BFHS 3/24/24 – As Sabres get pulled from the playoff push, an offseason idea becomes top of mind

BFHS 3/24/24 – As Sabres get pulled from the playoff push, an offseason idea becomes top of mind

All right happy Sunday evening everyone Baker Fairburn hockey show is live ahead of the Sabers closing out their five game road trip through mostly through western Canada I’ll do a formal introduction Here I Am the schlub on the left Chris Baker you can find me on Twitter at

Saers prospects and on the right the very handsome young gentleman Matthew Fairburn from the athletic so before we begin as always I got to get through the nuts and bolts like this video if you could please subscribe to the channel hit the notification Bell so you know

When the baker Fairburn hockey Show Goes lived and you can find the audio version of the baker Fairburn hockey show on Apple Spotify wherever get your podcast and if you could please leave a festar review and in the comments tell us what you want the Sabres to do at the draft I

Have an idea I’m already thinking about the draft Matthew Fairburn but we also have three months to talk about the draft and we’re not going to do that tonight because we only have about 40 minutes here before puck drop and we might as well get right to it I’ve been

Teeing up the last couple of episodes of The Baker Fairburn hockey show talking about meaningful March hockey trademark and I think mathematically it’s still meaningful March hockei tonight but look Sabres took one on the chin on Thursday night 83 loss in Edmonton so they’re now one and three on

This five game Road Trip still some hope here four five and one in their last 10 but I think um what is it eight points out of a playoff spot here with 11 games left on the schedule you pretty much have to run the table right so win tonight keep the dream

Alive come back home and you have a five game home stand there you got to run the table there right Matthew but that Edmonton game man you know tied 33 through 40 minutes you get two goals from JJ petka who’s now up to what 23 on

The season you get a goal from Victor Olson who’s been a pretty nice little part to have here all of a sudden since the trade deadline but what happened to that game I mean you know because like I mean that game is kind of like representative I think of the big

Picture right like do you believe in miracles you know what I mean like where are you at coming into tonight coming off of that game an 83 loss did they quit you know I wasn’t sure whether the Q word was 100 % appropriate you can never get inside guys head and all that

But there’s no question that they were entirely deflated in that game right and they whether you want to say quit whether you want to go that far or not they fell apart mentally and then that you can’t do that against a team like the Edmonton Oilers I think they just

Crumbled and whether that was just the all the air coming out of the balloon and them realizing that was it but yeah the Q word might be appropriate though doesn’t it feel like they quit on their goalie a little bit that the last few goals got me because

It was like you know the the air coming out of the balloon throughout the third period made some sense you know you lose a game 5-3 you lose a game 63 to let it get to that point for the goalie who is the only reason that you’re even in this situation uko

Pekanin has played out of his mind for this team and then you end up like that it’s just like he’s getting odd man rushes left and right and no support you have to be better for him if nobody else if you don’t have the the you know if you don’t

Have it for yourself or for the playoff chances or whatever else uko pekal linan I thought deserved a lot better than he got so to your point it felt kind of like the season a little bit right just when things get close they start falling apart again and

It goes back to a question I asked Don Granado when he was at some point early maybe some point in January early February All-Star breakish talking about how the team was getting better at handling the pressure and I asked him are they getting better at handling the pressure

Or is the pressure gone you’re 10 points out of a playoff spot it’s easy to to to play free and fearless when you theoretically have nothing to lose and I think what we saw happen was when the pressure creeped back in it got to them again they lose in Detroit they

Beat Seattle then they lose a close one to Vancouver and get the doors blown off them in Edmonton going into this road trip they were it was real the whole playoff push looked real and they’ve gone one and three since then and that’s a an issue that they need to seriously look at

Because once again we’re looking at a team that when the pressure increased I think their play went down and they played a tight game against Vancouver you know they they played well against Seattle they were in it against Detroit but again it’s not a participation thing right it’s not points for trying

This is about to be 13 Seasons with no playoffs so so nobody really wants to hear about that they want the results and if you’re better at performing Under Pressure you get more than one win in four absolutely crucial games on this trip to the point where now this fifth

Game I’m not I don’t even think I’m ready to put it into the bucket of uh meaningful games in March I think they’re toast yeah it’s kind of tricky and thanks for bringing up the uh Seattle and Vancouver games by the way I was out of town so actually F this closure for

Our audience I did not see those games you wanted to go live on Thursday I wasn’t comfortable going Thursday I didn’t have anything teed up so that’s on me okay for anyone that was looking for the baker Fairburn hockey show on Thursday send the hate mail to Matthew

