Chad DeDominicis Talks Sabres Desperate For A Splash

Chad DeDominicis Talks Sabres Desperate For A Splash

welcome to talking Buffalo featuring conversations with guests from Around The World of Sports media pop culture and all things Buffalo with your host Patrick Moran all right what is going on everybody how you doing welcome to another episode of talking Buffalo your weekday daily driver for Buffalo Sports Talk am more today’s episode is presented by golf Dojo your space your time your game bring your game to golf Dojo Western New York’s best indoor golf experience visit my golf dojo.com uh my name is Patrick Moran and thank you very much as always for everyone out there watching listening following for subscribing I do appreciate y’all very much uh tomorrow we’re going to get into some Buffalo Bills camps stuff some previews of sorts we’ll put a recap a spin on some of what might have happened in recovers of Buffalo Sabres here on Monday later this week um on Friday I’m G to be with Channel 4 Sports newest uh sports reporter and AER Carl Jones is going to be with me for a show live from Imperial Pizza as for today we are starting a big week on this podcast and of course a big week possibly for the Buffalo Savers which means I’m going to bring in my a guy right now ch D Dominus from expected Buffalo one of my good buddies and a recurring guests on the show Through The Years what’s going on Chad how you doing buddy I’m good man how are you pretty good pretty good kind of you know getting a a little bit of relaxation time in this weekend a little bit of of fun so to speak before we get going here with hockey I know you uh we were talking for a few minutes before we rolled the camera here you went to elville up for the weekend huh yeah it was supposed to be so I went with uh I think there was 13 of us ended up going for friends bachelor party a nice relaxing one not one of those ones where like everyone goes like Miami Beach now or something crazy just to elville We were supposed to do two days of golfing we got into beautiful 18 holes on Friday but rained out on Saturday so that turned into beer games all day but it got nice at night so we were able to go out and you know hit the shrip in elville so yeah good time nice relaxing time two days and then back today and back to the Grind because it’s it’s it’s busy week it’s the last like busy week in the hockey calendar I guess you could say I was wondering if you plan because I know you were in elville this weekend and obviously the draft going on this weekend and like I said hockey most people are going to be listening or watching this sometime probably Monday morning maybe early Monday afternoon things are going to be in the full swing I was kind of wondering if you strategically place a little bit of a getaway on purpose the weekend going into this but it’s your buddy’s bachelor party so um I’m sure he didn’t know ahead of time when he was planning this about about the draft and stuff no usually not uh usually like the getaways things like that are uh in May or in like the middle of August so yeah I was with I had my phone on me for a lot of it um I I frustratedly I think after they pick 14 kind of checked out um on Friday and then Saturday Saturday morning when the draft start there was a lot going on so that was a little bit um I saw their second round pick and then obviously they made the one trade and then after that I was kind of like yeah and I just again checked out and but I’m back I’m full in now I’m excited I’m excited week I went to um before we dive into some Sabers and hockey talk here so this weekend in Buffalo downtown Buffalo there was a nickel City ComicCon and I’ve never been to one of those before I don’t know have you ever been to like one of those big comicons where they got a bunch of like C and D list celebrities that appear and stuff like that it was an eye opener man I I’ll tell you what dude if you want to do some legitimate serious nothing else but just people watching yeah this is the place to be I would imagine it’s like uh sports fanatics but instead of sports it’s Marvel and it’s cartoons and it’s anime and stuff like that just these Fanatics so many people were dressed up so much cosplaying um going on it was pretty wild pretty cool though I mean there were a ton of really cool uh merch tables up there and then like I said a couple rows of of celebrities that you you hear of and then a lot of them kind of fade away and you forget about them till you hear their names there were a couple you are a or at least you were a wrestling fan if I remember correct I used yeah I mean I used to be um and then I got in like WrestleMania like this year I got into like for a couple days I got into it the two days it was cool dragged me back in um I think like I watched the raw after like WrestleMania because you know got to see what happens and then I again there were um there were some some good old oldies with goodies there um rakhi was there oh nice I met I met Sergeant Slaughter he was there yes I saw a friend um when I was in elville sh me a picture with one of their friends with Sergeant Slaughter y yeah he was really cool man really personable guy yeah he was there uh Kane was there probably the whole biggest line of anyone I saw at these things was actually for Kane mck Foley was there I’m trying to think there might have been a couple other wrestlers but it was pretty cool man there were some uh of the casts from uh American Pie some of them were there Shannon Elizabeth was there which was the highlight of the day for me um she still looks gorgeous I mean oh my God she still is a knockout and she was really really cool uh Tara Tara Reed was there okay yeah she she’s seen some she’s been through a lot of rough times I’ll never sit there and publicly you know make fun of anything but yeah she she was there uh the Dukes of Hazard people were there which probably there were a lot of Dukes of Hazard fans Katherine Bach I mean God I was obsessed with her in the early What 80s you know 40 something years later I think she’s 70 years old looked it up today but anyway it was really fun 55 bucks just to walk in the door though that was kind of uh kind of wild but it it was fun man it was fun um all right let’s uh let me ask you this to this is the time of year now for you all right so you got the season obviously you’re covering the team during the season I that’s a grind yeah you get a little bit of downtime now you obviously jumping back into the grind right now free agency trades everything pretty much at this point now was on the table for the the Sabers in around the league do you get more excited this time of year like what is your favorite time of year is somebody whether it’s the Sabers or just as a hockey person you know who covers hockey is this among like the F most favorite time of the year for you right now yeah this time in around trade deadline time I mean I I can’t comment on from a covering the team perspective on the playoffs part yet because I just haven’t been able to do that uh but yeah I mean this is I don’t want to like say like there anything could happen like it could but even still like there’s realistic you know things you can hope for there’s things you can talk about there’s rumors that you hear and then you kind of Chase around like oh man that’d be really cool and then you find out 25 