Best of the Sabres on WGR: Reactions To The Trade Deadline Deals

Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?

Right.

And the best part?

They accept Discover.

Accept Discover?

In a little place like this?

I don't think so, Jennifer.

Oh yeah, huh.

Discover's accepted where I'd like to shop.

Come on, baby.

Get with the times.

Right.

So we shouldn't get the parachute pants?

These are making a comeback.

I think.

Discover is accepted at 99% of places

that take credit cards nationwide.

Based on the February 2025 Nilsen report,

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at committing to your workout,

at showing up every day.

At Bombas, we're pros too.

Pros at making socks.

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for whatever sport you're committed to.

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and use code audio for 20% off your first purchase.

That's bombas.com and use code audio.

Attention, fans of jury duty.

The groundbreaking comedy series is back for season two.

Featuring an all-new cast,

this installment takes the comedy out of the courthouse

and into the mountains above Malibu

for an annual company retreat.

The catch?

Everyone but the new guy is an actor.

Oh yeah, and the company is fake.

Get to know all the employees of Rockin' Graham's Hot Sauce,

a family business with everything on the line.

Season two arrives with bigger laughs, higher stakes,

and the same heart that made the first season

a cultural phenomenon.

And here's the fun part.

You'll be able to try all four flavors

of Rockin' Graham's Hot Sauce on Amazon.

jury duty presents company retreat

is now streaming on prime video.

Don't miss the feel-good comedy

everyone's going to be talking about.

Get to Paul Hamilton in a few minutes here.

Jeremy and Joe, good morning.

Happy Friday.

What else happened yesterday that make it buried

by the bills making a trade

and the savers making two trades and winning again?

The game.

The game gets buried.

The game where Malkin slash Dalline in the throat.

Tremade Edmunds got released.

Yeah.

Um, there was a brand-in-I-Uq report

about the commanders, which shouldn't surprise anybody.

Right.

He's got a connection with Jaden Daniels.

They're looking at a one-year prove-it-deal.

They would like to sign him to that.

I don't think I saw anything else.

There were hockey trades, but nothing that jumped off the stage.

No blockbuster hockey trade, right?

No, Nicholas Waw went to Colorado,

and Toronto got a first, but...

Conditional for trade.

After seeing that chart from the first round picks

traded from, like, in the last 15 years

and having no good players on it, I just can't.

I can't get on board with the idea

that, like, those are even big trades.

If a team is trading a late first round pick

for someone else's third liner.

Right.

The savers in the last 24 hours have traded away

a 2026 third fourth and sixth

and a 2027 second.

And I'm here to tell you, none of those matter.

They will never matter.

Likely.

Sure.

Don't even worry about it.

The seconds are like, it's like 33% that they make the lead.

If you want to get that back,

you could get that back in a heartbeat.

It will never matter.

A 2027 second round pick has the equal value

to a coupon for a free ice cream cone.

But the store where you get the ice cream cone

is a 35-minute drive away.

What?

What are you gonna make the drive?

That's the value.

It's not...

Oh, because you're not gonna see it.

It's not worth an ice cream cone next to your house.

It's an ice cream cone that's a 35-minute drive.

That's a second round pick.

Not worthless.

Yeah.

I mean, some teams are trading 2029 picks around.

Oh, that's the same person I've even done that.

That's an ice cream store that's two hours away.

Hey, Paul Hamilton joining us on the Western Hotline.

Hey, Paul.

Hey, guys.

How are you?

How'd you like that game last night?

Well, they finally did something to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I mean, the penguins have been kind of

a thorn in their side.

And you were talking about it yesterday.

You're exactly right.

It seemed like he'd come to Pittsburgh and Buffalo

thinks to lead.

Maybe he gets a two goal lead.

And that gets the second pair.

And actually, you know, if I'm going to score three

and they're at it, they went,

I mean, it just seemed like no matter who the savers

had on their team,

that's what would happen when they go to Pittsburgh.

And they'd lost to them twice this year.

But they had a pretty dominant game.

Malcolm kind of helped the way,

because from that point on,

I thought the savers really took over.

Yeah.

And, you know, it had a nice game.