But that’s my fault that we are not going live until now but um you know back to Don Granado’s comments about the pressure you know I wonder if he was right was he on or were did they just find a goenda Lucan that’s kind of the St of

The day that I pulled up and and wrote down in preparation to chat with you tonight he’s allowed three or fewer goals in 26 of his last 28 games you could argue that they found a goenda on this trip here this this was must-win hockey you can’t go you know

They have to win tonight but even then you win tonight and you’re two and three on a five game Road Trip road trip when you had to win at least four if not all five so yeah it’s tricky but you know they do have some things going for them

Tonight coming into the Calgary game um some of the things I wrote down this is a city in Calgary where they’ve won four of their last five on the road and you know as far as some of the guys that were kind of beaten on here the skaters

Um you know I think you have Tage and Tuck both have four game point streaks coming in tonight but again I mean So what at this point because that’s Al that’s also been something that’s been I think a just a critical mark on this team is you know

Petka was a guy that we talked about coming into the season he’s had the breakout that you and I both kind of forecasted for him he’s up on that Top Line now secondary scoring has been inconsistent you got to get more out of those other guys so I I’m really curious

To see what they do tonight but um you know back on that Edmonton game the game that the recent that I did get a chance to watch I was texting you during that game and it’s like the only real thing like was the Owen power off sides like

Not gaining The Zone was that the like I don’t even think that was the turning point it was unfortunate but they were moving in a really good direction was that like the bag deflator for them do you think because like he had rusek and Olson breaking into the Zone with speed and

The only thing that I wrote down is that the best teacher of the game is the game and he won’t make that mistake again but that was bad timing for that mistake and then the thing just they hung they hung with the Oilers a little

Bit after that but man that was a bag deflator I don’t know what your take was on that singular play before we move on with a chance to really take charge of a game right and you you miss that chance and then when things start getting away from you

On the other end you know that’s one that you would want back but I think you just can’t have those things continually be bag deflators right if it happens once in a while and you’re third in the division and you lose eight to three on the road you lose

Eight to three on the road and you chalk it up and move on but you can’t have singular plays deflating you you can’t have singular games causing you to spiral you can’t have the fact that people are talking about the standings start rattling the team it should excite

The team you know I I was before they left for the road trip talking to Alex tuck about it and you know I was like you know it’s crazy because I had talked to him down in Florida and the tone of the conversation was sort of you know debriefing almost what had

Gone wrong almost as if the season was was kind of we were both you know pretty clear on where the season was at that point heading into the deadline and I said can you believe you know where it’s at here you are and like you’re in a

Playoff push he says well yeah he’s like you guys can’t stop talking about it to which you know that should be what you want right and I think it is what Alex tuck wants he was excited by it but the fact that everybody was talking about it seems

Like it seeped into the team again now they might dispute that Don Granado might dispute that I don’t know but the results are the results and you mentioned that ow and power play and it just makes me think about where this team is like where and where they’re going because if singular

Plays cause things to go down a slippery slope in a game if singular games do it to you in a season that’s what is interesting about the last 101 games for me is it’s still major evaluation mode and I think there were people who were worried that the three-game winning

Streak and it was just a three- game winning streak doesn’t it feel like it was a 10- game winning streak the energy it brought for a little while that three- game like that I mean number one takeaway For Me Above everything else is how badly people around here want to buy

In as negative as people can be and as angry and upset as they can be they are looking for an excuse to buy in because that three-game winning streak felt like I said like a 10 game winning streak the way people were were jumping back on you

Know the bandwagon at least you know on social media and stuff well and also by the way in the locker room like you you gave tuck the uh playoff percentages and he told you it feels like he said what it was five or eight he said it feels

Like more so it wasn’t just you and I or the people in the chat the fan base it was the players themselves yeah you could feel it and that just goes to show you how badly people around here are ready to ready to be heard again as they

Say right they’re they’re willing to throw themselves head first into it but there was a concern I saw from some people commenters you know and maybe even some people in the chat when we went live that you know would this run change the outlook on the off season

Internally from Kevin Adams and Don Granado and that’s a a fair concern and and a fair question because you don’t want the as uh you know the heroic run to Ninth Place or whatever to obscure what really needs to happen and so in that sense maybe this little losing

Streak you know starts to open their eyes to the change that is needed and you bringing up those numbers about uko pekanin to me when they’re doing their opsies and evaluation right and you’re sitting there and you’re saying okay what went right what went wrong how close are we what needs to be