minutes later that wasn’t really true like oh that’s a bummer but then like you know then you go to the next one the next one um so yeah I mean it’s fun it’s exciting uh everybody’s excited really I mean it’s it’s it feels like Christmas Eve in a sense because the night before free agency everyone kind of goes to sleep dreaming of things and then you’re hopes of the guys you want them to go after and stuff like that so yeah it’s fun exciting um it really gets people interested uh this time of the year and then you know it’s also the time of the year too where you get a lot of anxiety and and down feelings and thoughts because of know this team what they’ve done uh so it’s hard to manage both ends of the spectrum for sure but it’s fine uh I would imagine Christmas is a little bit richer in some other cities than than maybe Buffalo like the expectations of what gifts you have under the Christmas tree might be a little bit different in s Tampa Bay or Pittsburgh or New York than it is um here in Buffalo by the way I also want to make sure that that Chad gets some props here too not that you’re out there seeking it but you did call a little more than a week ago you were reporting uh on Twitter that you heard through sources that Jeff Skinner was going to get bought out I mean there were growing rumblies at the time when nothing got of set and you reported you were the first one actually to report last week that you heard via multiple sources that buing an unforeseen trade that Jeff Skinner was gonna get bought out let’s kind of let’s start there right now maybe not such a surprise to you we’re you know we’re literally now into July but maybe four weeks six weeks ago would you have thought at the time that this is ultimately I mean there were Rumblings of it going on for a while now but to actually see this happen Jeff Skinner gets bought out going to be paying for the next six years or remaining three years of his contract get bought out by the Sabers which they announced over the weekend what’s your level of surprise right now and it say maybe like I said a month or so ago this was would have been more surprising to you yeah um because Adams and the Sabers overall are not a team that likes to do buyouts um right and so I mean I never really put on the table I just didn’t think financially it’s what they wanted to do uh so yeah I mean I I always thought they were going to try to see if they can find a trade um which just wasn’t in the cards he had no interest of moving his nor move Clause uh there were teams that tried that called um they had offers in the table and he just he wasn’t about it he wasn’t willing to move uh basically said you know I’d rather just free agency and and I get it you know he loses you know he gets two3 two-thirds of his remaining contracts he gets 14.6 of the $22 million remaining uh and then you know his thought probably is I’ll go to a team that could be in the playoffs because he’s played over a thousand games and has not played one playoff game so I’m sure he wants to do that and rightfully so uh he’ll sign out with a team that is going to be a playoff team and um low money deal and and make some money back I mean he can even do you know 1 million for a year uh or 1 million for three years kind of it’s basically what matth Shan did last year with the Dallas Stars one year $3.1 million and now he’s gonna cash in this year as a know a UFA I think he’s gonna go back to Dallas but still he’s gonna get a bigger contract than what he got last year so I think Skinner can try to go along the same lines there and then get into the playoffs and then try to cash in you know at 33 because those guys still get paid you know it’s older uh but if he proves he still has game left and I think he does I think in the right role um he he can still produce for a team he you know he’s still one of the better five on five scorers in the league uh so he’ll find a spot and um you know we’ll see where that goes for him for people who might not be aware and then you kind of explained it somewhat if you could elaborate a little more why do you think Jeff Skinner would not wave his no trade clause now obviously we don’t know the specifically the teams that were maybe attempting to trade for him so it’s kind of hard to really give too much reasoning not knowing that information but the fact that he’s still going to get paid by the Sabres even though he’s been bought out he’s still GNA see that money and like you said now he could be a free agent and kind of pick his team but do you think is as part of the reason why he would not wave a no trade for that reason so he’ still get his money and then essentially be a free agent or these teams that maybe were interested in him weren’t just they weren’t teams they that he wanted to go play for like what what what are the reasons why he would not wave his no trade CLA because it would seem especially if he’s getting his money regardless you know any any situation would be better for winning at least than Buffalo right now yeah I think it’s a few things the teams that I’m aware of that at this point I can’t share with anybody but the teams I’m aware of that called um and were interested they’re not teams I would say were are ones you would consider as definite playoff team so I think that’s part of it uh but I I think even beyond that I don’t think it really would have mattered who called um they’re just he just wanted to go to free agency and and it’s getting control of your situation you can see what’s out there you can see who’s interested in you and you can pick what destination you feels best who you want to go play with you have multiple options they’re all out there uh because all those teams that are really good you know playoff teams or high-end teams they don’t have the c space to take on$ four and a half million dollars and that’s what if the Sabers pertain to half that’s what they would had to take $4 half million for the next three years they just don’t have the cap space or the willingness to do that because their c space is so tight and they don’t want to waste $49 million on a gamble because really that’s what he is at this point um so yeah he goes into the open market I don’t think it’s going to take long for him to find somebody it might even be early tomorrow he has a new team already it would not surprise me I’m sure as agent’s been out there you know this is you know for over a week now we’ve heard about this probably happening and then when I confirmed it last week um so the agent’s been out there doing work so I’m sure he’ll have something lined up and he’ll be on his way but it was all about control and he’s earned that he put that into his contract he negotiated it in um and I have no issue with that you know especially where he is this point in his career um and I think he was very open his asent were very open with the Sabers from the beginning like and I think the Sabers were open with him too that they were looking to that they felt this was best for both to go their separate ways where the Sabres were going what they wanted to be and where he was at his this point in his career so I think it was an open dialogue an open conversation um and this is where it is he wanted to control this wanted to move on and you know both at the end of the day get what they want let’s play the uh maybe let’s play the speculation game a