And it's kind of weird when you see three short-handed goals.

Score two by Buffalo and one by Pittsburgh.

And Joe, am I allowed to troll Jeremy?

About what?

Of course.

Yeah.

Well, it's here.

That's OK.

Yeah.

I'm giving approval.

OK.

Jeremy, the savers have a power play goal.

They're last 11 games.

I did bring that up all believable.

I did bring that up.

And then Joe pointed out,

it didn't take four of the five minutes to get it.

Yeah.

But that's OK.

Coaches will tell Paul,

please don't get frustrated.

Well, all right.

But wait,

but they also gave up a shorty,

which means they're even on the night on the power play.

If you give up a short-handed goal, you're even.

Although, wait, to be fair,

they also got a short-handed goal.

So that doesn't go in your power play stats.

Their power play was even.

The two games they did not get a power play goal was Vegas.

And they only had one power play.

Wasn't yesterday kind of the same thing, Paul, right?

Like, I watched,

like, and they had a lot of opportunities, right?

They, they do get a power play goal.

And I feel like I can't be mad about it because they scored.

But I still don't feel like it looks good.

Yeah.

And that's the problem with it.

I mean, they might,

they might in a certain game get four power plays,

score a goal.

And the other three are like,

what are you doing?

Right.

type of a thing.

I mean, that, that was everything you'd want in a power play.

You, you, you, you got guys going to the net.

You get a good rebound.

Norris is going to the net.

Pops it in.

And, you know, that's what you're looking for in a power play.

So,

but,

then you watch some of the other power plays in a game.

Then you scratch your head going,

what are you guys doing?

You know,

it's, it's, it's,

it's a very strange

dynamic.

It was a strange game too, right?

Like, it was a parade to the penalty box.

I mean, there was the Malkin penalty, which, you know,

ended up being a lot of the Pittsburgh penalty minutes,

but you had 13 penalties called in the game.

It felt like you barely got any five on five time at some stretches.

Yeah,

because what,

what we're noticing like the Vegas game,

there were hardly any power and quite honestly.

And, you know,

I don't like NHL officiating.

I don't think the officials missed all that much in the Vegas game.

I don't think they were letting a lot go.

It's just,

they're working, they're all,

we're really all that many penalties to call.

And, but we have seen, I think,

a lot of playoff officiating recently,

where they're basically letting a lot go,

and unless you basically flip the puck over the glass

or do what Malkin did,

or do what Dallene did to make Malkin do that,

you're,

you're,

you're,

you're, you're,

you get to a point now where we're watching playoff refereeing.

Paul Hamilton,

Paul,

Mary,

this is one of the main people,

it's such a great ideation before we get to the trades.

The sabers ceiling.

Can they,

how far can they go?

And I want to ask a second version

of it,

how far can they go

if Josh Nora is in the lineup the whole time?

Josh Nora said,

in the postgame show last night,

reason having the most fun of his career,

many is acting like,

hit on the ice.

He just was sniped for a while.

He was,

he was getting,

chances,

but they weren't going into the net,

So, you know, it's one of those things, yeah, if he can stay healthy, you know, look at

what they're doing.

I mean, guys, March 5th, yesterday was March 5th, on March 5th, they went past last year's

point total, and there's still 20 games to go.

Last year, they had 79, they now have 80, you know, so you look at that and, you know,

that's just telling it a great big smile on his face afterwards saying, isn't this much

more fun than what we did before?

Yeah, I mean, now, I mean, Paul, they're tied for first in the division.

I had not thought that was realistic, but they've made up eight points in a week.

I know Tampa stole his games in hand, but they play each other on Sunday.

I mean, how realistic do you think it is that they can track down the lightning here and

get home ice?

That's the thing, right now, if you win those two games against Tampa, you've taken their

games in hand away from them, because now you've picked up four more points on them, which

is what Tampa could pick up with their games in hand.

So now, you know, you've basically taken those games in hand away from them.

If you're able to win those two head-to-head match-ups in Buffalo, as you mentioned, the

first one is Sunday.

Paul Hamilton on the Western Highland, Paul, your review of the trades.