Done if you’re the Sabers how much of your even slim slim playoff hopes that you had for what a week it was like a week where the playoffs felt real because before that it there was no point in the season up until then where

It felt like they were in it at all and they were felt like it may be for a week and then now it’s gone and the only reason maybe not the only reason but I would say a big percentage of the reason is because of your goal tending a

Goenda would it be fair to say I don’t know yeah I don’t I don’t I don’t know if that’s maybe he earned where he was as the number three coming into the season but yeah a goalie that let’s say they weren’t counting on right it wasn’t necessarily the plan for this

Season they were waiting on right as they waited out they weren’t sitting here saying this season is going to go well because uko pekcan is going to take the next step they were not banking on that and the fact that he did made it so that they were afloat in March you know

They they were still there but outside of that there’s still a lot to poke holes in and a lot that they need to fix so without uko peka and rattling off what 26 of 28 games is that what you said 26 of 28 26 of his last 28 three

Goals or fewer allowed and then and one of those is the the big one in Edmonton right so without that where are they no it’s smok and mirrors that’s what that’s where I’m landing on the season to date is that they had that run you just talked about that week where everyone

Was feeling good if you take a step back and you look the the been a flawed roster from the start we’ve talked about that ad nauseum and it took me a little while to get into the point of agreement with you that’s been your point all season long that When Quinn went down

They didn’t address it that contributed to the slow start and not having maybe like the uko pekanin was not like a standout from the beginning of the Season either he also had to work his way into Rhythm but when he got going that’s when things got better when Jack Quinn came

Back in the lineup that’s when things got better I’ll make that argument I’ve said that all along I think that he’s like just changes the way they look I’ve said it a million times but what does that say about Tage and Tuck and Dalene and these guys are

Supposed to carry you the inconsistency you can talk maybe T just had some injuries right but at the end of the day my point is I think the goal tending has masked and that’s your point it’s masked the big issues on this team so in reality yeah it’d be a lot worse

If Lucan didn’t figure out how to play in the NHL and get his game going that’s a crazy stat though that 26 of his last 28 but it also there’s another way to look at it right do you have a problem solved do you feel good about your goal tending

Moving forward because that’s a critical piece if you want to look for positives hang your head on that one but man they have some fixing to do too and to me it’s all up front yeah it’s it’s interesting to consider where they go from here because a big thing

That they have or at least Don Granado is the one who has to talk to us you know every day over over a hundred times a season basically between morning skates and post games and practice days and so he becomes the voice of what they’re thinking as an

Organization and he does work in tandem in some ways with Kevin Adams as we saw in the embedded you know he’s this is not uh you know two separate silos and it’s always been that way so I preface you know this by saying you know Don Granado has brought up their defensive

Improvement a lot and they have improved defensively but not dramatically they’ve improved in goals against dramatically but to our previous point they have a really good goenda but it’s gone from basically the worst in the NHL to I don’t know somewhere between like 18th and 22nd you know somewhere in that below average

Tier so you didn’t become an elite defensive hockey team and in the process you lost a massive chunk of your offense particularly your power play so you don’t want to sit there and now I think the defense is probably mostly taken care of at this point they have a

Decision to make on Yoki Haru but they you know you make the move for Bob irum and you kind of solidifi your defense but it’s a team defense approach and that’s that’s where I’m going right your point about fixing the forwards as we’ve talked about all year is changing who

They have the types of players that they have the balance the role the identity of different lines so I don’t think they should sit there and think that they figured out how to play defense with the current group I think the Blue Line’s okay and I think they have gotten better system

Wise but I don’t think they can kid themselves into thinking that because uko pekal lukanin was great everything is fine it’s one problem solved for now as we’ve seen with goalies uh I referenced in a mailbag somebody asked me what I thought of lucan’s next contract and I referenced Guston out in

Minnesota three years 3.75 to me it’s kind of perfect if you want to go that three years if you want to go four or five then you’re in that four to five million range I think if you go four to five years on term you’re going to have

To give them a little bit more but if you want to hedge your bet a little bit three years is the way to do it and stats wise timeline wise Prospect wise he’s pretty similar to to gust ofon and he’s fighting it this year you know he’s he’s having a tough time

So I don’t I don’t have any reason to sit here and think uko pekcan is going to that this was some sort of anomaly but counting on him he could he get continue to get better yes counting on him to be what he’s been since January 1 is risky flawed I would say

Because he’s the only reason you’re here and he is playing about as good as any goalie in the league over the last three months so if you’re counting on a repeat of that you’re still going to need more because it wasn’t enough to get you here

