WHAT WILL THE BUFFALO SABRES DO THIS NHL OFFSEASON? – Sabres Semantics

WHAT WILL THE BUFFALO SABRES DO THIS NHL OFFSEASON? – Sabres Semantics

you’re listening to the armchair GM Sports Network [Music] time to sharpen those swords you’re listening to saber semantics a hard-hitting just destroyed interview and discussion Show featuring players alumni media and all others who have or still cover the NHL’s Buffalo Sabers to Shel from cookies with interesting stories from the past and current objective analysis this show is sure to provide an entertaining and unique perspective for both Sabers and hockey fans alike brother we are not worthy exclusively on the armchair GM Sports Network now here’s your host of saber semantics Brandon Caputo welcome in to another installment of saber semantics right here on the armchair GM Sports Network prably brought to by JNL flooring Brandon Caputo and Austin Brer with you guys make sure to give us a follow at saers semantics on X for all of our Sabers content as well as Facebook Instagram Tik Tok all that fun stuff for you guys and if you’re watching us on the video version of the podcast today on YouTube make sure to hit like hit subscribe and smash that Bell if you enjoy the video content on the network and as well thank you to those today listening on your favorite on demand audio platform please give us some love and whatever one you chose to listen to us today so with that said today is going to be our season finale of this show before we hit our summer break uh going into the off season for ourselves and as well as the Sabers and the NHL hockey hits its offseason and there’s a lot of stuff to uh to talk about and to preview for the Sabers uh on today’s show got the coaching news as well Lindy Ruff uh finalizing his coaching staff we’ve also got a couple of prospects to talk about for the Sabres that are currently in the Memorial Cup in the Canadian hockey league fighting for the crown for the biggest title in junior hockey and we’ll also uh discuss us the draft uh for the Sabers upcoming with the 11th overall pick what they might do with that pick as well as what they might do in free agency so with that said Austin actually we’ll start off today uh with the World Championships that uh that just ended um what were your thoughts and we’ll we’ll kind of tie that into our first poll today uh and make sure to give us a follow again at saber semantics if you want to get involved on the polls that we post for every single show here so uh which Sabers player has been was the most encouraging at the World Championships Dylan cousins for Canada Rasmus Dalene for Sweden uh JJ PKA for Germany and Owen power for Canada they also had some other representation as well including Victor Olson who won uh bronze uh with Sweden and with Rasmus Dalene Austin uh what were your kind of takeaways from the world championships this year obviously Canada didn’t uh you know ex reach their expectations but Dylan cousins with quite the coming out party on a big stage yeah I mean let’s be honest we’ll exclude Olson from this because he’s pretty much all but confirmed he won’t be back I know he’s technically still a saber till July 1 but he’s pretty much already confirmed hey I’m going to free agency so every other saber played relatively well like petka played really well Dalene played well Byron power even played pretty well for Canada but cousins is probably the headliner you know he scored nine goals two assists 11 points in 10 games um eerily similar to 2021 22 when he went over to the world championships and had uh a really strong tournament with Canada he had like seven goals I think that year he had nine this time so you know obviously trying to connect Dots here obviously nothing’s the same but last time he kind of popped off at the World Championships he had a career the next year so hopefully he can repeat that but it was just good to see him shooting the puck and converting on his chances because that’s what you need to see more from Dylan cousins um finishing being a goal scorer and you know looked like in that World Championships he gotten part of his mojo back so hopefully that sets a positive tone for the offseason going into next year and as far as the the poll goes for uh the viewers out there Dylan cousins 83.3% to to nobody’s surprise and then JJ petka was second with 16.7 um can you speak on what you saw from from petka as well um obviously had a breakout year with the Sabres and and maybe not playing with uh with with a team that has the most Talent on it in Germany but uh still put out a pretty solid performance yeah petka kind of carried over what we saw from the regular season right um every now and then takes over a game and provides you know an elite offensive threat probably proved at the end of the year last year he was a Topline Winger proved to be one of the you know Germany had some really good performances this year they weren’t relying on PKA which was good he wasn’t the sole person driving the engine there but he was able to contribute again over a point per game for Germany um just more positivity for him there loved what I saw from him love what I saw from him in the regular season so again PKA looks like he’s going to be a player last year was good the world championships was good have a good offseason here hopefully take that spot on that Top Line with uh with Tage again next year and have some similar results because PCO was one of the very few bright spots for the Sabres and one of one of me many bright spots at the World Championships that they had Dylan cousins had nine goals and 11 points total petka five goals nine points D delene two goals nine points as well as bow andum had a goal and five points Owen power a goal and six points and as you mentioned Victor olison who’s probably no longer going to be a saber but he had a goal and four points as well on route to that bronze medal for uh the the Swedish team thoughts on sheia taking the gold by the way I mean Elite goal tending by Lucas Stell Anaheim fans got to be pretty thrilled with what they saw from him there he really really stole the show I watched I watched the semi-final game against Sweden and it just it wasn’t even close like they they took it to him so really good for yeah um they have a talented roster I love uh I love watching countries like that because they have a nice all the European countries they have a nice mix of European pros and NHL pros and it’s really cool to see those guys you know win a world championship because it might not mean the most to the North American players or at least the North American fans but the World Championships still mean a lot to those guys so it’s really cool to see them take it home and you know Switzerland Switzerland czechia final I don’t think anyone would have predicted that that’s uh that’s great to see for the for the hockey I guess diversity of um countries with within you know we’re not just seeing Canada USA you know Russia when they were in at Sweden we’re starting to see these other teams really start to to pick up uh you know the pace here