Samuel Carrick, the Sabers announced that as official for a third and a sixth.

And then Isaac Rosan, Jacob Bryson, with two picks going to win a peg for a pair of

defensemen, Luke Shen and Logan Stanley.

What do you make of the moves?

Yeah, I mean, this year, Rosan has come up and done better, but I'm still not at all convinced

that he's going to be an NHL player.

It just wasn't happening here for him, I don't think.

So, you know, I don't think if you're going to lose one of your prospects, I think that

probably was a good idea.

Carrick, I think, is excellent, because, you know, I like John Dunn.

I like Kozak, but I think he's a better version of either one of them.

I mean, it's face-offs.

You can't argue with that at all.

And he will be taking key face-offs for the Sabers.

I think he will combine very well with Malenstein.

And, you know, I heard through the grapevine that Kekelein and thought this team needed

to be tougher, and, first, he, according to reports, he went for the big swing.

Well, it wasn't there.

St. Louis wasn't going to trade Thomas unless they got an offer they couldn't refuse, and

Kekelein wasn't going to go that far, and then he tried to get the defenseman, Toreco,

and they were willing to go what was going to take, but he nixed that trade.

So then, Kekelein in this cycle, the big swing hasn't been there right now, so let's work

on the debt.

Let's work on making this team tougher.

Family does that?

Now, what Stanley also does, he's having a good year offensively this year, but Buffalo

has done such a good job of cleaning up their own end, cutting the turnovers way down

and playing good defensive hockey, so their goal tenders don't have to face three on ones

all night, and their goal tenders have responded well to that, too.

Stanley has a turnover problem, he's not the greatest in his offensive zone, so I'm thinking

it'll be another defenseman that might play for a while during a game, but when you get

into the one-one game or the two-one game in the third period, you probably won't see

much of them.

That's what happened in Winnipeg last year in the playoffs, Paul.

You would play early and then would often find the bench.

I was looking at a lot today.

You only averaged 11 minutes during their playoff from last season.

Yeah, so Shenzhen's a two-time cup champion.

I think it's a good depth.

I think you've improved your depth over Bryson.

He's a different depth of a player, but he's a winning player.

He knows what it takes to win, and a good number seven guy.

It doesn't alleviate, I don't think, the minutes that the top four guys get, which I would

have liked to have seen, but they tried to do that, and it didn't work.

That made for Aiko turn to down, so the next best thing is we're going to get tougher.

We're going to bring in some experience.

We're going to bring in some face-offs, and we're going to make the bottom part of our

lineup a better to help the top part of our lineup be better also.

I like the trades, I mean, you didn't have to give up a lot to get any of these players,

and you move forward, and I think you haven't improved your team.

You think they're done, or would Yarno maybe be open to something else still if he wants

to make a splash?

He still might hunt for one.

I think I'm going to say now that I've seen him in action in both Columbus and Buffalo.

Yarno Kekalainen has never done.

He could trade for Thomas in the next hour, and I would still say he's not done.

He's still calling, still trying to do things, so he may not make another trade, but I don't

think he's done.

I think those phones will be burning up right till three at once.

I pointed out earlier, Paul, they retained salary in the Winnipeg deal.

Winnipeg did.

Are you doing that, unless you want to save room in case there is a move to come still?

No, absolutely, so it just keeps flexibility in his hands if he needs to use it, use that

flexibility.

So, I think that's good planning also, because you don't know at one o'clock this afternoon

if somebody's going to call and say, hey, are you interested in this guy?

And you're like, oh, he's available?

Okay, you don't know if that call is going to come, and you want to have that flexibility

just in case that call does come.

So, I think that's good planning, I take a linens part.

Paul Hamilton's appearance brought to you by Raylax Honda, Raylax.

We got this.

Thank you, Paul.

Take care, guys.

Five game homestand on the way for the Sabers, Nashville, Tampa, who helped us out a little

bit yesterday right now, Jose Boston, San Jose, Washington, and the Leafs, are the

caps selling?

They made a seller's move yesterday.

They did?

Yeah.

And Carlson, the ducks, oh, sorry, that was the bigger one, right?