And to me every to your point everything seems like it starts up front with the offseason plan and that’s where they did nothing last year defense was where they were fixing stuff they did nothing at forward the only new body was 18-year-old Zach Benson so I think they

Know it think Kevin Adams knows it I think he’s you know even just swapping out ooso and they’re going to have open spots to play with for sure and that’s where they need to devote a lot of their attention because another thing you brought up about Jack

Quinn and how different they are with Jack Quinn and they absolutely are the trouble with that is he’s been injured a lot anded he’s 22 years old also right like right and to our point over you know probably in the beginning of the Season whenever we were talking

About this you knew he was hurt in June and did nothing and anybody on the outside was looking and saying boy you might want to replace that guy and yes he came back and he played well but by the time he came back they were already

Trying to climb out of a hole because their whole forward group was was out of whack and we could go down a lot of rabbit holes on why they got off to a slow start I think Quinn’s injury was part of it I think how they handled

Training camp was part of it with having you know tuck Skinner and Tage split up prospect on each line and then just throwing them together just throwing them thinking it’ll work and then you get off to a slow start they had so many bodies in Camp it took them a while to

Whittle down to the actual group that was going to be there you had Clifton on a pair with Dalene all through camp and then just scrapped that right before the season and Clifton plays you know not great for 25 games as he’s trying to figure things out with a new partner

After spending of training camp with one so there’s a lot of things that played into it but you know Jack Quinn has been banged up and Jack Quinn is still young to your point the depth the layers of you know different identities and different flavors that

You can bring to a forward group they have an opportunity to rebuild it this offse in a sense and I’m really curious how they it because action is the only that will truly tell you how Kevin Adams feels right how they handle it what they thought was that last year’s group was

Good enough and you’ve brought this up a few times they did almost the exact same thing if you go back to this date last year they did almost the exact same thing I mentioned that last week this it was St Patrick’s Day where they started the lose they went into another slump

They lost a few games and they played themselves out of it it’s a pattern and then they won this they went on this big winning streak and convinced themselves Devon Levi fixed everything that was wrong yeah everything El the the quote from Don Granado that stuck with me when

He and I sat down for a Q&A over the summer he said this group earned the right to basically have the first crack at pushing us over the edge to which I thought well how long does that last apparently you know when you’ve set your roster it lasts a whole season right

With Quinn with Quinn healthy I would say yeah and even without Quinn I was willing to give it a chance thinking he was already at that point he was already heard when we were talking so well so and that’s the other thing though is like you know you go back in the season

We’re going to talk about this a lot over the next couple of months but like Kulik didn’t get the call when he was hot in the beginning of the Season he played one game what was it 13 minutes Isa rosan played what six games he had

One really good game I think it was a Detroit game other than that a lot of those other young guys didn’t get a look SE boy I would I would argue that probably mismanaged to keep a third goalie up or Bryson and pulled the plug

On him way too fast he could have helped them maybe you don’t know he he barely had a cup of coffee and got no shot he was playing pretty well some of those he was he was I think he had five points in six games something like that right but I know

This isn’t Prospect Avenue but boy oh boy did he finish the regular season pretty strong out there in Moose yeah by the way people should be excited people should be excited for him and actually I want to get to that we’re going to get to that in a second actually well let’s

Just go to there now because I started thinking about this today and it kind of plays into what we saw in the embedded let’s just kind of my two points let’s kind of blend them together here a little bit so in the embedded you and I have talked about the next

Captain like in in training camp next year I’m sure that’s when Kevin Adams will make the announcement I think it’s pretty clear that it’s and a lot of people are already on this but Rasmus Dalene I don’t think there’s any question now is like minus

800 on the sports books to be the next captain of the Sabres I don’t think there’s any question seeing how the behind the scenes of the aoso trade went down Kevin Adams picks up the phone and calls calls Dalene like I think that implies the Comfort Comfort level that the general

Manager has with this player who’s going to be the next version of Kyle looso the Baton seemingly was handed off there but where I was going and and I know you agree with that so I’m not even going to throw it to you right now I know you

Agree with that even though I still want to maybe push the cousin thing a little more he’s going to be in the leadership group definitely not the captain though let’s just be clear on that but what I was thinking is there’s a shift a little bit we’ve in like in the

Media fans have talked about the connection with Granado and the United States national team development program whether it’s tuck Thompson Greenway Clifton you can throw in that bucket but I think that there’s this emerging presence here you know and throw throw Samuelson in that national team development program bucket to there

