Owen Parker and Brad Riter On The Sabres Missing Out as Connor Hellebuyck Traded to NJ|WGR Middays

Owen Parker and Brad Riter On The Sabres Missing Out as Connor Hellebuyck Traded to NJ|WGR Middays

October 23, 2026



Owen Parker and Brad Riter On The Sabres Missing Out as Connor Hellebuyck Traded to NJ|WGR Middays

Brad Riter and Owen Parker analyze the Buffalo Sabres’ failure to land Connor Hellebuyck following his trade to the New Jersey Devils. They evaluate the reported trade package and discuss the long-term implications for the team’s goaltending and roster management.

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  2. What they gave up is insane. And if the sabres gave that up. Everyone would freak out. 2 forwards. The 2026 12th overall pick. A goalie. And 2 draft picks. Including a 1st. No thank you.

  6. People in Buffalo are hissy fit drama queens…its 10 games into the season. You don't know what Winnipeg wanted for Connor from Buffalo. As far as Levi…he wasn't going to get an opp here…

  12. Bro.. we’re signing Quinn. Look at our cap space and the cap going up and the lack of anyone else we need to sign and that we drafted and developed him for this very moment bro please. look. lol

  14. I'm glad they didnt make a move, just so that the retards who said he wouldn't make the team better look like the temu hobbyist retards that they are.

    For some reason the smaller percentage of uninformed, low-IQ Buffalonian's ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS seems to be louder than the rest who know better.

    Can't make an opinion on Kek til hearing from him.

  17. This sucks 😕. Wanted Helly in a Sabres uniform. We are Fucked in net. UPL, Lyon & Eliis isn't it. Look at Boston goalie tantrum. Our tenders are not passing the eye test. Granted we haven't seen Lyon yet.

  20. To the point at about 20 minutes. Fan emotion matters, yes. But it can't be what a GM makes trade, roster, roster and future decisions over. Not if you want the team to be good now and in the future

  21. Peanuts! They gave up peanuts and a restock of a vending machine. What if we don’t re-sign Jack Quinn? What if UPL just stays the same? What if Helle is Helle, and he’s now on an eastern conference team… call balls and strikes. Be objective. This is an absolute loss for the Sabres. And Jarmo is now squarely on the hot seat.

  22. We finally got our first GM with NHL experience at the job and he’s already proving to be a disappointment! He fails last season to bring in big name, then responds by bringing in 3 slow unskilled players, in which only 1 is still here.

    He then lets Tuch walk and didn’t fill his spot. He actually got a good return for Byram, but he could have flipped that pick, so we’ll have to see if that was worth it.

    Since then, he’s done NOTHING. We “assume” that he was in good faith trying to get Hellybuyck, but from his track record in Buffalo so far, I have trouble to believe it.

    And now we find out that we missed out on him. Then when I look at what NJ gave up, I’m left asking if Jarmo even offered what was reported, because it sounded WAY better than what the Devils gave up! Or did he “hardball” his way out of the trade?!

    My biggest fear is his loyalty to fellow countryman UPL. Is Jarmo looking to be Finland GM in the next World hockey tournament and doesn’t want to upset the Finnish Hockey Officials by trading him??

    That seems crazy, but why else would he hang on to a subpar goalie that most people want out, and not go ALL IN on a World Class goalie that’s probably got 5 good years left in him?!

    When are we going to finally get a GM that puts all of his effort into making this team better, and not meander around as is “Yeah, I think the answers in the room. The guy before me that got fired for not getting the job done, did a great job, so I’m sticking to his plan”.

  26. All I see every trade is they want sooo much then see the packages.
    Makes me wonder what did St Louis really want for Robert Thomas
    They just aren’t ever willing to fully commit. You can’t just call teams to see if they will give you players your calling cause your willing to outbid these other teams cause you want the player to help the team

  27. I'm just happy it's over so every sports show in Buffalo can move on to some other relevant topic…like how awful our power play and penalty kill and defense in front of the net have been. I'd be happier talking about getting better coaching staff than a goalie.

  28. Yarmo officially the stupidest general manager in NHL history. I can't wait till this team loses every game and misses the playoffs and the leafs get in the Sabres organization is a joke. Wait and see how many guys asked for trades. and it doesn't matter the common compensation. Do you want to win now or do you wanna be mediocre for the next 10 years again? I banged my head against the wall people just don't get it.

  30. oh yeah and FYI call her last year penalty kill was top five in the league and Lindy's not in charge of the power-play it was seth get your facts right

  31. Not even playing devils advocate here, so glad the Sabres didn’t make this trade. It’s just too much for a goalie. The Sabres are scoring 2.8 goals a game right now, despite all the hate UPL is getting and he needs to be better, there’s 23 guys on this roster and all of them need to be better. Let’s get up around 3.5 goals a game before we blame it all on the goalie

  32. Without knowing what Winnipeg wanted from us, I'm on the fence about the trade to New Jersey.
    I think both Lukkonnen and Ellis have let in at least 1 soft goal per game. Would that help us win more? I don't know. The defense has been abandoning the crease leaving the goalies to go against opposing players parked there. We still have problems with our offensive production. Not sure Hellebuyck would make a big difference with the rest of the team not playing well.

  33. Down 3-0 to start every game? Perfect. Let’s get another defensemen to group with the other twelve to score six goals a night. By 2030 they’ll be allowed to play and we’ll be right back in the hunt for 8th in the East 👍🏻

  36. If we lose Quinn this team won’t have an identity anymore. You want a team with players like Crosby and Malkin. You want players who start here and stay the whole career. Draft picks mean zip to me.

  37. Thinking it would be a good idea to ship out our second best scorer when we can’t score is insane. Let’s be realistic here. Jack Quinn has been one of the best players so far. We would probably get net worse making that deal.

  38. WGR and Sabres broadcaster saying that the owner is cheap and didn’t wanna do it that has nothing to do with anything. He signed everybody so far the problem was that nobody was gonna take UPL and is almost $5 million cap that was the problem trying to fit the new goalie under the cap bro.

  40. If Sabres got hellybuck, these guys would be complaining about the lack of offensive talent after we gave it up for helly. Time to stop listening to these guys Joe is the only fair one

  41. None of us know what Winnipeg was demanding from the Sabres in the trade. There are a few players and prospects that I would let go, but there are more players and prospects I would not want to let go. Or maybe the trade with Winnipeg was in the bag and the Rangers were to trade for UPL – but maybe the Rangers wanted the Sabres to retain 50%. If so, maybe Jarmo wanted the Jets to retain some $/cap for Hellebuyck and that was rejected.

    There are thousands of trade scenarios, but since we don't know, saying that the Sabres blew it makes no sense.

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