BFHS 10/16/25: Sabres get off the mat…for now
Kris Baker and The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn discuss everything Buffalo Sabres.
Follow Matthew at The Athletic. His game story from the Sabres’ 8-4 victory over Ottawa: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6721753/2025/10/16/sabres-senators-josh-doan-zach-benson-win/
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What quality insight guys. You really helped dial in the proper perspective for me. Appreciate that. Subbed.
story should be told to players more often how former coaches and players wives cried twice when told they were coming to Buffalo, Once when they were told they were moving here and once when they were told they were leaving.
Thompson's not a center. They have to find someone to play there, because by the time Norris returns the season could be over re: playoffs. A center who can handle the defensive assignments and win some face-offs. It's a tough acquisition to try to make in October. Its a moot point though because Adams won't do it.
Buffalo Sabres fans you must realize one very important point. Every other NHL team and their fans want numerous Sabre players. There are many NHL teams that don't have the youth, talent or prospects. As a Red Wing fan I know going into each season Buffalo is going to be part of the rumor mill. Every fan begins searching your roster for their next big trade talent. That may seem crazy but after months of constant speculation the GM and Owners feel no other direction but trade. Buffalo simply needs to replace its coach and GM. Not because they've done bad job but to end continued speculation and rumor. The new staff must be all about character and effort. always working towards hard nose grinding hockey. The Sabres have many players like that already on roster. By removing GM and coach it offers a 2-3 year window for fan patience. Sabres then need to keep packing the farm system and only trading players they have no desire to keep 4+ years. Trading good to great players rarely improve a team. But hockey is all about a few major impact players. The remaining roster can be filled by gritty hard nose quality players. They're a dime a dozen. Super star talent should never be released or traded, UNLESS they're too greedy or bad people. But in most cases a superstar is not a bad person. Writers and rumor mills make it seem that way but a superstar usually created their own success. They don't need constant pricking and sticking to get better, they do it to themselves. By changing the organization character and discipline everything else will follow. Look at the Buffalo Bills. A couple superstars and they're a legit contender. Or Detroit Lions, years of poor management and coaching. But within 1-2 years the entire organization changed its character and depth. Stop feeling the trade pressure. Who would you EVER get in return by trading Dahlin or Thompson? The Sabres would lose any trade offered. But note this, veteran players eventually get tired of answering the same old questions. Money is a big deal but giving away a couple million per season to belong on winning team become more important. Back to my previous comment about trading stars, like Dahlin or Thompson. Would you fans accept or deny a trade with Toronto for Mathews and Reily? Trade Dahlin and Thompson to Toronto for Mathews and Reilly.? At first that trade seems real but one on one player match would expose Sabres losing that trade. Mathews is better than Thompson, but not by much. Thompson could even be a grittier playoff performer. But Dahlin is waaaaay better than Reilly. Would either organization make that trade? No, but my example highlights what type of return would be required and even then Buffalo loses. STOP GETTING EXCITED ABOUT TRADES. You already have everything you need. If not, then why is every team in NHL trying to get your players?
It's a little frustrating to me why so many of these guys need so much motivation to work hard every night. They're professionals!
I agree with pulling Ostlund coming up. He's not a defensive liability. Lindy is shutting that down, but it's possibly inevitable.
Ras was defensively bad last night. Undisciplined in his zone coverages, not communicating with Bo or Timmer. His head is not in the game. I know he has a lot going on with his wife's health and that tells me that he is emotionally compromised right now – no shame in that! He's a young guy! As captain, he has a responsibility to have enough self-awareness to talk to his team and his coach and let them know he needs a little time away to get his head straight.
Dahlin still playing like he's in a fog: terrible giveaways and net front defense. Byrum isn't much better right now. Per Hockeystatcards, they are the 2 worst performers this year.
An absolutely warranted challenge. Should've been goalie interference.