Is a WHL flavor on this team moving forward that’s gonna be they’re going to be the guys that make this happen it’s Benson it’s cousins it’s Bo Byrum and seavoy is coming seavoy is coming I think fans should be excited for this kid I don’t care that he had a

Four-point night in Moosejaw last night it’s not about that it’s about the way that he plays the speed that injection of what’s missing in the sabers lineup right now he’s Fearless he competes similar to Benson compete level Benson just has a different brain we’ve talked about

It but I think you’re going to see keep an eye on that in the draft moving forward I just think there’s something about those players they’re starting to hit they have a scout there that they seem to trust Lucas Sutter but those guys man that WHL cluster is going to be super crucial

Moving forward to this team while you still have your Tage and your tuck and your Doling and all those guys doing their thing keep an eye on that that the fabric of that team Kevin wants to talk about the fabric of the team it’s gonna be these WHL guys

Yeah you need to have look I it was kind of the same way when I covered the bills and everybody would make a running joke of the Carolina pipeline right when Brandon bean and Shawn McDermot took over and they’re bringing all these guys in from Carolina I don’t have a huge

Problem with that just like I don’t have a huge problem with Granado finding guys he’s comfortable with that know him we’ve talked plenty about the challenge of getting players to Buffalo right and hockey in particular when you’re not winning so if that’s a way to get some

Guys some of which are good right you know these are some good players then sure as you’re starting to transition but to your point you build the core of your your strategy is building it through the draft your strategy is to patiently draft and develop your own players and that’s when

You get to do it yourself right Don Grado is not coaching 17year olds anymore so it doesn’t matter who’s at the program or who’s at you know uh there the connection isn’t the same and so the program was probably the Sabers version of the Carolina pipeline of the

Right it it felt like it because Don Granado didn’t have a previous NHL job neither did Kevin Adams so they didn’t have you know things to you know hang their hat on in that way so he had to dip back into his time coaching at the program which again is fine and same

With Seth appert right he he’s got a connection to a lot of those guys which he came after Don so he got the coach Samson and whatnot but it’s a good and smart Point by you because it’s encouraging in terms of the type of player that they’re looking for and we

Discussed a little bit about there’s two competing schools of thought or even in my own head when you can think about everything that went wrong this season or last season or in the offseason that makes you question what they’re doing whether it’s Kevin Adams Don Granado the

Whole group but then we discussed a few weeks ago if you’re going to commit to a draft and develop approach you do have to be a little bit patient and the part that does not concern me right now is the drafting so far it’s early right we haven’t seen all

These guys become NHL players but if they’re dipping into a certain type of player in the Western League they seem to be kind of on on to something I think seavoy could be ready to impact this team next year Benson already impacted it this year and should

Be ready to take another step next year cousins wasn’t their pick but Byrum was a trade cousins is clearly their kind of guy right you know they that they developed and I think has the right style of hockey that they play in the Western League that they don’t play in

The que you see a little bit in the Ontario league but there’s a style of hockey there also and I I didn’t want to step on you but is a West leager as well but Krebs is and and you can say Yoki Haru was too he played in the Portland

Winter Hawks you know but I didn’t I left those two out on purpose so okay but and I don’t want to get carried away and thinking oh it’s this going to be all WHL I think there’s going to be this undercurrent there though with how they

Draft moving forward and by the way I even told you what my draft strategy is I should just blow your mind now you want to get better you want to address your top six look to trade that that first round pick this year do something radical let’s go let’s go and

Then also I don’t have to talk as much on that opening night with Duffer and Marty I’m a well that’s that’s definitely a drawback I’m there though always good to to talk with Duffer and Marty as much as possible but I was remember if you remember before

The deadline I said the pick should be off limits at the deadline it should be off limits until the lottery as soon as you know it’s not you know that you haven’t jumped way up then you know if it’s in that 10 to to 12 range yeah it’s it’s on the table

Because one of the best ways to remake this forward group I think is to add something to the top six to push some guys down the lineup into more appropriate roles and add it’s easier to add bottom six guys in free agency than it is to attract one of the big fish to

Come to Buffalo so trade is the better way to do that to your point and that draft pick if it’s on the table could get you something you’re you’re loaded right now in the prospect ranks you can trade some prospects that’s what everyone wanted to do earlier it’s the

Same thing basically and if you really like your prospects like if you’ve hit on your your draft picks already and you like your Kik and you like Ain and seavoy and these guys keep them playing with house money move out the pick I’m like we’re gonna talk about this because

You have to almost forecast like obviously it doesn’t happen a lot I don’t think where you you know I can only remember like a pick going for a player it was like 2013 I think that was Corey Schneider got traded 2013 Vancouver because I remember we were doing the broadcast of the draft