in Sweden I mean Switzerland is definitely there czechia uh obviously has some talented player so it’s just nice to see for the overall competition level of the tournament uh when all these teams are are obviously getting better so hats off to uh to check you for that anyways we’ll move on to the uh prospects a little bit here Austin and we’ve got Matt SEO boy uh WHL Champion as the Sabers posted on their website part of the Musha Warriors was traded from uh ear earlier this year from the the team that was uh help me out here W oh he was traded from wachi to mustra wachi that’s it I kept thinking of Winnipeg but they weren’t a team anymore but it was yes Winnipeg moved to wachi yeah that’s what it was so the wachi wild he was traded there uh to Musa they went on to obviously sweep the WHL championship and um the ninth overall pick for the Sabres scored 24 points in the 19 playoff games including a goal in the deciding game four after uh an average of 2.09 points per game during the regular season uh thoughts on Matt seavoy and his continual development and growth uh hopefully going to be a saber in the near future yeah you’re pretty much seeing everything you want to see out of him uh down in the WHL right dominated um mus is a very talented team but as they are finding out every team in the memorial cup is extremely talented um I mean Musa Drummondville London all swept their respective conf conference or not even conference League championships uh so and sag I mean I don’t think anyone would argue that they’re probably the second best team they’re the host right so they’re they they loaded up this year they’re clearly the second best team in the OHL behind the London night so four really talented teams um I don’t know London’s probably going to dominate there but it’s good to see guys like kov and seavoy representing uh well and having success again kov won the whole tournament last year with Quebec he’s there again with Drummondville after a really talented year for him too so him and seavoy looking really good unfortunately looks like they all these teams have run into a buz saww that is the London Knights and our old boy Josh Bloom will back with the sagona spirit uh former Sabers Prospect now in the Vancouver Canucks organization but you and I both big fans of Josh Bloom and glad he got to go back to Saga for one more S Swan Song to try to win that Memorial Cup but uh you quickly mentioned the defenseman best defenseman in the Western Hockey League this year uh can you speak to what he’s done as a 20-year-old you mentioned he was on that Quebec team that won the Memorial Cup last year was traded to Drummondville this year and uh really took off uh with his points per game and obviously led to the the queue in that category and and earning himself a defenseman of the Year honors what have you seen from uh the Russian import yeah virtually like unknown when he was drafted right I mean uh didn’t really you know fifth round pick didn’t really put up a lot of points then all of a sudden you kind of saw a steady steady growth from him uh really strong year with the ramp Parts followed that up with a really nice performance in Memorial Cup and then like you said um this year started out pretty solid with Quebec but really exploded after the trade to Drummondville uh really strong playoffs for him like you said he got that individual Hardware definitely a player that the Sabres are gonna he’s already signed so like there’s he’s going to be in Rochester next year he’s already signed he’s going to be in Rochester next year so so another player that they get into the system another Russian that they add to Rochester you know they have three Russians there adding another one there always better because you know these guys come over from across the world and don’t really have a lot of people so it’s good to have more of them together help them adjust I think that was one of the biggest problems the Sabers had when they tried to bring over guys from the KL like Victor anti and they kind of isolated them not the case anymore so that’s really good but comrov is just a guy that I think could has a real shot at being a player he’s a really good skater uh has the offensive instincts you’ve seen that part of his game really strongly developed so um obviously Sabres have a lot on the back end there a lot of talented prospects a lot of talented NHL players not really a lot of room but adding another guy who appears that he can you know he can keep up with the best of them is definitely a good thing so Rochester is gonna need some players next year because you know AHL contracts things like that so really nice to see and it’s cool it’s we we went a while under b roll where we didn’t have a ton of highlevel CHL saber prospects I know kov is is a Russian but he’s been in the CHL his entire you know Junior career so really really nice to see and it’s cool having two of them in the Memorial Cup yeah definitely uh nice to see the Sabres have some representation there uh in the Canadian hockey league only one OHL Prospect right now and Ethan Mima maybe that changes uh come uh June’s uh NHL draft but when quickly on kamarov like when you see like he put up the offensive numbers and obviously he’s going to have to work on his defensive game in the American Hockey League but like do you see like maybe after a year or two he’s got a real shot of maybe being an NHL player one day like H it’s hard to project these Junior players but from what you’ve seen from his offensive ability he’s definitely uh can be a power play guy but uh may maybe a year or two in Rochester to kind of fill out that uh his all-around game uh where do you think he might be in a couple years here I think talent-wise he has a real shot at making the NHL I think the biggest problem he’s going to run into and a lot of these guys in the sabers organization are going to run into is where’s the room right Byrum Dalene power samelson where’s there’s not really a whole lot of room outside of you know being a top six even strength defenseman the power play is pretty much spoken for for the next six seven years you have Doan and power and then we even saw them use Byrum so uh talent wise I think karov has a real shot at being an NHL in a couple years I would have him you know under guys like Ryan Johnson and Nikita no novakov but those guys also have a year or two a head start on him in terms of playing professional hockey kov has a legitimate shot like I said uh like you said if he rounds out his even strength game which I think he’s extremely talented even strength player he didn’t just solely rely on the power play to put him numbers so he has a real shot I think it’s more or less when’s the opportunity come rather than a question of his talent absolutely and we talk about uh Rochester a little bit we’ll get into the coaching staff news and I put a graphic up on the screen of the new coaching staff and I’m just going to quickly uh read the statement here that I couldn’t fit on the screen uh with the uh the sabers coaching staff and the decision to uh bring up Seth Apert