little bit or a couple destinations where you could see Skinner winding up with the premise that he’s probably gonna win to Stanley Cup somewhere in the next two or three years if he don’t do it Casey midd that’s doing it he goes to Colorado you pretty much can lock that cup up right now but in all serious what are a uh a couple destinations where you think he could potentially go to it and still be a good fit yeah I mean I think Toronto should be on the board because when he came to Buffalo um Buffalo and Toronto were the two teams he would wait for um so I think they’re out there if they have the cap space to do it but again if he’s goingon to take a low contract maybe he does um so I think Toronto has to be in there um and then beyond that it’s I don’t know um could the Rangers do it maybe if they can if they can move Jacob trouba and they find some CF space that’s a possibility um you really just I mean you can open a book and pull up teams in the playoffs last year I think it could be any them they can fit it in uh Nashville is a team I think could be really interesting for that they’ve done that before kind of that Reclamation project thing even Dallas is another team that likes to do that um so I think those are all options out there I really it’s tough to say if he wants to stay close to home and that’s important to him which it still might be then I think you would put toron to the top of the list or at least teams in this area um but if he’s all about winning um you know that puts everybody in there I mean if you want a Darkhorse team if he’s going to go low money um especially if Vegas is gonna lose Maro and they’re going to lose Chandler Stevenson as it looks right now um maybe they reunite him with old friend Jack eel out there in Vegas that is I think possibility if they can find cap space too how do how did it get to this like how did they how did it come to this to the point where they’re they’re buying out a guy who’s scored at least 33 goals three times you know on a on a team that at times is at least last year anyway not two years ago but last year struggled to uh to find the net there’s a school of thought that I don’t say his plays falling off a cliff but maybe it’s you know he’s in Decline now he didn’t look the same after coming back from an injury last year it’s just I don’t know man it’s it’s not surprising now but just you know even just a year ago man if you told me they’re going to be buying out Jeff Skinner I would I would be surprised um how did how did it get to this right now it’s it’s tough to figure out I think the team changed the team changed where they want to go um andan they have a new head coach obviously that is different uh and I don’t think that Lindy or Skinner would have buted heads if he would have end up staying I don’t think that’s it at all uh I think that they felt and perhaps rightfully so that he’s no longer a player that can handle top six minutes on the wing um and maybe he goes to a team where he’s like more of a middle six Winger and then he finds some space there and less time and they can shelter him and play him differently uh I think they wanted to replace him in their top six and they’re probably going to do that tomorrow over the next few days with somebody else and then they just didn’t think he was a fit with his defensive game in the bottom six I think they want their bottom six to be um defensively responsible now more of a matchup team in certain instes and play maybe a heavier game more of a four checking game because that’s been one of the criticisms on them for two years now is we know what they’re they’re a fast team they get out they can run they can go in transition uh but they they don’t have the second Pitch you know if a team starts that down you know under Granado and that can be part of coaching too is that you just he he didn’t know how to deal with that he had some issues with in-game management um or even making you know changes within a game so that’s could be part of it but they just they didn’t have the players that could play a four checking game and a grinded out game um and I think they’re looking for that and I mean if anything melen Stein is uh a sure sign that’s some of the direction they want their bottom six ahead and he just didn’t fit that and it’s good on them to realize that and not just try to you know shove a you know a square peg in a round hole so good for them to realize it and and act upon it um and try to put the best roster they are capable of but now on the ice how do you think Jeff Skinner ultimately is remembered by Sabers fans down the road like you you go on the Buffalo Bills side and you know Stefan digs production wise was incredible for the bills for four years Stefon Diggs also had some uh moments off the field there are I’m not even say reports it’s just flat out true Stefon digs wanted out of Buffalo and got traded um he didn’t publicly demand a trade but behind the scenes he wanted to be traded and ultimately he did get traded and the bills ate a lot of C money to get rid of him Sab side Jeff Skinner’s gone now that he gets bought out but no Jeff Skinner was never a problem in the locker room not there no not absolutely not yeah the off thing there for him no yeah fun guy funny guy uh I think he was pretty well liked by fans obviously maybe uh you know a lot of it is on him as well too but you know kind of like maybe the poster child for the drought you know a guy who’s played a thousand games and who’s never played in a single playoff game so I I get that too from that side from fans but ultimately when it’s all said and done I I honestly hate that so much I know I get it I get why it’s on him sure but he played for two organizations that couldn’t get out of the way couldn’t get out of their own way sure Carolina and then Buffalo and like I I get it he’s not the best defensive player by any means um and when playoff time comes around that is probably important um but this is one of the best five on five scores in the league throughout his career and that in in the league that includes oi and that includes all the he is top five in that category in the league so that says something um I I put no blame on their failures on him um he did what he was asked to do especially two years ago when he had that big that big season when they missed by a point um you make an argument besides Thompson I I think he was the second best player in that team that year um so you know what else is he supposed to do um it just it always bothers me that like we have these conversations about and I’m kind of I’m going off the rails a little bit here I promise I’ll bring it back but I mean we conversations about why the team is didn’t succeed and it’s because ah well Thompson didn’t score enough or cousins had a down year Dalene didn’t do his things or power didn’t do what he had to do and like it’s yeah sure but we never really look beyond the good players on the team and it’s always what frustrates me is yeah could they have played better at times in in certain situations of course absolutely but what’s around them is what the issue is they don’t if if they’re not at the top of their game the top of their Peak they don’t have a chance because the depth on the team is just not there to make up for it you can’t afford Thompson having a bad because there’s nobody else to step in you can’t afford