From the Lexus Club that’s when Vancouver took Bo horv at you know now I’m not I’m just trying to think of like trading a pick for a player I can’t remember like a precedent but you know and that’s the other thing too like the Cap’s going up teams might have more ability but

There’s going to be a team that’s gonna be in a pinch de burnat was a uh a couple years ago wasn’t that a draft weekend trade a top top 10 pick that the sen for it didn’t work out yeah I mean we have three mons to talk about this

But I I that was my Epiphany today when I was just like you know I think we I think we want to get on that train at least look at it analyze it like I said wait for the lottery make sure you’re not uh you know yeah you’re

Obious they have to the deadlines passed but uh yeah you know and you gotta wait till the offseason to execute any type of trade now so we’ll see where it’s at let’s just let’s go and they’ve also been decent at find players Beyond round one right so or

Late in round one like Yuri Kik so if you have to get rid of one of those High picks so be it well here’s part of it too the type of player that you need to get into the prospect ranks right now that are going to be those meat and

Potatoes guys that when I always say like Speed Energy grit attitude those are day two type of players those are second and third round picks anyways you know of course you always want more skill you always want good hockey play players just draft draft the best hockey

Player I get it I get it but I’m willing to take a little bit of a different look this year especially again if you really like the guys that you have now there’s going to be really good players there I’m sure say the Savers get the ninth overall pick or something there’s gonna

Be a good player there that’s gonna be very hard to move off of for sure and then you default to again maybe I trade one of the smaller skill guys it might not fit into what I need to be moving for we’re gonna we’re going to talk

About all this stuff but today when I was out walking the dog I was like kind of like the idea kind of like the idea I didn’t mind the idea last year and it goes to show you the other side of the coin right is that I wouldn’t have

Argued with trading the 13th overall pick and then it becomes Zack Benson so you have to wonder how that how that filters into their thinking where they’re you know I don’t then he’s one of your best players this year what a kick in the nuts that would have been

Right you imagine not having the goal tending and not having Benson I know Benson hasn’t lit the world on fire statistically but he’s been a like a glue guy in the lineup on many nights he really has and you imagine if he was doing that somewhere else with the pick

Right you know you wouldn’t wantan to you better have gotten a good player who knows but would he have been in the NHL this year if he was drafted by another organization though he might have been back went at you with seavoy you know maybe he would have been a I don’t know

If Moosejaw would have had enough draft picks to get both him and seavoy for their right deadline push but would they couldn’t yeah yeah yeah that’s right Conor geeky got traded the same day to Swift Current um so let’s um we only have like a couple minutes left I don’t

Know if you starred anything in the chat I really haven’t I’ve been enthralled in this discussion then I just kind of dropped the bomb on you that we should move the pick um Captain Ahab did uh compliment you on a point that you were making about Grado being very good at

Developing boys these are men they need to be treated as men and not coddled yeah they’re men but they’re not many of them are not very much older than boys and that’s part of the problem I think that you have with the Sabers team right

Now I catch myself often lock I in the locker room I catch myself happened to me the first time last year when I was talking to Tage Thompson about one of the younger players and I I said to him as one of the older guys in

The room and he said well I don’t know if I I would be I’m an older guy and I was like you kind of are sorry you can you can shave you know sorry dude like uh I don’t mean to call you old but yeah you

Know you kind of are and there’s they’re so young I mean they’re going to get a little older next year I guess right six months older uh in September but W they are young Clinton’s kind of like this is the type of like this is why you would

Consider moving the pick and of course you know it comes with your taking on salary to me you want to get like a a Carill capris off capris off however you want to say it I say it both ways every 5 minutes Capri off will call him um

Yeah I mean if you can swing something like that I mean it’s a swing for the fences type of move um that’s kind of what I’m thinking like because what what have we talked about Matthew you’re gonna get a player and Popp in the top six

Yeah you know and and what are you trading if it’s not prospects I mean I don’t know man even if does prospects get it done I don’t know you know but or it’s a prospect on that pick to really swing I I think you have to look at

Everything thing and it’s not really a desperation move either you have some pretty good players here it’s just not coming together you might be missing that one piece you know I don’t want to get crazy but let’s get crazy can change everything because you’re you’re changing multiple Lines by

Doing that right you’re slotting players into more appropriate spots in the lineup you can add in some of the the grittier guys you know in in free agency you know pay them a little more right overpay a little bit you there’s a hole mat something yeah well but there’s a