from promoting him from the uh the Rochester Americans um obviously aert has served as the Rochester Americans head coach since 2020 2021 um sth should be immensely proud of the culture he’s built uh in Rochester and the success that has come with it with with while his addition to the NHL coaching staff is a loss for Rochester there is no doubt he has earned the position under his leadership the amrs have had tremendous results as a team and have also played a significant role in the development of a number of our NHL players we will begin the search to his find his replacement in Rochester immediately uh that was the statement from uh general manager Kevin Adams and we also heard from Lindy Ruff um he was said one of my top PRI priorities over the last few weeks has been finalizing the hires and the roles of the coaching staff after conversation with Seth he reaffirmed what we already knew that he is ready for this opportunity as we move into next season I’m throw with the staff that we have assembled and the work as has already begun to prepare for training camp and this entirety of the Season ahead they also hired a new uh video coach as well promoting him from the Rochester Americans he was also on uh Seth aert staff so Austin reactions to Seth aert getting the promotion to uh assistant coach under Lindy Rush staff I I’m obviously not going to speak for everyone here but I think for the most part this is the move that a lot of people anticipated right Rochester had been extremely well like they’ve been a well-oiled machine under aper for the most part you know they’ve had playoff success they’ve sure there’s been flaws with their system uh but the good news is right now Seth Apper isn’t taking over the full duties he’s an assistant coach he’s goingon to coach the forwards and the power play what has been really good in Rochester their offense and their power play so it it seems like it’s a match made in heaven love hearing him talk about how uh he wants to change the power play in terms of using the bumper you have to use Puck move and you have to get people moving and things like that stuff we haven’t never saw under the Sabers power play we saw working in Rochester something else that Rochester had that Buffalo has they have Elite Shooters on forward you know Yuri kulich Isaac Ros and guys like that Buffalo has Jack Quinn Tage Thompson Ras mallan they have all that stuff but the one thing that Apper did not have in Rochester that Buffalo has is an elite Puck moving power play quarterback no disrespect to guys like Ryan Johnson Ethan prow all very talented AHL defenseman obviously nowhere near the level of guys like Ras stallen and Owen power so I’m very excited to see what aert does with the power play and just familiarity right he’s coached PKA he’s coached Jack Quinn he’s coached a lot of these guys uh he’s gonna know how to use them and get them in in good spots um he’s got two years to work under lyy Ruff we’ll see what happens after that but definitely like this move seems that I can’t say for sure the Sabers were going to lose him if they didn’t promote him but it’s definitely a well-earned promotion and I think it’s also a smart move by the Sabers to provide a little security on keeping a potential guy that they want in the organization long term because it feels like that Kevin Adams feels very strongly about Seth aard so this is a well a well-rounded move by everyone involved does suck for Rochester because aard has done a really good job down there but guys like Vinnie prosel Nathan pae pretend like carmano said those guys have a shot he’s gonna look around I pretty they’re going to be fine so it sucks it’s a big loss for Rochester but what their loss is Buffalo’s gain and I’m very very interested to see what improvements AER makes with the offense of the power play Matt Ellis excuse EXC me has been moved to a different role within the organization Austin I know he’s not going to be running the power play anymore which um is going to excite a lot of people but I think keeping Matt Alis around obviously he adds uh some value there and and they wouldn’t have kept him around and moved him uh if they didn’t believe so so uh he stays within the organization but I look at Seth apard and I think this is a good spot because again you can maybe he maybe he can be uh the guy to take over for Lindy Ruff after the two years after he uh gets the team into a spot where he wants or maybe a couple years after but I really liked what I saw from Seth aard and when they said that they were searching for a new coach with experience in the NHL you thought that Seth appert’s name was probably going to be out of that because he hasn’t coached in the National Hockey League but I really like what he’s been able to do with the Rochester Americans he’s a smart coach and I think give him a few years as an assistant here uh with the Sabres and see what he can do maybe he’s the guy um that is eventually the one to take over for Lindy Ruff but I I like him in that spot right now not forcing him in into a role maybe he might not be ready for which the Sabres have done before with firsttime head coaches so I really like the idea of having that collaboration with Lindy Ruff and Seth aert because obviously Seth is going to be able to learn a lot from a guy like Lindy Ruff and maybe it’ll help him for when his opportunity does come to become the head coach of the Sabres yeah and I also like the fact that they don’t have any familiarity with each other you know I’m not sure if it was award or rough but one of them pretty much said the when we talked like that was the first time that we’d ever met but they kind of have the same vision which is a good thing um so I like that there’s no pre-existing relationship there so they’re going to have to kind of work out their working relationship but it’s good they’re both coming in fresh eyes Clean Slate um like you said I I’m sure the Sabres know the long-term possibilities of keeping aard around but let’s be honest you if you’re trying to plan two years ahead you’re probably not doing your job properly but yes it is good that you know he gets NHL assistant head coaching experience so you know if two years from now Lindy Ruff does decide to retire they potentially do have a guy who can take over um obviously I think anyone with a brain when they saw that hire at least thought of that possibility happening obviously the saber should not pigeon hole themselves into doing that but if that situation plays out and it works out for the best that’s a fantastic job by Kevin Adams to have some foresight there um I just think it’s it’s going to be interesting the Matt Ellis thing I thought was funny because I think it was reported soon as Don Granado was fired by Lance lozowski that Adams was moving to a different role within the organization he was no longer going to be on the bench running the power play but yet when they hired AER and announced that Matt Ellis was still sticking around people still seemed to freak out and think well what the heck are we doing here not realizing that it had