power to have a rough month and a half as a 20-year-old and that happens as a sophomore in this league couldn’t afford it because there’s nobody behind him to step into that role and that’s what my Hope was this year they built some dep so if somebody has a bad month or bad few weeks you’re okay you can survive it um it’s June 30th at 911 and they have a lot of holes and we’ll see what they do but yeah I just I just want to get that off my chest like we always go after the top guys and and I think we need to dig deeper I I could agree with you more so obviously you at least hope that his legacy in Buffalo will be remembered fondly and that it deserves to be remembered fondly and you say a great Point man and it really resonates with me and I’m sure a lot of people watching and listening to not even just with the Sabers but maybe with sports and the importance of having depth in organizations like say the Buffalo Bills for example you know they get hard hit hard by injuries last year but they had the depth to and and their star players play like stars but they also had the depth to be able to withstand some of these injuries or just not playing as well and that is a great point with the Buffalo Sabers when you lack depth if a guy like Tage Thompson or Jeff Skinner gets hurt or they go into a funk for a while and there’s not anyone else there to pick up the slack that’s how you get buried that’s how you lose you know five out of seven games or something like that and you get buried in the standing depth is such an important part of any organization all right when it comes to the draft so the draft was Friday I think it was last Thursday where they announced to trade the day before the Sabers were on the clock for the 11th pick but they traded back to 14 yeah and picked up 43 Twitter kind of exploded in that moment right away I mean it didn’t even have to wait until to see how the draft unfolded which turns out a lot of people were pissed off probably we’re Justified for it as far as I’m concerned at the end of the day but what was your instant in the- moment thought when the savers who were scheduled to pick 11th trade back to pick up an extra second round pick and and now they’re picking 14th oh it was I smart move you moved back three picks and got a free second round pick out of it not only a free second round pick but now you picked back toback at 42 and 43 which is great to have in your pocket um so I loved it I mean it’s it for me the second San Jose and offered that called and offered that sure especially in that in this dra I mean it it depend on the draft class but in this class really your drop point was about seven to eight where you start where you hit a cliff and I don’t want to say Cliff but there’s the ne then the next tier is in and I think it’s a little bit of a bigger Gap um and they’ve talked about before they made that trade when Adams and foron talked that uh they thought they had a group of players in that spot where they could get somebody they liked and it ended up being that way um now admittedly the guy that I wanted uh Z buam was still there at 11 so that was a little bit frustrating in the moment but I mean you know it is what it is and they ended up moving that second round pick for you know the guy that well one of the second round picks for the guy they got but yeah I mean I make that trade every day of the week I had no issue at all I understand there’s some people why would you do it before um the draft I don’t know what’s there but he could have went and did it with somebody else so if you don’t taking the moment he’s calling the next team the next team does it and then it’s oh why why didn’t you do that like you know it’s so yeah take it um I thought it was weird for San Jose to move up three picks and they didn’t move really off they didn’t move off of 11 either um again for them they don’t know who’s going to be there so that’s kind of odd like who were you trying to go get at 11 I thought maybe they were trying to jump go from 14 to 11 and then jump again um maybe they were and they just couldn’t um but yeah I I I thought it was a good deal there were some so again I was following the draft watching it and also following it live on Twitter and I am certainly not going to sit here and pretend that I know pretty much anything about these prospects because I positively do not I rely on information that I read people that I talk to people like yourself included and that’s how I kind of form opinions on these people there not my fir they’re not firsthand opinions from me but what I did see a lot of was Sam Dickinson and then boo right right after going they ended up going 11 and 12 and there were a lot of people saying that these guys would have been outstanding fits in the sabers organization and that one or both of them were going to be expected to be gone before the Sabres would pick at 11 and ultimately they were both there and both guys go 11 and 12 and that kind of pissed off a lot of fans and I even seen reaction from a few media members you I want say pissed off that would be a little bit of Overkill saying that when it comes to Media people covering the team but certainly surprised were were were you surprised that both if the Sabers didn’t make this trade and they’re on the clock at 11: that both uh Di and Bo were bolt there no I would not have expected that Dickinson I’m I think I’m more surprised okay uh because he was a late Riser and even like you know Bob McKenzie’s Prospect rankings they come out are pretty good um and they’re right around where guys go and I think he had Dickinson six so to have him slide to 11 seem like a little bit of a surprise um I mean the the kid that went third overall was even a surprise I mean the kid himself was shocked that he was picked then um so I think that kind of maybe scrambled some things a little bit um yeah I I mean I I get it um like if the Sabers held 11 there’s nothing to say that they wouldn’t have took the guy they took I think they probably would have toen the guy that they took to be perfectly honest from what I know um so you know sure in the moment you’re those the guys you wanted and you you know but um I think they a lot of teams say we we don’t know put the guy we wanted anyways but from people I’ve talked to from what I know I legitimately think was 11 or 14 um this that this was the player they were going to take all right let’s uh let’s do this we’ll take a real quick break come back on the other side I’m going talk about the player that the Sabers did take we’re going to talk about the trade that they did make very strong reactions from a lot of people on this trade obviously I want to get your thoughts on that and then we’ll spend a few minutes kind of setting up this week and maybe some of what you anticipate may happen so we’ll take a real quick break come back and then we’ll do [Music] that all right I am back here with my buddy Chad D diminus talking some hockey today all right um so the Sabers trade down they’re on the clock at 14 think that they’re maybe a trade coming you know that maybe this is part of a package for you know this maybe a prospect for a veteran whatever done happen in I’m making the pick it’s uh CA helenus 8 Ford from Finland and again Chad I got to emphasize this I don’t know nothing about the dude except for what I’ve seen with the highlights and you know