BFHS 11/21/25: Passengers
Kris Baker and The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn discuss everything Buffalo Sabres. Read Matthew’s latest at The Athletic: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6824170/2025/11/21/buffalo-sabres-roster-mason-geertsen/
@Buffalo Sabres
34 Comments
There is no leadership!!!!!
They haven’t won 3 in a row since 2018-2019 season. Think about that!
There is NO WAY IN HELL Tuch is WORTH double digit numbers playing like he is this year! NO WAY
Tuch thoughts:
He hasn't earned an 8-figure AAV. Past performance is not an indicator of future production. Something is wrong with him this season and it looks like it is between the ears.
I'm feeling like Obi-wan at the end of EP.III yelling at Anakin: "you were the chosen one!" During Tuch's first two years here, he did and said things that made me say to everyone, "he's the next captain of the Buffalo Sabres." An upstate NY guy who grew up as a fan of the Sabres?!? Sign me up! That guy has disappeared, and I'm so sad about it.
If Tuch goes in a trade, the best signal to the roster that things are gonna be okay is to get a return that is a hockey trade and involves a veteran who can earn a leadership role in the locker room.
The comments from Thompson are scripted, the beginnings of what will turn into " I want out" by the end of the season.
Ruff’s goalie management is awful
It’s Pagula’s fault! It’s the owners fault Cozens and UPL given huge contracts and then sucked! It’s his fault they have $697,000 in cap space right now and he doesn’t allow Kev Adams to use it! That cap space is enough for a team lunch at red lobster to build team chemistry! It’s all the owner fault, if we had Golisano and Ralph Wilson back we would have won 4-5 cups and 6 superbowls…
I think I’m the only Sabres fan we remembers that Golisano was so cheap he wouldn’t buy Amerks or fill a full AHL roster, so cheap season with best chance for cup right after lockout he instructed Darcy to add ZERO backup players for cup run, Buffalo had 8-10 million in space. But that wasn’t cheap or not paying Briere the 5 million for 5 years he wanted before arbitration, that wasn’t cheap I guess.
NHL needs to have a talk with Terry enough of this bs
Grudgingly coming around to the idea of trading Tuch and only because of the ineptitude of management. Totally wasted one of the best contracts in the league. Power and to a lesser extent Byram need to be gone.
The strength and conditioning coach did such a great job. He’s got everybody injured. What the heck was he doing? Making him lift like 500 pound weights
It’s the owners fault Dahlin was given 88 million and is -10 with 1 goal, it’s the owners fault he paid UPL a huge contract then the next season and 1/4 he can’t stop a beach ball…Cozens had 31 goals 68 points signs 49 million by the cheap owner then 2 straight seasons was worst player on the team…if only we had a new owner these players would earn their 7-11 million and try hard and play well.
Here and ready to be depressed 👋🏼
Fairburn says the Buffalo owner is the reason the team sucks, does he know that we need to sign Tuch, Kesselring and Doan next year? Anyways, what big name free agents would have signed in Buffalo or wavied no trade clause for in last 4 seasons? Answer is ZERO
Owen Power given 64 MILLION dollars by this “cheap” owner and he plays like he doesn’t care, never touches anyone in front of the net.
For some reason Ruff never liked Levi. You have to question why was Ellis brought in when you have another goalie that has more NHL experience in Rochester. And really all Ruff is doing is causing Levi to lose his confidence and that is very dangerous for a goalie. Best thing right now is to move on from UPL put Ellis back on waiver (St. Louis will pick him up) and call Levi up. Yes Levi is not playing well right now but Ruff played mind games with him so now it's up to Ruff to stroke Levi a bit
Tage and Dahlin will want out
This circus is so maddening. Tuch can be part of the long term solution. I would also like to see a decision on Levi. I don’t see any of the other 3 as the solution. Proactive management needs to be the focus
Fairburn lied once again in this video, claiming this owner refuses to front load contracts….Ryan O’Reilly was front loaded, Okposo front loaded, Eichel front loaded. Stop with fake news
I don't think it's a case of these players "not knowing" Matt. They just put their own personal livelihood before the Stanley Cup. I think Tuch is just trying to not get hurt because he can telll there's no chance of signing with the Sabres. Maybe he even knows how close he is to a trade.
I'd love to her you guys talk about specific potential moves for Tuch, etc. OP and Byram have trade value.. What can you get for them? UPL has no value now, just like Quinn.
Maybe Tuch is playing to be traded and would be willing to take a single digit contract somewhere else.
