Rust and the Sabres one more time, just I’m going to lose my mind. So, there we go. to go back to Marada’s super chat though. If you go out and you get Brian Rust, depending on the acquisition cost, say it’s those players that I threw out last week like the Johnson Krebs Quinn like package like two of those three and you get Rust then I think they have done enough to end the drought. I think they have done enough. I think you can get away with that team. Yeah, I think so too. Um, Andrew, I’m going to go double header on him. Byron wants more money in power play minutes. He won’t get it here, so send him off. That’s kind of my point about people already like making that leap that you got to get rid of him. Things can change. Power could get hurt. Darlene played 73 games last year. He had other seasons, two other seasons where he played less than 60. I know maybe as a younger player and he maybe wasn’t fully, you know, physically mature, but I think one of them he got scummed by Cooerov miss some time in a European game, I want to say. I don’t know. I’m just having that random flashback right now. I guess my point is things can happen. Maybe Byron gets power play minutes. Maybe he excels when he does get them. Maybe Power doesn’t take the next step. We don’t know. Andrew, I I’m just throwing it out there. And we’ll go back to Andrew on the double header. I did have another one starred for him. Um got to trade him. Get him to St. Louis and Fry Neighbors or Snugarude along with either Kessle or Faulk. Uh and sign Griez to a four-year deal if you don’t get a D man in the trade. I have a couple thoughts on this. Snugarude, you’re not getting Snugarude. Just got out of college and he’s one of the reasons why they were considering moving Kyu. I don’t think that he’s on the table. I don’t see Jimmy Snuger being on the table. Kessle, I see that name all the time now on Twitter. I don’t know where that came from. Fine if you’re looking at a seventh, but then you get another seventh. Maybe Faulk, don’t want him. Griez something something weird would have to go down in your current decor I think to go and sign Griezlick thoughts on Andrew’s second super chat. Yeah it strikes me that Snugarude is part of why your even got a shot at neighbors too right like the reason they would be willing to include a neighbors or even if they were flirting with the idea of trading Kyu. Now, the other part of the Snugroo thing is great prospect, really promising player, but don’t you want the guy that’s more ready? Yep. You know, to do it right now and that’s I still Yes and no on him, by the way. He is that guy that’s going to come in and do it right away, Snugger. Like, he’s that developed and you know what I mean? Big body, he’s got the shot, smart. But but no, to your point, I want a guy that’s been around a little longer, that knows the league a little bit better. And Neighbors, there is a difference in in the way those guys play. I think Neighbors does more for what the the identity that they need here than Snug. And Snugroot’s excellent, excellent player. But anyways, go ahead. I I threw a couple up. I’ll let you kind of steer it. Quick one for John Wolf asked if Connor Timmons is signed. He is not. He filed for arbitration, player elected arbitration. So that’s a pretty standard procedure. Doesn’t mean he’ll have a hearing, but um he’s not yet signed. So he and Byum are the and Levi are the three that aren’t signed. Levi, I guess we’ll see if he’s in the NHL or not, but you know, still some outstanding issues to take care of. Neil Kennington, this one and another one kind of go together. Jared B had a question. So Neil Kennington asks, “If you take neighbors for Bum, then what forward do you get rid of? Kak to Rochester, trade Quinn?” And the companion question from Jared is who’s playing in the top four if you hypothetically trade Byum for Neighbors. And those are the important questions to ask, right? It’s part of why trading Bum shouldn’t necessarily be some sort of cut and dry decision. Trade him at all costs. If you It’s not a mustdo right now. No. If you take Neighbors for Byum, what forward do you get rid of? Quinn, we’ve had that conversation about the awkward fit, especially if you have somebody like Neighbors. I’m not getting rid of Malenstein because of what you brought up. you know, the the role, even if he’s not an every nighter for you, there’s a role there when he is in the lineup. And maybe you get more out of him if he plays 55 games instead of 82. Who knows? I don’t know if he played all 82 last year. I don’t think he did. Um, Kak can go to Rochester. I’m fine with that. The way they’ve, you know, structured his contract and plan that, I think the only other one that pops into the equation for me is Krebs. And I’m not, you know, I don’t know how much you’re getting for Krebs, so I’m not eager to do it. But can you package Krebs futures and get a defenseman that can maybe to Jared’s question, you know, help the blue line make a little bit more sense because it’s a multi-layered process. Getting rid of Bum creates more work to unless the answer is simply Samson up top with Dene which I think would be would be risky because even if that is your plan then what’s your plan when Samuelson misses time because it has happened frequently over the last few years. So, do you go Dene Timonss? Seems like you’re putting Timonss above his skis there if you do that. So, you know, you don’t have a great option on your roster. You probably don’t have a better one than Samson, frankly, to replace Byum. So, unless you’re going Doll Kessle Ring, but Power Kessle Ring seems like it’s a really solid match. So, it does create another problem to to Jared’s point. And maybe that answer would come back in a trade. Maybe that answer would come via a different trade. But it’s a pretty significant question that would hang over the whole situation. What else you got? Anthony S says it’s unimaginable that Kevin is trying to get guys to wave and he would be the last guy with the ability to do it if he tried. I think he’s got to try if he’s not right. Like he there’s got to be a plan. And and that was part of why when we talk about that press conference in December, I think part of what we hated so much about it was, you know, what purpose does this serve? you know what purpose does advertising these issues and making these excuses serve for the end goal which I actually believe was the question that got him on that rant was like how do you convince guys if they have a no trade and he was just like well we just got to win and it’s like yeah that’s obviously the biggest component to it but just because you don’t have a list of look we don’t have taxes or you know have you ever been to the beaches here like ever been to Woodlon like, you know, like just because you don’t have that doesn’t mean you