read since then so not going to try to front there but people were exploding on social media hated to pick I don’t know if it’s necessarily they hated the player I think maybe they hated the fact that the Sabers didn’t make a trade well I think they hated the fact that they made a pick and that they took yet another skilled you know but not a very big forward to add to this mix what were your thoughts you don’t G that what are your thoughts what what is your take on the saber selection of Casa helenus at 14 so here’s the thing like the small thing I’ve seen that a few times like the Sab all they picked another small forward mhm he just turned 18 years old in he’s 5’1 if he shows up to am training camp at 6’1 is he no longer a small forward like right it’s an eight it’s a kid it’s still a kid and he’s he’s almost six foot already he could show up to development camp tomorrow in be six foot like you know what I mean like like that like if he’s 5 foot n like okay fine but like come on like he’s not small uh maybe like weight size he’s small but again it’s a it’s an 18-year-old kid like he’ll grow into his body think it’s okay um so that part is is we’ll set that aside I don’t think it’s small forward thing at all uh the other thing here is he has skill in his game but he’s more of a two-way player kind of in the sense of what Benson was coming out where a lot of people would tell you yes he’s got the offensive upside he’s got that skill don’t get me wrong but his defense is good and we seen how good it was because he could step right into the NHL to 13th overall pick at 18 years old and be good we saw that and I think helenus has a little bit of that same feature in him now I don’t think it’s to that level I still think Benson is is GNA be a better player at the end of the day as a higher ceiling um but I I think that there’s I think here is more of your this is your down the road third line Center on this team he’s not going to go compete with Tom is not going to compete with cousins um I think if what he is is if Krebs fails he’s the guy who slides in there uh and he’s not that far away there’s a very good chance that he’s in Rochester next year then the year after that could be in the NHL um I think he thinks that I think his Camp thinks that and I think the Sabres think that and I think that is what we may see unfold next season we’ll see how development Camp goes and um all of that throughout the summer but I think that’s a realistic possibility that he plays in Rochester next season do you think that maybe taking him in the first round and let’s say you’re right and let’s not put him in the NHL this year let’s say he plays a season in Rochester and let’s say he’s here a year from now 15 months from now whatever it may be do you think that might alter Kevin Adams and the organizational the thinking of all right we know we need a a third line Center and we’re gonna have to get one this summer whether that’s if it’s not going to be cribs whether it’s going to be via trade or whether they’re going to throw some money at a free agent but yeah because you dra and you might think two years down the road this is going to be our third line Center that that might affect what they’re trying to do starting today when people are watching or listening this in terms of who they may get to either compete with Krabs as that third Center or maybe Krabs is the fourth Center however it ends up working on who knows maybe KRA is getting traded we don’t we don’t know yeah but do you think that maybe that third Center that they’re attempting to get having Tage and having Dylan cousin locked in and a guy who probably might only be a year away that that might have they they’re not going to be looking to give a long contract to whatever third line Center that they’re they might be fishing for right now no I don’t think that impacts anything um no I think they are solely focused on making the playoffs this season nothing else in their Prospect pool matters they’ll figure that out when the time comes their focus is on being a playoff team this year everything else is secondary uh so I don’t think who they pick affects that I think if you want to say what it affects is players in their pool um I think it makes Matt seavoy possible to be moved more likely I think it makes Noah aen potentially more likely to be moved um and I don’t throw YY Kik in there because I think it’s very unlikely that he would be moved I think they really like him and I think that they I would anticipate he’s on the team next year in a lower role I’m not saying he’s going to be a prominent player but I think he’s on the roster next year uh but I I think seavoy Asen in particular um with the selection of Helen helenus now move into the focus of the two prospects that they could move um to get a player to help them now so Friday night they trade back on Thursday they make a pick on Friday they don’t make a trade it’s a player and again I think fans generally speaking hated the making the pick more than hating the player that they picked you know what I mean because there are a lot of people hoping for a trade and you know that first round pick and you know yet another first round Prospect in the pool that’s never ending a pipeline so I get that all right I will say nobody nobody traded one of their picks a lot of teams wanted to right nobody did so I kept trying to tell people warn people those this year that first round pick did not have as much value as people thought because of the Class A lot of people trying to move their picks nobody did right that’s a good point to make all right so now we get into uh Saturday again I’m at I’m at Nickel City Comics con or whatever was and you are chilling out in elville getting rained out playing golf and the Savers make a trade like all right here we go they got that second round pick extra second round pick they flip it they get a trade and they trade for Beck malen Stein and again keep sounding like a broker record here he’s not a prospect he’s been in the league but I’m not going to sit here and try to pretend like I can give you a lot of information or or thoughts or takes Beck manstein I certainly can’t from what everything I’ve seen a decent bottom six guy likely a fourth liner a good uh penalty kill guy a guy who’s going to hit yada yada yada okay a couple parts here a your thoughts on the trade B did the Sabers overpay because a lot of of the complaining that I saw where there were other second round picks that were moved for players that were better to significantly better than Beck marenstein and the last part that’s kind of almost a rhetorical question I was going to ask you are you surprised by the negative reaction in the moment from fans which I think that would be a foregone conclusion because you’re trade trade trade we’ve been hearing about it for weeks and the Sabers finally pulled trigger on a trade and it’s for Beck binstein your thoughts yeah it was it was surprising um surprising in the sense that I think for me more because leading up to that uh right after the DU trade happened I started to hear some stuff about the capitals and the Sabers and it did around a little bit and I thought it was a different player thereafter um than the one they got so that surprised me in that sense um it’s all surprised me because I just didn’t have them on my radar at all um and and even Washington