The doubt was the little one.

They traded John Carlson.

Yeah.

That's weird.

Isn't it old Vetchkin at this age?

You're not going to try to exhaust all the season to try to make it with him again?

That's the tuck trade.

That's finally your of a deal.

Let's get something for a guy that we get a return on.

I guess I'm just wondering because of old Vetchkin's presence still being on the team, I'm surprised

that you wouldn't want to...

You would have him on the team and still be making like a rebuilder's trade.

Yeah.

You want trade for Vetchkin?

He's a pending UFA.

Oh my God.

Is that a let's get stupid?

Or is that a real idea?

You don't think the power point I want to trade for Alex, so Vetchkin?

How many power play goals do you have?

What do they want?

This year?

Yeah.

He only has four this year.

Listen.

Change his scenery.

I think he's due for a change.

803-0550.

Mark Grody of the score in Chicago, coming up top of the hour to chat with us about DJ

Moore.

His time in Chicago comes to an end and we'll get to know DJ Moore a little bit courtesy

of Mark.

Coming up top of the hour here on WTR.

I tick it, Lady Jennifer of Coons.

Well, many thanks, good sir.

Here is my Discover Card.

They accept a discover at Renaissance Fairs?

Yeah, they do here.

Discoverers accepted at the places I love to shop.

Get it with the times.

With the times.

You're playing the loot.

Yeah, and it sounds pretty good, right?

Discoverers accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide.

Just on the February 2025 Nilsen report.

You're a pro at running your life.

At committing to your workout.

At showing up every day.

At Bombas, we're pros too.

Pro is at making socks.

Our sportist Orban has specialized socks for whatever sport you're committed to.

Running, hiking, golf, Pilates, and so much more.

Mabel's sweat-wicking yarns, blister fighting details, and targeted art support.

Bombas sport is pro-level socks from the pros of socks.

For another pro, you go to bombas.com slash audio and use code audio for 20% off your

first purchase.

That's bombas.com and use code audio.

Attention fans of jury duty.

The groundbreaking comedy series is back for season two.

Featuring an all-new cast, this installment takes the comedy out of the courthouse and

into the mountains above Malibu for an annual company retreat.

The catch?

Everyone but the new guy is an actor.

Oh yeah, and the company is fake.

Get to know all the employees of Rock and Graham's Hot Sauce, a family business with everything

on the line.

Get to arrives with bigger laughs, higher stakes, and the same heart that made the first season

a cultural phenomenon.

And here's the fun part.

You'll be able to try all four flavors of Rock and Graham's Hot Sauce on Amazon.

Jury Duty Presents Company Retreat is now streaming on Prime Video.

Don't miss the feel-good comedy everyone's going to be talking about.

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Price is very based on how you buy.

My dad's not here right now, he's still at work, so I'm going to bless him.

Mike Shope and the Bulldog.

I'm going to see if there's a clean version so that my parents and the people at my school

will not get met at me.

We've got the spritzer filled with water.

In case if stock gets too fire, I'm going to set up the speaker and I'm going to listen

to Mike Shope and the Bulldog.

I think this is the best Mike Shope feature that I've heard in a long time.

I think his flow is really good on it and I like his aggressiveness on it and the Bulldog.

Put not enough effort in it.

I think overall his flow was good, but I don't like that mobile wrapping.

That was my review of Mike Shope and the Bulldog.

I didn't need the spritzer, it wasn't fire or not, no spritzer, no spritzer.

That's definitely not a young Owen Parker.

He does, I mean the first thing you hear there is my dad's not here right now, of course

that plays I think pretty much every Friday and usually his dad is here.

Owen is still young by the way, he's not any longer, no longer a young Owen Parker.

But I'm just throwing that out there as a theory, a possibility.

Happy Friday, welcome, we got a lot with the deadline and bills moves and the possibility

or the likelihood of more next week when we get into actual free agency, illegal tampering,

illegal tampering is right now.

I hate the term, legal tampering.

We're just trying way too hard here, but that's what they call it, so that's coming, but

I don't want to say we won't talk about the bills because of course we will.