been reported since Granado’s firing that Matt Ellis was not going to be a behind the bench coach anymore you know what Matt Ellis is good at Player Development that’s how he kind of got into the Sabers coaching staff and he was really good at helping you know Player Development with the Sabers so if he can kind of get back to doing that while also providing some some eyes from up top good for Matt Ellis I still he obviously was not good at running the power play there’s no debating that I still think you know he’s he has some use and he’s a very talented coach so glad to see him stick around a little bit longer but in a completely different role so like I think anyone freak freaking out about Matt Ellis don’t worry about it because he’s he’s not going to be doing any X’s and O’s power play or coaching during games yeah he doesn’t have to go far he’s a niagar native so uh he can just continue to drive the games there in Buffalo but I do think he does have uh some value in Player Development as you mentioned uh Austin just maybe not uh behind the bench rooll was uh you know the the best place for him to succeed is there anything else you wanted to mention with the rest of the coaching staff Mike Bales is also back uh Marty wilford’s back um they brought in Amir gulati as the new video coordinator from Rochester um any quick thoughts on the rest of the coaching stuff yeah I mean um Bales go tending coach easy no- brainer to keep him around he’s been very good since he came here we’ve seen Lucan in take strides we saw Levi show flashes in the NHL clearly he’s a good goalie coach they should have stuck around Wilford I I don’t have any issue with I mean penalty Hill fell apart near the end there but he he he did Coach the defense well and he did have the penalty kill looking pretty solid throughout you know at certain points throughout the season so I have no issue with Wilford sticking around um interesting that usually typically how it works in the NHL is the GM gets to pick an assistant coach and the head coach gets to to pick an assistant coach so I’m not really sure if you know Ruff picked aper with a little bit of a nudge from Adams or if you know what I mean then Adams kept Wilford around not exactly sure that Dynamic there but usually that’s how it goes but interesting that um AER was really the only assistant hire that they were making the coaching staff is set at least according to everybody within the Sabres organization so a little bit interesting there but as much as Granado deserved a lot of flak the coaching staff wasn’t 100% the problem it was the players well the coaching staff’s been fixed now so now it’s up to Adams and the players to put in the work to building out this roster and getting back to playing the way that they’re going to play but coaching staff I’m relatively satisfied with I know some people out there were complaining that you know they they took the easy way out they cheaped out they hired rough they promoted aper they kept coaches blah blah blah but like at the end of the day you have a new guy running the power play and the offense this is what you wanted and you have a new head coach which is what you which is what you wanted so like I don’t know if people are going to complain just to complain that’s cool but I I’m definitely going to give this new coaching staff the benefit of the doubt because it’s over half of it’s been remade I think we talked about it when the Lindy rough hire was made I think a lot of us were actually pleasantly surprised that they made the amount of moves that they did with the head coach and and uh changing uh some of the assistants around I think um there was a real possibility that may they might have run it back with the exact same uh people uh next year and we were all worried about that but at least they did make some changes there and attempt to know that they needed to go in a different direction so I’m happy with that as well yeah exactly I mean like I said the head coach deserved a lot of the blame but like we’ve said multiple times now it’s Adams has to give rough Apert Wilford all these guys a legitimate roster that can compete and the players have to go and perform because Adams has no more scapegoat the players don’t have any more scapegoat it’s a new coaching staff we’ll see how it goes absolutely so we’ll get into uh the offseason preview in uh segment two today we’re take a quick break and we’ll be right back here on saber semantics right here on the armchair GM Sports Network proud to you brought to you by JNL floring JNL flooring is niagara’s Specialty Flooring and Design Company they take great pride and provide 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and confident on the road since 2012 you’re listening to the armchair GM Sports Network the Niger Region’s best local source for North American Sports podcasting coverage by sports fans for sports [Music] fans hey hey here we go with night in Buffalo hey hey here we go the poyson blue white and gold hey hey here we go make some noise get in the tone all for one and one for all I’ll cheer you from your heart and soul and we will stand raising our hands saying let’s go Buffalo let’s go Buffalo we will be here [Applause] tooo Buffalo welcome back to part two of today’s saber semantics episode Brandon Caputo and Austin BR are back with you we’re going to go over the Sabers offseason plans with the draft free agency get into what we think uh the Sabers will probably do uh come July 1st and the rest of the offseason thanks to everybody that’s tuned in all season long on our this is our season finale episode uh we’ve gone through a lot of trials and tribulations uh with this team this last year I we thank you for sticking with us on a bi-weekly basis here uh with the show and Austin and myself thank you for uh listening watching and uh supporting us throughout the season uh going off of that we want to also say thank you to everybody who voted us first place uh in the community votes nag region for the entertainment category really appreciate everybody uh that contributed to helping us get first place there uh with the uh Business Awards and look forward to continuing uh this going into the next year but really wanted to give a shout out to everybody uh that helped uh get us to this place and uh for voting us first place uh for entertainment in the all of Niagara region so with that said Austin we get into part two of today’s show we’re going to go over the draft the Sabers pick an 11th overall at the mo at this moment they didn’t move up or move down in in the draft lottery uh we’ll get into free agency a little bit uh later but starting off with uh with the draft itself um and uh that was one of the polls today uh on sabber semantics make sure to give us a follow there uh to get in on the conversation what should the Sabres do with the 11th overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft stay at 11 to select trade it for a player trade down or trade up trade it for a player actually won this with 52.4% second place was stay at 11th to select a player at 30 33.3% and