you know I think their GM said today they did no plans to move him but Buffalo made him an offer they couldn’t refuse so they they made the move there uh and that gets back to yeah I I certainly think it was an overpayment I don’t think I don’t think that getting the player is horrible I think the price they paid for it on terms of value was pretty bad um so I I think that’s my main issue the player itself um look I I haven’t watched a ton of Beck mste sign either after this week um my plans to kind of you know go watch Know believe it or not I do watch the games uh I plan to go watch him a couple of his games in Washington uh and kind of just get refreshed on his game and see you know if anything I’m missing because the numbers behind him Alisa the public sphere they’re not great um I know they brought him in here to be a defensive guys defensive numbers are not good now it’s worth noting that in the entirety of the league uh he and Nick Dow received the heaviest defensive usage in the entire league so like they it was all defense for them their job was to play defense and they received some of the heaviest defensive minutes in the entire league MH so that’s something to take into into consideration so that could complain some of the numbers being poor but Dow’s numbers are actually pretty good defensive he um I just wonder I and I in watching him last year in in the AHL playoffs against the AMS they played Hershey uh in the Conference Finals and manstein was a menace uh I mean that entire team just it’s a bunch of veterans that just go around and just Crush people in I mean they they’re back toback called their Cup champions for a reason uh but manstein was a menace in that series um and now remember Seth aer’s on the sabr coaching staff so I think he saw that and I think some of the scouts like the player and I think that’s the kind of guy looking for um bass hits um beyond that I have questions about how good a defensive players I have questions about how good of a penalty killer he is because his penalty kill numbers admittedly are are difficult to track um in instances but they’re they don’t look great um right so again I I have some questions on that too but we’ll see um you know if you’re somebody who’s unlike me who thinks Genson I think Genson is a good player um but this is your Genson upgrade probably um and I don’t think they got a better player here if I’m being perfectly honest but you know you don’t want gurgenson you want somebody different you got somebody different and sometimes it’s you don’t be careful what you wish for kind of thing I was goingon to say different does not always equate to um to better so an actual like Savers team news besides Skinner buy out becoming official over the weekend on Sunday they’ve made qualifying offers Krabs meilenstein uh Yoki Haru UPL no surprises with any of this did not qualify Jacob Bryson which doesn’t automatically mean or Bryson that he’s a that he’s gone that’s not correct that’s not automatic but going back to to marenstein because of all the comments that I was monitoring on on Saturday when the trade went down one of the funniest but yet also I mean it was funny but it’s not entirely inaccurate is somebody called him Beck they were quotations in the middle said Beck I have a I have no no trade clause in my contract marenstein is a buffalo saber meaning he didn’t have [ __ ] to say about it he was not GNA control getting traded do you think that maybe the average fan right now and maybe even some people who might talk about the team cover the team write about the team whatever are underestimating a little bit the fact that nobody pretty much nobody I don’t say no I don’t say nobody but almost nobody wants to willingly come to Buffalo whether it’s free agency whether it’s having a big or even a limited not trade like a list of teams because a lot of people don’t understand it’s but hockey players a lot of them in their contracts have at least some form of no trade yeah but like it’s hard for and I I got I I I took some [ __ ] I kind of defended Kevin Adams on social media a little bit this week I said in all fairness to him you know I think he’s playing against a stack deck because the player pool that he’s got to draw from in terms of trades or trying to sign don’t want to come here and that’s kind of his fault as well but do you feel like do you feel like maybe the average fan they kind of underestimating a little bit the fact the job’s kind of hard when don’t nobody want to come here do you agree with that yes I think it makes his job more difficult so I think there’s there’s two parts of this for me it makes this job more difficult um understandably got it but your job is to close on trades and at the end of the day if you can’t do that then I got to find somebody else who can and I get the circumstances you work within got it um so I completely appreciate that but still it’s your job this year this year Blake lash like he pulled he pulled that lash like I tried this is all I could do and you know the the crap situation wasn’t great for a lot of teams and didn’t go up and and and I understood that and I kind of gave him some like all right well you know that’s the way it is some people wouldn’t wave he thought he had some deals nobody really made Moves because the cap that Adams was pretty open wasn’t he Chad he was pretty open this week about talking about trying to make trades and and it not happening I mean usually you’re a little bit more Coy about when you’re trying to make trades behind the scene he was really open about it wasn’t he he probably shouldn’t have been to be honest he probably should have kept that in his back pocket that probably wasn’t the best thing to put out there um but I think part of that could be his frustration though is that he’s trying to get things done and he can’t um for whatever reason so that that’s one side of it he still got to be able to close at the end of the day the other side of it on terms of around the league I think as I said that he’s dealing with some issues year mhm but I think that it’s also a little bit overstated at times and I think that there’s things playing into it that people are saying or thinking that aren’t entirely true like I’ll take Marty NES for an example um I this isn’t anything new I tweeted out before I came into came on to your show um there was a report from one of the big guys I think it was LeBron that the Sabers the Sabers had a first- round pick on the table for an HS completely they really were not entirely that interested in that player um and I think a lot of people thought when that didn’t happen is oh because he’s not gonna come to Buffalo he’s not gonna sign a contract so you know it’s another guy who didn’t want to come here not the case just just not the guy they’re interested in in Carolina they just it was overhyped I think by Carolina putting things out there because 15 minutes after LeBron’s support was a report that oh the Jersey Devils want to put their 10th overall pick out on the board for NS and again didn’t happen he’s still on that team and he probably is going to stay there now with gensel leaving um and I and I think like a guy like nikila is who’s been out there I I don’t think the know trade Claus is an issue there um no try Claus for John Marino he play he was with Lindy Ruff last year New Jersey didn’t come here