For the most part football can wait, the sabers have made the trade deadline, a thing

that we don't have to hide from, how about that?

And by the way, Bulldog is not here, usually this is his day because I take a trip almost

every year this weekend to Philadelphia for baseball drafts and this year it's next week.

So I get the deadline, I did great because usually I think a lot of us dread this day,

it's either who you're selling or just who you're not getting.

And even when the sabers have been good and I don't have to be old to remember that at

all, like Owen wouldn't, right?

But even in years where the sabers have been good, buyers has not usually come naturally

to that.

I mean, it's even this week they had a player turn them down.

So it's always been like, it only gets to like right here.

And I wonder if this year isn't different.

Even though there have been acquisitions that we'll talk about right now with Paul Hamilton

joining me on the West her hotline, three players added here since yesterday, Paul Logan

Stanley and Luke Shen from Winnipeg Sam Carrick from the Rangers just to ask, do you know

that this is all of it or could there still be more?

There still could be more because remember the NHL still in the 1980s.

So to make a trade, you have to strap it to the back of a pigeon and send it to New York

City.

So five o'clock, they're still doing trades and things like that.

So I don't know how in 2026, there's still this far behind the times.

But yeah, I've sat here waiting for the GM till 5 5 30 because all the trades weren't

in and all that.

So we hope to have Yarmul Kekalainen by four, but this is the National Hockey League.

So who knows?

There will sometimes be announcements from reporters or even from teams like we're done.

So we can look for that here in the next little while, I guess, since it isn't last

three o'clock.

That used to be a thing here in Buffalo, but things have changed here.

Those folks aren't around anymore.

So that usually does not happen anymore.

So Paul, what do you think of the three players?

I mean, let's want to start with Winnipeg.

I think that happened first.

What happens to the lineup with the additions of Logan Stanley, 6-7-2-30 and Luke Shen?

Well, Yarmul Kekalainen started by trying to make a big splash.

He tried with two different St. Louis Blues.

It didn't happen for a couple of different reasons.

So then he decided it's time to the depth.

And I knew all along that he didn't think this team was tough enough.

So it doesn't surprise me at all.

He went in this direction to get a 6-7-2-30 pound defenseman who hits and causes havoc.

This year has been a pretty decent offensive defenseman.

He's never had more than a goal in the season.

This year is a year.

Yeah.

Well, you know, the problem with him is the sabers have worked very, very, very hard

at cleaning up their own end and cleaning up their turnovers.

They used to be a turnover machine.

And now the turnovers are fewer and far between, which really helps the goal tendon because

they're not facing three-on-ones all night in a couple of cases, three-on-o's.

And so, Stanley, unfortunately, for Saber fans, it does turn the puck over more than

you'd like.

But there are things to like about his game.

He does make a good first pass, not the best in his own end.

So just a depth type of a guy.

He's a guy that would be on the third pair.

And by the time you're in a 1-1 game in the third period, you're probably not going

to see him again.

Or you might see him once in the period or just kind of the way they've been doing it

with Bryson and Metsa and Kessel Ring, that's Kessel Ring plays a little bit more than

the other two.

So that's really not a big change.

Shen definitely is a, I think he's your new number seven guy.

Bryson is now gone and I'm thinking Metsa goes back to being the captain of the Rochester

Americans.

Anybody that they want to be eligible for the AHO playoffs had to be sent down today

by the trade deadline and they can come back, but they had to be sent down to be on

the roster, the clear day roster.

So I'm sure Metsa probably is down there.

I don't know about Osslin, but so they would have to do that.

But it's a good guy to have in your number seven slot because he still can play.

He's not what he used to be.

I mean, he's to an age now.

He's not what he used to be, but he still can play and play pretty well.

And he brings two Stanley Cup championships to the locker room.

He's a two time to champ with the Tampa Bay Lightning, which is important, especially

for a team whose best players are named Dollyne and Thompson, who have not won Stanley

Cup.

Now Thompson is one gold medals for team USA on two different occasions.

Dollyne basically keeps saying he hasn't won anything.

Another guy who hasn't won anything Josh Norris said last night on the post game show,

this is the most fun I have ever had playing hockey.