then trade up in the draft was third at 9.5 Austin where do you stand with this I agree with the poll uh you should be looking to move that for a potential player not necessarily just the first round pick if you can package that with something to get a real like solid piece that’s good because let’s face it um just straight up trading the draft pick for a player at draft time doesn’t necessarily always go well um the value isn’t necessarily always there you know IE Buffalo was able to get Robert hag and 14th 13th overall because there was a a forfeited pick in there for rasos ver lion so it’s not like you’re getting Elite high-end players by trading this pick but Kevin Adams needs to be doing everything he can to get his team over the humping into the playoffs next year so I think trading the pick for a player you know not not exactly sure who that player is mind you like I have some guys in mind like potentially like Pavel bvic you know is there a package to be had for potentially like Martin NES or something like that obviously the first round pick alone isn’t going to be able to get that done but if you can package some of your assets together to get a real player I’m all for that um if you’re not trading that pick for an immediate help I don’t see any sense in trading down or trading up I mean what the heck did the Blackhawks do the other day given up a second to move up two like it was weird right like that doesn’t normally happen in hockey so seeing that stuff this far out from the draft is weird on draft night I don’t this draft class is so after celebrini it it is a complete crapshoot I know that’s every draft but this year it’s it’s really it’s celebrini and then it can kind of be anything like there’s Arguments for a ton of players to go in the top five there’s tons tons of players that can potentially go top 10 top 15 so it’s not like there’s a must player but also at the same time there’s a chance a player does fall to you I.E is Zack Benson but to me if you’re not trading the pick you have to keep it because you don’t need to waste assets to to move up in the draft to get another high-end Prospect you have lots of high-end prospects and to me you don’t need to trade down to try and get more draft picks because again you don’t need more kicks at the can right now your prospect pool is in a relatively good shape you need to be getting immediate help so it’s either trade the pick stay at at 11 in my opinion and when you look at the the Sabers like draft cupboard I mean they’re pretty good they they’re missing a fifth but they have an extra fourth this year so um it’s not like they’re the Tampa Bay Lightning and they have like no picks for the next three years upcoming like you mentioned they have a solid Prospect pool and already there there’s already they they got too many prospects at this point so I think if you can find the right move for whatever you think the biggest need is for the team whether that be you know a middle six uh Winger with term or maybe a veteran goenda and Lucan if that’s going to be the tandem going into next year but again like I’m with you I think if you can find value for a player on a team that uh you know is really you know strapped for cap and they need to to really unload a player maybe you can get you know a player that you might not be able to to usually get for the 11th overall pick or even a little bit more uh you can get a very talented person on this roster uh with that cap flexibility that that the Sabres do have at the moment and and with a top end Prospect pull they they have maybe they they package like you said the 11th and and a prospect or or what have you but I think Adam should be open to looking at situations of uh moving out of that spot because the Savers have had so many picks within the top 15 uh in in the last you know 10 years or so um that their their Prospect cupboard is is pretty pretty full at the moment and I I think uh a strategic move maybe not doing what Tim Murray did where he moved out all three of his first round picks uh for guys like Robin Leonard Evander Kane and Ryan O’Reilly but I think there are possibilities out there for teams that are looking to unload some players for cap uh you know relief there yeah exactly and like I said like if you’re just straight up trading the 11th overall pick you’re probably not going to get like a super high end guy but if you package it you have a shot or if you just straight up trade the 11th overall pick and you go get um I’m not for this trade but there was like guys like Scott lner out there that bottom six veteran guy don’t trade the 11th overall pick for him but like that kind of guy is probably what you’re looking at if you don’t package something together so if you can package one of your higher end pieces along with with that pick you could potentially get something more I just think Adams needs to be focusing on the now right you have to win now and if that means the right offer comes like don’t just trade the 11th overall pick for the sake of trading it but if that offer comes you have to pull the trigger because you need to make the playoffs now if you’re Kevin Adams because there’s the leash is starting to get short for him now uh you’ve already fired a coach technically too if you want to give him the he did technically fire Krueger but like he also didn’t hire Krueger so it’s a little bit iffy there but yeah like he’s got a win now so if that means moving the 11th overall pick you do it um if you do keep it there are some names that will probably be pretty good available at 11 um there also might be some again this this draft is so in flux right now between two and 15 like obviously there’s higher end guys and lower end guys but there might be someone going at like fifth overall who you don’t expect to go at fifth overall we see it all the time and espe with a draft class that isn’t um like it’s celebrini and and the rest really and when you look at it like again this is not a disrespect to the whoever the prospects are but you’re looking two three four years down the line before they become impact NHL players I don’t think they’re going to fall into another Zach Benson situation where he’s playing at 18 years old most likely uh with the prospects that they already have that are ready to come up from Rochester uh and or other leagues but um what what’s maybe like two or three players that uh that site you maybe you know again you never know it could be a crapshoot that players might end up falling that might go in the top five but or maybe some of your your favorite players in this draft that if the Sabres were lucky enough to uh get a hold of that you’d be pretty happy with uh I’ll mention three names and again like I these names could be gone well before 11 but you you look like a guy from the WHL from Spokane like Berkeley katton um production off the charts in his draft year similar to Zack Benson 116 points in his draft year amazing he would be he kind of fits the model of what the Sabres have drafted too um another guy I don’t I don’t know where he’s gonna go obviously as