can’t put together a sales pitch. Like you got some really good players. You know, there’s there’s ways that the football team attracts people to to come here. So, I get Anony’s point, but it was more so just something that popped into my head while we were chatting. probably not the most realistic thing, even if he did devote many hours of his week trying to convince um guys to wave their no trade clause. Daryl, I think this is an interesting point from Daryl Rose says, “Byron fills a more important need than whatever forward. Between Don and growth from Benson, Quinn, Koulique, I think the 27 goals from Purka are covered.” I do think more of the 27 goals are covered than we think. And I do too. Yeah. I I think Benson Yeah. I mean, the three players you mentioned, especially Kik and Benson, you know, Quinn if he plays. Yeah. I think you know, well, what about a healthy Josh Norris? A healthy Josh Norris is another um you know, he’s a scorer. You know, that you know, he he could be a 30 goal scorer if you can keep him healthy all year. Couple years ago. Yeah. Yeah, there the 27 goals very well might be covered and that might be, you know, as we sit here trying to think what are they thinking? What are they thinking? I’m fascinated by the lines because I don’t really think if you’re sitting at home sketching out lines, I don’t know that there’s a wrong answer right now, you know, as you’re trying to figure it out. Done in the top six on left wing somewhere maybe. You know, I think people think about lines too much as like they look at the player and they say, “Is this a top six player? You got to build balance, but you got to like um I I think about the the Leafs a lot and like the people that get tossed on Matthews line sometimes, right? And when you have a player like Matthews, you can do that.” and the guys that have Bobby McMahon up in the top six a couple times last year. Keith Sherwood was up in the lineup to jump start things in Vancouver last year. You see it all. You wouldn’t look at Bobby McMahon and say, you know, if the Sabres acquired him right now, you wouldn’t say, “Ah, there’s the top six forward.” And yet he was there last year, you know. So, could that be Don? You know, it’s it’s interesting to think about how they might be sketching these lines out and that’s kind of why Benson plays up, right? Even if he’s the way that he plays. Yeah. The only reason he’s up there is because of how he plays. Obviously, he his offensive game scoring 20 yet hasn’t hasn’t hit that point. So, more of those goals are probably covered than we think. and even a better power play might help. Now, of course, if you bake in some regression for Zucker or Tuck or Thompson or Mloud, then yeah, maybe by balance they’ll have they won’t have as many goals, but it might not be as desperate a need. And maybe they don’t think it’s as desperate a need. We’ll see. neighbors. If that’s on the table, you you you jump on them, I think, and and go get them. But I’m kind of with Daryl here that more of those goals are covered than we think. What do we got? The last one here from Brian is people saying move the pick unprotected or insane. This is a bottom five roster with the worst coaching staff in the league. The player you get for that pick isn’t changing your immediate fate. The player you get is is my big thing is like how good of a player can you get for that pick? And if it’s Well, yeah. How do you know? How do you know? you know, you got to dangle it, right? And you got to you got to put everything on the table. And that might be one of the best assets you have in the organization, especially considering that the opinion Brian shares at the beginning of this question is probably one shared around the league by some people. Take advantage of it. Just gamble a little bit. Now, again, I think it’s very low probability. That said, okay, again, it’s more symbolic of the urgency that the general manager needs to execute with over the next couple of months or even into the beginning of next season. But like, Brian, I get it, man. Like, you know what I mean? Like, trust me, I get it. And there’s low probability. Like I said, everyone’s wanting to buy the type of player that you want to get in return for an unprotected even or, you know, top five protected. Teams aren’t looking to give those up right now. I understand it. My whole point is let’s chill, I think, on like let’s let the Sabers start three and seven before we jump off the ledge. Yeah, because you never know. Things could happen. Things could happen. Maybe they come in and they get to work. Maybe Lindy being here knowing the players a little bit better. Maybe something clicks. Maybe he does get an assistant coach or two or whatever. I don’t know. But I’m not being optimistic at the same time. I’m just saying it’s July. I know people are disappointed, but I think there’s still work that’s going to be done, and I’m curious to see what Kevin Adams does to complete the mission here before training camp starts mid September. Matthew, next time we get together, we should talk about the CBA because we’re already an hour and a half in. We’re not doing it today. Some interesting changes in the CBA, though. And uh yeah, we’ll get to that then. We’ll get to that then. It’s a long off season. We got shows to do though. We do have some fun stuff planned for this off seasonason that we’ll get to. And maybe the Sabres will keep doing some things that we get to come together and talk about. Matthew, you want to do your plugs before we get out of here? You can find everything I write at theathletic.comsabers. It’s the best place to to find me. That’s what keeps me busy. So, I think you get a dollar a month right now still if you’re uh if you’re into that sort of thing. Pretty good deal. We appreciate the audience coming in here on a sunny Monday afternoon. Hope everyone had a nice Fourth of July. You can find me on my couch when I’m not outside catching up on TV shows that I’ve missed over the past decade. It’s going to be fun. Leave a comment on the YouTube video telling me what series I need to binge that. Keep in mind I’ve probably missed it. If it’s not Eastbound and Down, I probably didn’t watch it. I just watched Star Wars for the first time like four or five years ago. That’s how behind I am on stuff. I actually have not seen Star Wars either. So, yeah, you’ll like it. You’ll like it. I feel like I’ll get to that maybe when the kids are old enough to watch it. Save it. All right, everyone. Well, on that note, Matthew’s gonna watch Star Wars. I’m gonna go outside, do some stuff around the yard. Thanks everyone again for hopping in. Hit the like button if you haven’t already on your way out, and we’ll see you again next time.

Kris Baker and The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn discuss everything Buffalo Sabres.