assumtion was probably wouldn’t wave there’s a reason he didn’t come here but that wasn’t it um so I just think it gets a little bit over inflated while he’s still dealing with a stack deck like you said I think think that there’s a point now where because it’s been it’s happened to a few times where no trades have stopped him um that I think we’re we’re leaning too much the other way in reality and we’ll see tomorrow on free agency because there could be some things happen that surprise people um but that I think we could completely change this narrative um but you know we’ll have to see if again if some of those things get across the Finish Line yeah and I want to remind people too we’re recording this Sunday so as of right now as we’re recording it’s roughly 9:30 or so on Sunday night so you might be waking up and catching us later in the morning or afternoon and maybe the Savers have done something big at all right at that point you know what’s funny I was going to like in my notes I have like a little bit of a an outline that I wanted to make sure that I touched up on on with you and one of them was going to be Pat Kane because we talked we sat at Imperial Pizza last year you were my guest on a a live show at Imperial Pizza and we talked about Kane and at the time dude had a lot to prove you know he was coming off the surgery and stuff um he ended up of course signing with Detroit and most people were not you know really optimistic about how he was going to look and understandably so because again he had a lot to prove but he did prove that and he proved to be a still a good player he signed on Sunday or he’s about to sign it’s not official as we record this anyway but it looks like he’s going to be back in Detroit for another year so scratch the hole is Pat Kane to the Sabers R head coach any kind of reality a little surprised though that he’s not even going to test free agency that he’s it appears he’s going back to Detroit because I would have thought there would have been some pretty Keen interests in him on the open market he he knows what’s there look yeah everybody knows what’s there there there’s I know I know the market doesn’t open yet they know by now though right look 1202 tomorrow it’s going to flood in whoa how did these 15 guys already sign it’s because of let’s say I don’t know 25 free agents 13 of them know where they’re going tomorrow it’s already done locked in know pesi pesi is going to New Jersey he’s how how do they know that well he’s not supposed to be freeg they can’t even talk to I’m like well you know right right what is uh all right so let me ask you this as as we wind down here that first line is pretty if you’re going to put PKA on the first line you know that first Line’s pretty sad you got C qu let’s just for the sake of discussion let’s put for now B there okay even though they get a Winger and B would be on the third line let’s just put him there for now and let’s say for now that fourth line ultimately ends up being Krebs Greenway and the new guy M and sign let’s just for you know shits of Giggles that’s the fourth line basically they’re putting a third line together and let’s give kulick the nod and say that he’s goingon to make the roster so you’re probably looking at two forwards that they’re going to look to add third line Center and know like I said a Winger who maybe is the second or third top bottom six top nine whatever you want to call it what is your like realistic at least somewhat realistic right now you’re you’re kind of like if you’re a Sabers fan and you’re covering the team but like whether it’s a trade Target whether it’s free agent Target somebody who think is at least remotely realistically a a possibility for the Sabers to lock in on starting here on Monday somebody I thought and to be very clear I have no inside info on this I do not know if they’re interested I do not even know if it’s real but I’m putting pieces of the puzzle together on this one and okay that’s Tyler to Foley so for a few reasons one he played for Lindy Ruff last year New Jersey if he liked playing for Ruff and if that went well okay there’s one check uh two you’ve heard a lot of chatter about these top pre agents and he’s one of them but there’s not a lot of chatter on him and it’s interesting because Kevin Adams is a general manager that kind of works in the dark mostly not a lot gets out especially about guys inquiries I mean Beck millstein the perfect example nobody in the world talked about Beck millstein and here he is right um so I think things being quiet on that also fits the Sabers you know in the sabers check uh and the third thing is he’s a guy that they can take $31 Mill of cap space and just throw a ton of money at him in short-term deal and say here take my money and he’s then your probably your second line Winger um he has the ability he can still score a lot of goals in this league he can play in the on the power play um you know he’s I don’t think he has the speed he used to have but his type of game he doesn’t need that um he’s still a finisher and an efficient player so again I don’t have anything in any insight I’m I’m going more off a gut in more puzzle right ping together things here but he’s somebody that I’m I’m interested to see what happens with him tomorrow is Tas a pipe dream yeah no no he’s not leaving Toronto yeah don’t think so no you know if they could find a good third line Center and say you played him with Benson and kle feel like that could be uh yeah yeah an interesting third line Chandler Stevenson is somebody that I know Lance lowski has mentioned that he he believe reported he said in his podcast I think it was that he’s high in the list um and I believe him I don’t love it um especially if he’s going to be a center I don’t I don’t think he’s a center anymore I think he’s more of a Winger but I don’t think he’s the Winger that they need um in terms of like a Top Line top six Winger that doesn’t really fit there’s some sure signs of decline there and then I also have some anxiety about taking him out of Vegas’s system into Buffalo like there’s a lot of like there’s a lot of I’ve seen this movie before with Chandler Stevenson that makes me nervous then the money he would get the contract um so this is one of the few times I’m hoping Lance is wrong on that because it last top last topic Before I Let You Go we kind of hit on this or at least hinted at this a little bit earlier too do you feel at this point Kevin Adams is uh I don’t say he’s not coaching for his job but he’s gming for his job this summer like things he’s got to get it right this sub didn’t do enough it it appears now and and it’s easy to have the power Hinds set a year later but yeah last summer not good enough this was a team that almost made the playoffs two years ago doesn’t make the playoffs right now they’re buying out Jeff Skinner uh I think maybe Lindy Ruff being the head coach it could be a great hockey move but I think also in the PR department which is not nothing I think that buys you a little bit of Goodwill maybe that buys you a little bit of time too but I feel like if this year doesn’t work out if this team doesn’t make the playoffs or at least they’re not there dude really late really late in the season fighting for a playoff spot that this could be uh Kevin Adams is on really thin ice type situation do you what your gut tell you about that