the draft approaches his his stock will be a little bit more solidified but potentially a guy like zann perek could be available I know he’s in that nine10 range right now I imagine his draft Stock’s going to go up but if it doesn’t you know there’s a I could see a scenario where maybe he falls and he’s there he’s an exciting player obviously if you watch OHL hockey you know that um and another guy that I like and it’s it’s the name is part of it but he’s also an extremely talented goal scorer um and he’s going to be in that 10 to 14 range in my opinion but igino would be a really nice pick for you know his production and the exciting factor that he’s you know an elite NHL player son so there’d be that storyline as well those are three names that I’m looking at there’s a ton of names that could be available um I do want to stress that I am hoping that the Sabres do not have the 11th overall pick so I hope they trade it yeah but uh backup options in case they don’t but uh those those are definitely three players uh to look at uh T ginla would definitely be somebody that uh you know would would obviously turn some eyes given that as you mentioned Jerome mless Sun uh putting up good numbers out there in the Western Hockey League but uh again I think we’ve been through enough of these drafts where we look at top prospects for sabes and uh for future Sabres I think it’s time to to maybe you know move out of that spot and look for more immediate help of as kind of already mentioned and the poll kind of uh you know solidified that and and we kind of you know reaffirmed uh that we’d like the Sabres to maybe move out of out of picking a top end Prospect no disrespect uh to any player that’s there it’s just uh at this point where they’re at uh they need uh they need to start moving forward quickly yeah no absolutely and I do want to stress um I saw someone say they should trade the 11th overall pick for Tanner Jano I saw that I saw it today yeah no don’t do that don’t do that like that is not the move that I am advocating for when I say they trade I hope they trade the 11th overall pick but if they trade the 11th overall pick I would be less mad than most people if they acquire a guy like Scott lton but I also firmly believe if the saber first overall pick was on on the table for Scott lton Scott lton would be a bufflo saber by now because I don’t think the Flyers are going to get much more than a top 12 pick for a guy like Scott lton as crazy as you know high as they might value him but yeah no I’m not asking to go out and trade the first overall pick for a guy like that but I’m asking for a potential package involving the 11th overall pick because I think that’s your best bet at acquiring an impact player yes please don’t trade 11th overall for Tanner Jano if uh Kevin Adams is listening to this show anyways so we’ll move into our final poll today and that is we’re going to get into the free agency part of it after the draft for the Sabers come July 1st and that would be what is the Sabers biggest need comp NHL free agency veteran goenda defense man um I also voted for bottom six forward here on the poll as you can see on the video version uh 58.8 53.8% was with that and then second place was top six forward at 46.2% 0% for a veteran golender and 0% for a depth defenseman Austin where are you here I mean you could also say like middle six Winger as well yeah so I think their biggest needer two top nine forwards I think getting a nice third line how do I work this without sounding like a third line quote unquote two-way guy would be really helpful for the Sabers to not throw a ton like of pressure on Payton Krebs saying here you’re the third line Center this year no competition competition is key if you know you bring in a guy to compete with Krebs and then he ends up being your fourth line Center because like as we said earlier Zenus Genson is also apparently testing the market so you’re going to need some bottom six forwards but if you get two legitimate top nine forwards I think that’s a really good thing for the Sabers a third line Center a top six Winger those are probably your two biggest pressing needs if you can get those I think you’re putting yourself in a pretty good spot it’s up to Kevin Adams now whether that’s free agency or trade I think those are the two pieces he needs to acquire um you might see another defensive signing I know samuelson’s coming back but they have a decision to make on Yoki Haru I’m still not convinced he’s here next year so if he is gone you do need another top six defenseman but that can be filled either free agency or you know Ryan Johnson like there’s there’s people within the organization that could step up and take that role but I do think you know if they do trade Yoki Haru to acquire one of those forward pieces you could probably throw defenseman as a need there but I think that’s less pressing than the two forward needs and we look at uh the situation with the roster as you mentioned zus ginson it was reported that he most likely will not be back Austin as the longest 10y saber um and a guy that the the ownership group has loved uh since they drafted him in the 201 11 draft has been here through all of uh the Sab uh 15 years uh of not uh you know making the playoffs here it’s been pretty incredible to see zus gurson’s last this long he’s 30 years old now um as a guy that came into the league as a as a first year player when he was 18 years old Tyson Jose is also unrestricted free agent Victor olison as we mentioned uh most likely will not be back Eric Robinson’s also uh unrestricted free agent and then you’ve got three rfas on the defensive side and Jacob brys and Henry Yoki Haru and got Kyle Cay as you mentioned uh also on a previous episode so they’ve got SE eight guys that are currently NHL rostered players um that are going to need contracts realistically how many of those guys uh do you see coming back next season I think most you could see coming back as two like I wouldn’t be surprised if they try to keep Bryon around as that seventh sixth defenseman um Yoki Haru is the tough one because that’s like I said they have a decision to make on him is he going to be trade bait are you going to commit to him uh he played well but at the same time you know Byrum Dalene power what is rough Envision for Samuelson are all very important things because if Ruff Envision Samuelson as a top four defenseman Yoki Haru becomes Expendable if Ruff Envision Samuelson as that third pair guy I could see a scenario where they try to keep him so really he’s the guy that I’m looking at is I don’t know um Bryson it really all depends on if another team offers him a guaranteed top six role because I think if they do that he’s gone because he doesn’t have that here in Buffalo but if he’s comfortable here uh he knows his role he knows he’ll be in the NHL I could see him sticking around on a cheap one one-year deal but I say two Max wouldn’t be disappointed if none of those guys are back fair enough um do you think Ryan Johnson plays a role in this as well depending on what their feelings are of