Hole right like you went into this critical playoff run and for half of these must-win games you had Zenus garson’s on your Top Line man right you Jeff Skinner down to the third they’re telling you that there’s going to be a hole there next year right how you gonna

Get it I don’t know a couple different ways to get it but that’s one thing again I I’m not gonna beat the dead horse now because I have three months to beat that horse to talk about it and they don’t just have the pick at their disposal they have a loaded pool of

Prospects who won’t so somebody’s got to go right that’s where you sit there if you’re Kevin Adams talk to your Scouts what’s available at Pick 10 pick nine how do we feel about it versus not just you know the prospects in their system but there’s a comfort level there

Right or talk to your development staff who do you who’s not coming along the way we hoped let’s be honest about it because you know know as an organization more than other teams know about how your guys are coming along and how you feel about this sorry to step on you

This comment from Cummings is part of the reason why I default to may be looking at trading something that’s not a known asset right now in terms of a player that electric explosive speed with svoy is a dimension they don’t have willingness to go where the goal scorers

Go that’s exactly what Matthew seavoy does that’s part of the reason why I say people should be excited about him and that it’s a known element that you can forecast into your roster if it’s not next year It’s Quickly into the season maybe after some seasoning you can you can make the

Same statement of Praise about Ain and you know you have in K leag you have some players there that you like that are moving in a really good direction you’re still very young and if you can keep them and move that pick and get a player now and create more

Competition it makes sense man it makes sense but um yeah but they they what do we puck drop 907 not we can go a couple more for the chat Cummings makes a really good point about speed we talk about this being a young team and Granado talks about Pace a lot

The speed is missing in certain spots right you know and I think you know seavoy is one of those players that really does bring that element that you notice it in a game like Edmonton right and not just Conor McDavid but the speed that a team like

That plays with versus the speed the Sabers play with do they have those top top speed guys Tuck’s pretty fast you know Tage can get rolling for a bigger guy but just from a pure Pace standpoint I think seavoy does add a lot as long as you know he’s ready you know different

Speed with seavoy and tuck like seavo has got the afterburners on quite a bit tuck is still very like it’s sometimes pacing himself to manage his minutes in the game that’s that tread on the tire thing that we’ve talked about um I know man there’s so many scenarios and so many

Options that we can talk about if you put that pick in play you can use it to move back and get a player part of the reason why I’m on that pick thing and this the last thing I’ll say because again we have like another 90 days to

Talk about it is you got to get older you got to get some experience you gotta you know what I mean and that seems like a a straighter path to getting it done a tremendous asset if it’s a top 10 pick you know do you do it if you’re second

Third overall probably not you do it if you’re nine1 11 100% 100% you get into that 8 n10 mode that’s where you get you know stuck with maybe an Alex neander you know would you rather have a player a known commodity that boosts your average age you know

It’s got some term you’re gonna pay him some bucks or KNE lender there two ways to look at it you you bring up the Benson thing which is good I’ll bring up the ne thing and that’s why you have to look at the class you have to you know see how you feel

And you have to find a partner right a trade partner who feels you know pretty good about a player in that spot usually that has to happen ahead of the draft seems like on the draft floor a lot of that doesn’t happen although it can

And I’m for it I I really am because the window is supposed to be now right and yes you want to Stack layers of prospects and time them right and be ready to sustain success and all that but you can’t sustain success until you’ve had some success so go out and

Get somebody that can help you do that next year because it’s not being impatient to talk about that it’s not because you made all three of the picks in 2022 you made the pick last year you made a couple of picks in Owen power hour draft dude you’re loaded there’s almost too

Many Chris Baker’s computers are overworking over there break down things going to be completely fried and we need to you know that that is the Hub of the baker Fairburn hockey show so if your computers start frying we’re in trouble for no other reason that’s why that’s

Why they need to start uh they need to start trimming some of these some of these prospects from the ranks there’s a last thing I’ll say on that okay um I wanted to talk about the Calgary game I really did I wanted to just kind

Of Tee It Up but the chat knows what they got to do here they know what’s going on I will say this the baker Fair Burt hockey show was ahead of the Casey middl stat scenario that led to him being traded maybe we’ll be ahead of the

Next big move that they make in the offseason that’s going to be trading the first round pick we’ll see um it’s 902 I’m not trying to run from everyone we have good numbers still here in the chat but I do want to be there for puck drop anything else that you want to

Throw up or do you just want to throw up after watching this road trip we’ll see how it finishes to be determined uh on on what how we’ll be feeling in in a couple of hours but tough stretch for him but a really to me it’s an exciting