Just in Hellebuyck Winnipeg goalie out 6 weeks , soooo is there now a bidding war between Edmonton and Winterpeg for UPL ? It will be interesting to see what this team can do when they get all their injuried guys back( Kulich??) and go down to 2 goalies .
Thanks for all your videos guys , love your work.
This concerns pride and work ethic. Hockey fundamentally relies on hard work. Ruff should consider some healthy scratches.
They have coach in the past fired by three teams including the Sabres, and we bring him back. Now we are talking Adam’s and Tuck, WTF!!!
Go Sabres❗️
Alex Tuch, I feel is being traded. Thats why he is a passenger. Quinn, imo needs to be traded 63 imo is going to take his spot
May be kind of a Neanderthal question. But I can’t help but think that a team like Florida, Ottawa or hell even the Blues would have gotten a fight on home ice against supposedly the worst team in the league when they were handing it to you.
Why does Lindy insist on having “tough guys” taking up roster slots when he never deploys them. I know Geertson finally was waived, but it really seems like there are too many 4th liners that are miscast as middle six players.
The Sabres are as predictable as Joe Brady's offense. They beat Edmonton, shutdown McDavid and Draistyl and you just knew they were gonna lay egg against Calgary. At home, Calgary is playing back to back games, they're starting our former AHL goalie against us…it was a LOCK! Just once, I wish the Sabres would surprise me. Sigh.
As for Tuch, I get nervous going north of 8 million a year on him. He's an odd player to evaluate/appreciate. He's incredible on the penalty kill, not just the fact he lead the NHL in short handed goals last year either. He set a NHL record in blocked shots last year for a forward. He scores, 36 last year. But he's not a hard forechecker in the classical sense. He has tons of speed, but it's odd to feel the impact of his overall game. Sometimes it's like he's not even out there. You see him doing stuff, but it doesn't seem to work at times. It's not like Doan, where you can see him forchecking hard, disrupting – causing chaos, even when he doesn't generate offense.
I wouldn't sign him at 9.5/year because of his age. If he was 25 years old, I would. But that causes a real problem, because Adams screwed up and he's now worth 10 million a year on the market. So, I'd lean towards trading him, but I don't think there is ANY way you can get his value in return. Forget about Adams being a bad GM when you consider that idea. Who are you getting in return as a "hockey trade" asset? You're not trading for a defenseman. You're not trading for a goalie. You're going to trade Tuch for a forward? Definitely not draft picks. The Sabres have backed themselves in a corner, with a guy from WNY, who actually wants to be here. What a mess…
PLEASE for the love of god, GET Krebs and Quinn OFF the team. If ANYONE wants them, TRADE THEM! No one wants them though. Krebs is a AHL forward. Quinn is a disaster. There's some talent there, but his brain blocks it from being utilized. I guarantee you if you take both of them off the team, the Sabres will be better. Even with kids who just try hard.
Power is a problem. I don't see ANY evidence that he's EVER going to be anything but a mediocre defenseman. I've tried being patient with him, but I just don't see what I expected from him, which is the OFFENSIVE side of his game. I knew he wasn't a defensive defenseman, but his offensive game sucks. He's been brutal at just making good passes out of his own zone. And he has brain freeze where he can't decide who to pass the puck to! He ices the puck a lot, trying passes that shouldn't be attempted or he just screws up with inaccuracy or bad timing. Sometimes, I wonder if he has an eye sight issue. He really does struggle with accuracy in everything he does.
I'm willing to package Power and Tuch in a deal to get ONE player in return. I'll throw in draft picks too.
Owen No Power is a stick checking Slug
You say don't tear it down, but this team needs a legit 1st line center desperately and the only way to get one in the NHL is to tank, for Mckenna in this case.
Alex Tuch is not a good leader and he never has been. He’s a selfish player who doesn’t hit, doesn’t body, cheats defensively, and shoots bad angles. He was best last season when he stood in front of the net.
Play Power with Dahlin. Samuelsson Kesselring when he’s healthy.
Been a Sabres fan since 2015, they were my first nhl game I saw live in buffalo against the leafs, originally from Wisconsin. I just want to see some consistency and a playoff series
Vancouver would be a good trading partner for Tuch and Owen Power. Tuch’s wife is from BC
Hypothetically, if you could possibly trade Tuch (save $10+ million) trade Power (save $8+ million) and trade Byram (save $6+ million) and trade Greenway (save $4 million) you could potentially save $28 million with which to acquire other players. The current roster needs significant turnover and I don't feel the players mentioned are going to lead the team to success. It's best to cash in on the diminishing value of these players and try injecting some life into the team.
feel like Power is always a passenger. he has some good moments, but he just never seems like he cares.