The funny thing is, the Sabres DID win the Cozens trade. And the reason is, he's OFF the team. He and Quinn were killing the team so much last year, just his absence makes the Sabres BETTER! You don't need to get ANYTHING for Cozens, you just need him OFF the team! So yeah, Norris may be a disaster, but if he ever does ANYTHING it's all whipped cream on the sundae. Cozens HAD to GO! And he did the Sabres a solid last night, going MINUS THREE! Good job workhorse from Whitehorse!
Doan has been amazing. JJ who? Be funny if he ends up being more valuable than Mr Kesselring. What if Adams has actually been winning trades recently, right before he gets fired?! LOL
Great podcast guys. The Sabres may not roll out of bed and play good in the first period, but you guys are in mid season form on episodes one and two of the season! Let's hope the wheels don't fall off the wagon and you have something fun to discuss the rest of the year.
Dahlin has been sleep walking his way through shifts, Pinto actually tripped him behind the net before he scored in the 3rd. I thought Power was better last night, he still doesn't play to his potential though. Kulich looks like he is bored out there, kinda like Peterka last year. The first line is a liability when they are on the ice, they were so badly out played last night. We'll see what happens Saturday and further on, I loved seeing them actually flying around the ice for once. Quinn was the biggest surprise last night and Doan and Benson were the motors that propelled the machine.
I'll argue your 3 stars…how is Zucker not, one of them? He's arguably their best player through 4 games. Maybe their most consistent last year too. Doesn't get the respect he deserves.
Wake n Bake's that's perfect, love all the content guys, really appreciate y'all.
There's already a looming cap problem. If Benson gets 60 points, there's going to be a player or two that needs to get shipped out.
You guys talked about Benson and Doan but we have another "dog" coming up the ranks maybe 2 to 3 years in Brodie Ziemer. He looks and plays like a leader.
Benny proved himself to be a great set-up man playing for the Winnipeg Ice in the WHL. He was an assist machine, especially for Matt Savoie. But, Benny scored his fair share of goals in Junior hockey, as well. Now, Ruff needs him to not be quite so selfish and geared toward playing the set-up man and get him to throw a few more pucks on the net. If he does so, I think he could easily be a consistent 15-20 goal scorer/year and average 60 total points each season. He's got the effort, he's got the talent, and he's got the hockey smarts to be that kind of a player.
Benson will never score 15 goals, worst shot ever
You guys are going a little crazy about Benson, he is very small, gets knocked over easy, his shot is terrible, all this future captain talk is very silly. He is still very slow up to NHL standards you think in the Stanley Cup final he’s gonna be able to beat guys to the pucks
I miss Peterka because he’s fast, was never knocked over, scored a lot and I watched him play for Amerks and in the playoffs he was the very best player. Peterka was a +9 over two seasons with Buffalo and you act like he was worst player in league two way, Benson you people claim is future hall of fame, Selke guy, future captain is -3…Tage Thompson is a terrible defensive player, never back checks
Last year Buffalo was one of the fastest teams, they fire the strength and conditioning coach and this year the guys looks slow, lacking in effort, guys who are super fast and Kulich and McLeod don’t have their legs yet…makes you wonder about new training coach, he added too much muscle and weight, made them slow
I was at the game and it was a fun night. I love Benson and how he plays. Same for Doan. That trade is going to look good as the season goes on.
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I see comments about the energy of benson and doan and they need veterans to bring energy. Well, Zucker has been the one good player in all 3 prior games. Lets also not forget, most of their roster IS veterans now. Dahlin, Byram, Tuch, Thompson, the list goes on, these guys are not 1 to 3 year players…these guys have 5+ years under their belt now. So I don't feel they need veteran energy, they need the veterans to play like veterans. These lackadaisical players need to not rely on others. I think they all thought they were gonna rely on Norris and when he went down…they all went down with him.
Is Bowen Byram even still on the team? Totally unnoticeable.
They came out flat in the start of the 2nd and 3rd periods and it led to penalties and goals