Time to be to be talking about these guys and writing about these guys because they are really heading into what is now it’s a turning point off season because I think when we bring up that that first round pick trade the thing that also pops into my head how many GMS

Get to go five years without making the playoffs I know Kevin Adams is going into year five next season I want him to be the guy that gets the franchise in the playoffs I want Kevin I believe in Kevin believe it or not I want him to be the guy and

So he should feel some urgency to push the fast forward button a little bit the bo Byam trade was encouraging in that regard interested to see how he finishes the road trip by the way hot start to his Sabers career and he has cooled off a bit in recent games

But the dong dong Grado gets a lot of the attention for being on the hot seat and it was the lead subject in my mailbag other day after the Edmonton game because people wanted to place him right back on the hot seat after that for good

Reason I said what I’ve said for months that it would be more than Justified but that doesn’t seem like the route that they’re going Kevin Adams to your point I I’ve been encouraged by some of the things that he’s done I have you know you have to

Let some of these patient things take root a little bit these these prospects and the development strategy that’s in place but five do you get to go five years without making the playoffs that has to be on his mind we can tell I think that he’s getting a little bit

Impatient with the current group not to mean he should panic and blow everything up because that’s the whole reason you patiently drafted and developed in the first place but trading a pick for a good player is not doing that and it’s getting you to the point where 5 years

In you can say enough is enough the fifth year of his general manager tenure should end in the playoffs otherwise it’s going to be his job that everybody’s talking about instead of Don Granado’s if I don’t hit the objective for five straight years in my job I’m

Probably not in that job if you don’t get good reviews from your superiors at the athletic for five years you’re probably not going to be right in there very long different Industries I understand but it also just kind of that’s your point right it’s a results oriented business pretty much every

Business so I’m rebuilds Take Time It’s Different in hockey than it is in other sports I understand all those things and think we’ve been you know understanding and patient of uh of Kevin Adams but I think that might factor into his head space in the offseason a little bit and you know

A few people in the chat brought it up there’s only so many Avenues you have in in the sense that reagents are not going to have Buffalo at the top of their list certainly not this offseason so how do you do that you got to go trade you got

To make trades and it’s not easy it doesn’t have to be pick for player by the way it can be pick and Prospect to get to still stay in the round and get a player that’s going to help you it may not be that Superstar A+ level

Acquisition you know what I mean but I haven’t gone through the chat I don’t know if that IDE is getting roasted but I think that I’ll give we’ll talk about it more in future episodes and if people think it’s stupid that’s cool I get it I understand but I’m that’s where I’m

Leaning man that’s where I’m leaning right now and I still think that you can help the team with prospects you know it’s a it’s a seven round draft you can get usable players early on day two and we’ll see where it goes man you good

9906 I know people want us to keep going there’s some people that don’t even want to watch the game tonight but I know that you so the reason that we can’t is that Matthew has a job that that is that involves him watching the game preferably live and I don’t think we

Would even be allowed to have a live stream while like we couldn’t be talking about the game there would be some sort of we could react to it but we couldn’t like play byplay like you could react and we could do that but even then I think we’re kind

Of getting dangerously close to getting our PP slapped yeah Timothy Murray no not at all I gotta say though I do enough of that on my own no I gotta say this trading the pick seed here that you’ve planted is uh it’s got me excited for the offseason

Editions of the baker Fairburn hockey show because excited as good as the the game chats have been we haven’t had a lot of great hockey to talk about this season but this off season is going to be a as interesting in Buffalo as it is you know anywhere across the league and

So hopefully we’ll be we’re GNA have some fun with it I think here we will have an episode where I’d like the chat to bring their individual proposals for what that deal could be we’ll do a whole episode on that and we’ll dissect it and

See who has the best one and that’ll be the official recommendation the uh what do you call it endorsement of the baker furn hockey show I’ll slip it under Kevin Adams door there you go you there you go you go all right 908 I’m going to get you out of

Here so you can go to work um that’s it no Grand closure thanks everyone for hopping in as always we appreciate you coming in and it just gets better every week so um we yeah that’s it I’m I I’m gonna get us out of here for Matthew Fairburn from

The athletic for the production crew who needs to to Matthew’s Point earlier invest in some server so we don’t go down because of too many prospects lag in my computer I’m Chris Baker we’ll see you again very soon ahead of the next uh homeand here for the Buffalo Sabres have a good night

Everyone

Kris Baker and The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn catch up on all things Buffalo Sabres ahead of their Sunday night tilt in Calgary.