him as a POS possible top four top six defenseman as well yeah I wouldn’t even be surprised next year if he becomes the Jacob Bryson of this year where he’s your six seventh defenseman but he plays a lot more than Bryson was playing last year um like I said I I really wouldn’t care if none of those guys you listed are back so with that I mean there’s going to be some openings on the bottom six uh with those guys gone so do you envision them maybe calling up some of those guys from Rochester to give those guys the opportunities or do you see them going out and maybe signing some guys obviously they they’re going to want to resign pton Krebs uh he’s a restricted free agent he’s probably one of the guys that you’d say would be the most likely to come back uh on some sort of uh you know Bridge contract for him to hopefully get a bigger opportunity but um as far as what they’re going to do to fill out the bottom six like are those Rochester guys getting the promotion or are those uh moves out in free agency July 1 I wouldn’t mind seeing like one Rochester promotion uh whether you know guy like kich or Rosen ear in that spot that would be fantastic but at the same time like this has been what I’ve say in all episode is Adams needs to win now you don’t win Now by just handing over spots to guys like Yuri kich and Isaac Rosen who are very good I think y Yuri kich should be in the NHL next year I think Isaac Rosen has a shot to be in the NHL next year that being said you need to go out and sign some guys or trade for some guys and really sh up your bottom six and let the guys compete for those spots because we saw what happened when they solely relied on internal improvements on the forward group they bit him in the the ass you can’t risk that happening again next year no you can’t and and OB Rochester has some guys um that that also need contracts so is there anybody on the Rochester side you know the Brandon buau Brett Murray um even on the defensive side uh there Riley Stillman um Jeremy Davies like are there anybody that Dustin toari in the net you know you never know what the the dep are those guys all just going to be Expendable and they’re going to see uh you know completely new guys uh on the Rochester uh depth chart there still in’s an interesting one because Adams did trade for him so I’m wondering I’m interested to see what Adams does with that situation um Jeremy Davies if he’s willing to just which I think he is just to stick around and be a sole Rochester guy he’s really fun he’s really good for Rochester wouldn’t mind seeing him stick around guys like Brett muray and Brandon brro all depends if someone’s gonna offer him an NHL opportunity right if there’s strictly AHL guys in ter like if every organization views them as strictly AHL guys bring them back like they’re they’re good in the AHL they’re solid um you know you do need a mixture of some AHL guys with your top young Prospect so like I wouldn’t mind seeing any of those guys brought back van very interested to see what Adams does with Riley Stillman because like we said traded for him played relatively well when he was here and then lost out to Jacob Bryson this year so I’m interested to see what happens with that situation and lastly the goal tending Austin like do you you see a scenario where they let Levi be Rochester starter next year they go out and get a veteran backup that’s an upgrade over Eric comry and have him kind of you know support uko peka Lucan in as the the full-time starter you heard Lindy Ruff in his introductory press conference talk about I’ve got three words UPL so obviously they believe in in Lucan and as a starting goenda for a guy that’s available so can you see a scenario where they go out and get you know that veteran back up Lucan in and and let Levi marinate as the starter for Rochester all season long I mean could I see it yeah I don’t think so I think Levi was extremely he was awesome in the AHL and I think UPL has every right to be the starting goalie next year but we’re a year removed from it last year I thought it was kind of crazy they were expecting UPL and Levi to be the two guys if we go into that next year I’m a little less worried because Lucan in took steps for Levi was really solid in the AHL did show those flashes in the NHL so like if next year you come back with Levi and UPL as your your your Tandem and you know you give UPL 50 55 starts Levi gets the rest I I think people should not be nearly as worried as they were last year last year I understand the worry this year I think it’s a little bit more reasonable and I think you have a better shot at selling that as your goal tending Duo and spending your your money and your assets elsewhere rather than potentially finding an upgrade over Eric Comer but that being said you are going to see some depth signings for goal enders in the AHL and if their original plan is to let Levi be the starter early on yeah I’m fine with that but I can’t imag like in Rochester I can’t imagine a scenario where Kevin Adams wants Levi down in the AHL all year next year I just I can’t Enis that scenario being what the Sabers want and lastly is there anybody that’s currently under contract longterm for the Sabers that maybe you can see a possible move for uh during the off season that we might be pleasantly surprised or shocked uh that does get moved here um you know sometime after July 1st or even at the NHL draft not really uh I know I saw an article saying that teams were asking about Samson so I guess he would be the guy I could see getting moved but I can’t Envision Adams being too keen on doing that at least not right now unless the right deal comes up I don’t think anyone on the Sabers really should be considered Untouchable but guys like cousins Tage they’re not going anywhere um Dalene power not going anywhere so no one should be Untouchable in terms besides maybe those four guys and by Untouchable I mean you’d have to be blown away to to move them but like if a guy like samelson if the right deal comes I can see Adams entertaining that but also at the same times Adams did give out that contract to Samuelson so he sees something there so I doubt any of those guys are moved but I don’t know keep an eye on samelson I guess because it appears that teams have at least been calling Buffalo about him and we know as much as they might deny it Casey M did get traded when Adams did say he wasn’t shopping him so I don’t know and I did see a quick report yesterday that apparently the Ottawa Senators are Fielding offers for Brady kachuck if that tradeit ever happened I’m sure 31 other teams would come calling about the servic as a Brady kachuck I don’t think it would be just one or two teams that would be in on that I think every team would love to have a guy like Brady kachuck on their team so I’m not even going to entertain that pipe dream because I don’t think it’s realistic and if it was who knows I mean the Sabers do have the the top end assets and draft Capital to be able to make the move like that but I’m not going to get my hopes up because I think Brady kachuck is a top 10 