yeah yes 100% um it’s playoffs or bust essentially um within reason um if he misses by a point and T and delene miss 45 games then he okay fine he probably survives one more year he gets one more year with Lindy’s last year of his contract if if that type of scenario unfolded um but if they miss then yeah I I think he’s in serious trouble and I I just really hope it doesn’t happen because I I want this front office to succeed because I think they have some really smart people there um and it would be a shame to start over because I I again I think they have a really good front office in place um and it’s not just the analytics guys I I think over like The Scouting staff I I think um Jason carmos has an excellent associate general manager who I think is going to be GM in this league one day um so I hope it works out for them um and I’m for me like I I I’m not in the mood to start over again I don’t think it like could be a full tear it down rebuild restart but then it’s it’s a new general managing staff it’s a new sure they get their guys in here some of those guys goes out and then it’s okay how long we got play this game for and you know remember okay we’re at 14 15 16 like you know so I I hope it comes together for them this year um sitting here right now like we say it’s not promising as we talked about throughout this 45 minutes there’s a lot of holes to fill here um yeah I I hope I hope it breaks for him the right way you get a sense too that he’s feeling that pressure like I said I was a little bit taken back almost by the fact that he was openly talking about like I look it was almost he didn’t say this but almost to me watching him in action in his press conference a couple days ago it almost felt like he was saying hey look man I’m trying you know I’m trying I’m trying to make trades right here people don’t want to play ball with us kind of like almost like a a frustration coming from the general manager that’s how that’s the sense I got anyway I think that’s fair and because I think I think he knows the enormity of the situation and I think he wants to win and I think he wants to win for this team he wants to win for this city um you know Kevin’s a very passionate guy from what I understand about his job and and I think he’s the right I think he does it right it’s not all on him it’s not he’s of course he approves all the decisions but one of the things I like about from his management styles he takes a lot of input from the smart people he has around them his couting staff his numbers guys caros um foron now who got elevated um it’s really an ultimate team effort there um it’s not just Adams like just doing what he wants and and okay you think this well too bad I want the guy I’m going to go do it he he takes that input in he makes you know an informed decision and that’s that’s that’s if I was in that role that’s how I would do it too yeah so I think that’s kind of why you know I mesh and I hope that works out I hope that style works out because I think if they brought in somebody else it wouldn’t be that same style because I think at that point then I think the NHL might step in and go okay we’re going to get a veteran guy in there or you’re you’re gonna put one in there Terry that’s what you’re doing tell uh tell people what you got coming down to shoot here you Anthony and staff over at expected Buffalo again free agency starts like now today and things like that so what do you guys got uh coming down with you what do you got planned with your show and your oh man um hopefully a busy next couple days U hopefully not just sitting around here and we’re just twiddling our thumbs and be like well they still could do this kind of Articles um so hopefully some things to go over but we’ll be on top of it um I know that Eddie has some things um in the pipeline I checked before we started that he’s working on um melen Stein stuff too um Austin who’s done a great job um doing the draft and all of our draft content specifically was free this year for everybody to check it out uh he does have a full WP on the Savers picks that went out this morning I want to um so definitely check that out because it’s not only on the first round pick like the dude knows guys I were pick like like in depth on in the seventh round so check that out cuz he will defitely give you a good feel of what they did and how they did in this draft um and then yeah I mean I have my night before free agency podcast I’m going to put together as soon as we hang up here uh so that’ll hit tomorrow too so it’s going to be a fun few days uh it’ll be exhausting um not a lot of sleep next three four days leave the fourth July but then after that um it calms down so it’s time to it can refresh at that point yeah for sure and everyone make sure you’re following Chad on Twitter at CMD diminus and of course check out expected Buffalo always a pleasure having you on buddy thanks Pat I appreciate it all right guys and like I said I’ll be back with a new episode tomorrow we’re going to talk some Bill’s Camp story lines and hopefully I’ll recap of some of what happened with the Buffalo Sabers on Monday talk to you then [Music]

On this episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran is joined by Chad DeDominicis of Expected Buffalo to discuss the start of what’s absolutely going to be a critical offseason for the Buffalo Sabres and in particular, general manager Kevyn Adams.

As you’re listening or watching this the official start of NHL free agency will be underway. Meanwhile the NHL Draft has come and gone and the Sabres, to the chagrin of many of their fans didn’t do much over the weekend—highlighted by trading down from the 11th pick three spots and acquiring an extra second-rounder, a pick they parlayed into someone very likely to be a fourth line forward.

Chad has plenty of thoughts on how the opening weekend of player movement and the draft played out, including Buffalo moving down three spots from 11 and in the process costing themselves an opportunity to select one of two highly touted defensemen both on the board for the Sabres original pick, Sam Dickinson and Zeve Buium, a player Minnesota moved up to get at pick No. 12. Did Adams drop the ball by prematurely moving back? The extra pick led Adams to trading with Washington and acquiring pending restricted free agent Brent Malenstyn, a physical player who is excellent in some areas of the game but isn’t going to offer a lot offensively (just six goals in his first full NHL campaign last season).

Of course, Buffalo did make a pick at No. 14 and Chad shares his thoughts on Konsta Helenius.

At least through this point the Sabres biggest move was making the buyout of Jeff Skinner official. The Sabres now save $7.5 million in cap space for this season but will be paying Skinner for the next six years instead of three. Chad has plenty to say about Skinner, his legacy in Buffalo and if he agrees with the organizational decision.

They also discuss some of the names Buffalo should be targeting as free agency kicks in addition to the possibility of a trade(s) coming down the pipe as well as Adams very likely having his job on the line based by how this summer and upcoming season goes plus That and plenty more with Chad, who you can follow on Twitter @CMDeDominicis and be sure to check out Expected Buffalo.

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