player in the National Hockey League and and everything that he brings especially at a young age already a captain just uh such a dynamic two-way player that every team you know would want to love on their team so um I think that’s pretty much a pipe dream at this point but the rumor was out there so maybe we can you know hope and dream one day yeah I wouldn’t even entertain that because one if they do trade him like you said there’s going to be so many teams offering to I’m not this again this is not necessarily the way team should operate I can’t envision scenario where even if kachuck was on the trade block where the Senators would be willing to trade him to a division rival yeah I I don’t know I know there was rumors that Buffalo was interested in trading Ryan O’Reilly to the to the Habs so like I’m not saying it’s impossible but I got a feel that if kachuck was really wanted to get out I don’t know I just don’t see not I don’t see Buffalo being high on I don’t even know if he has trade protection or not but if he does I can’t imagine Buffalo being high on that list because not to be rude but they’re in this we’re a little bit more stable than Ottawa but it’s like the same same scenario his no move Clause kicks in in 24 25 so that’s why the rumors are coming out now that they have this option so he has he doesn’t have any trade protection right now so yeah I wouldn’t be surprised if they are Fielding offers because if he’s unhappy and you don’t want him to have all that power you got to do it kind of like you know what the Sabres did with eel per se but I still can’t Envision Ottawa being thrilled on trading him to division rival but yeah if he’s on the trade block and I’m Kevin Adams I I there would be no future asset that would be Untouchable I would trade a lot of pieces to get Brady K Chuck but again I just I don’t see it happening absolutely you look good in that bills Jersey playing for uh Team USA when the world juniors was here in uh was here in Buffalo but I think that’ll be the only time we’ll see him in a buffalo uh uniform so Austin as we approach you know this is the season finale episode as we go into the offseason here I guess what would be your ideal wish list to give the sabes like an A or an A+ as far as they had a great off seon hopefully when we come back and discuss that at some point in the summertime uh or into the fall as we uh come back for the next season to the show like where what would you be the most happy with with the Sabers doing uh at the draft and in free agency to really give you uh some hope that they are making real change here and trying to win um I think a move that if the Sabres make and again it doesn’t have to be this exact move but a move I would love to see see the Sabers make and I think it would really you know inject some excitement into this is acquiring a guy like Martin HS or Pavo bvic to be in your top six you know B navit comes with the risk of having only one year left on his contract but he’s a talented offensive player um Marty NES seems to be on the outs in Carolina um I do remember Buffalo having a lot of interest in him in his draft year they ended up going with middle stat instead but Buffalo was there was some interest there so maybe there’s some something to be had there but if one of those two moves were made I’d be extremely thrilled and then just go get go get a reliable you know bottom six center that has some offensive pop whether that’s a you know a guy like will Kier a guy like you know Eric Hall is a different style player but I wouldn’t mind seeing Eric H be signed or you know maybe trade for a guy like Nick W or something like that but if you can get any combination of a third line Center who has some offensive upside and a true scoring Winger to play in your top six I think it’s kind of hard to complain about an offseason like that and then anything else that happens after that would be gravy so those are the two moves that again players don’t necessarily matter to me but if you can if you can acquire actual players to fill those roles not like the uh the Connor Clifton which was I’m not saying was a bad signing but like when Clifton was signed I think it was touted more as he has a chance to be in the top four but it’s clear Conor Clifton is a third pair defenseman so like don’t get a guy that has potential to be a top six guy no no no get a true blue top six guy whether that’s free agency or trade I don’t care and then get a third line guy with some upside and don’t trade the 11th pick for tanero please um so as we wrap up the season Austin um you know thanks a lot for uh being the the co-host with me along for the ride uh this roller coaster that was the saber season along with all our listeners and uh look forward to hopefully having you back next season I know you got some other things uh in the pipeline as well but uh really look forward to continuing forward with the show we continue our growth on the network but uh it’s been fun being able to to talk Savers with you this season man yeah it’s always fun talk and Shop with you Brandon don’t worry we’ll be back next year we will be back so everybody enjoy the summer uh enjoy free agency enjoy the draft uh we’ll see what the Sabres do and we’ll see uh if they uh they uh you know do something enough for us to come on here and give you guys a bonus episode uh during uh the offseason but with that said that’s going to wrap it up for saber semantics right here in the armchair GM Sports Network proud you brought to by JNL floring and our season so thank you to everybody that listened and watched uh on the episode of this season listen to the podcast listen to Austin and I rant all season long both the coaching staff uh and other things regarding the Buffalo Sabers but we’ll be back better than ever next season and we thank you for tuning in so have a great summer enjoy the draft enjoy the offseason and for Austin broad my name is Brandon Caputo we’ll talk to you again very soon you’re listening to the armchair GM Sports Network

In our Season Finale episode Brandon Caputo and Austin Broad discuss the Buffalo Sabres outlook and plans going into the upcoming league events such as the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and NHL Free Agent Frenzy.

They also touch on prospects playing in the Memorial Cup, Lindy Ruff filling out the rest of his coaching staff and Sabres individual player performances over at the 2024 World Championships.

Intro: 0:00
02:45: Sabres at the World Championships
07:25: Matt Savoie and Vsevolod Komarov earning CHL League Champions
13:16: Finalizing Lindy Ruff’s coaching staff
29:46: What to do with the 11th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft?
39:20: Free Agent Frenzy game plan come July 1st and beyond

Sabres Semantics is proudly brought to you by J&L Flooring: https://jandlflooring.com/

Intro Songs Credit:
Ivan from Guitar Logic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmy9KGCcfVA
Joe Bucci: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5ZiMjXQDtY&t=1s

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