So that's that one for you.

I can believe it.

I mean, yeah, what's not what's not to enjoy right now about all this exactly.

You know, there's so zipping through teams.

Yeah, that's what you get in.

You know, they get a guy who is a career 52% face off man and care.

You know, I'm a fan of Josh Dunn.

I think he does a lot of good things for the Sabers, but I think care is better.

He's an NHL veteran.

He again is a guy that if you mess with his teammates, you will he will arrive on the

scene rather quickly.

And he can win you that odd face off that you might need that drives Lindy Ruff and

Sain that he really doesn't have guys to win key draws for him.

With Paul Hamilton.

So what do you think?

All that said immediate the immediate changes to the lineup might be.

You mentioned Metsa may be being squeezed out.

Bryson is gone to Winnipeg.

Rosanne is also gone to Winnipeg, but wasn't here.

And I want to get to that in a minute.

But Carrick goes in like tomorrow.

The other guys go in or one of them does when they get here, which reportedly might not

be until next week.

Yeah, you got that visa problem and you know with coming from Winnipeg where Carrick is

on his way.

Lindy Ruff said he's a good possibility for tomorrow.

So we may see him tomorrow.

The other two, yeah, whenever the visas and all that kind of stuff that have to take

place that I get very confused about whenever that's all done, then you know, they'll be

able to join the Sabers.

And you think Carrick plays and maybe Stanley plays when he arrives.

And maybe show up.

Yeah, maybe not.

I think Kozak and Dunn become the two extra forwards.

And Shen, I think, becomes the extra defenseman and the other two play.

How about the departures here, Paul?

I guess really we can cover the draft picks, but what's there to say?

I mean, this is going to be a year where you're going to sell your draft picks and they

did not, to my knowledge at least, or at least not to this point, give up a first.

No, they did not give up a first.

You know, Rosanne, he needs, he needs, it's changed a scene where he, I mean, he's done

okay this year when he's been up, but I'm still not thoroughly impressed and I'm still

not of the mind that he is going to be a decent NHL player, maybe at some point, but, you

know, so definitely he needed a change of scenery.

I don't think there's any, any, you know, thought about that.

Mm-hmm.

So, yeah, that's a former number one pick.

That was the number one pick they got in the Ristle Line and Trade.

If you look at that draft, you can say, yeah, Rosanne is a bust and I think he may be,

but look at it, look at all the players around him.

I mean, nobody really made the lead, it was a horrible draft.

So it's not, you can say, yeah, it's a mistake, but I say to myself, yeah, there's only one

or two guys that maybe you could have taken that were below him that were, it would have

been better.

So, yeah, it's, he pole was kind of an obvious candidate for a move.

I mean, not just, not just for his sake, but there's only so many spots here, before

the Sabers got good.

We were, you know, going back a couple of years and thinking about Kool-Eak, too.

Like, not everybody can play in the top six.

And do I have guys that are cut out for a role in the bottom six, or do they need to be

in the top six to be worth it?

Then you're talking about money, too.

And this player, there just wasn't room.

Yeah, and that's why I didn't get real carried away when Murtka, I think Murtka is going,

he looks to me like he's going to be a very good right-handed shooting, big defenseman.

But if he would have gotten traded, they like Kleber almost as much.

It was the second round pick the year before, you know, playing at Minnesota Duluth.

The year before that, the second round pick is Sterbick, who was a right-handed shot.

He's not quite as big as Kleber, but a lot of folks think Kleber is as good or better

than Murtka.

So, and the thing is, probably all three aren't going to make the Buffalo Sabers.

You know, the Sabers have other guys here, too.

You know, so, yeah, all right, if you had to trade Murtka for something, I don't think

it's that big a deal because you have other folks in the pipeline that are also good.

I mean, the cupboards are not bare around here.

So even when you trade a guy like Savoy, or let's say you did trade Murtka, you still

have other guys coming that some feel are maybe even better.

Do you think it's interesting what Winnipeg wanted from the Sabers?

Like, so, Rosanne makes sense, I think.

We're just talking about him.

Does Bryson work if you're trying to advertise, you know, Winnipeg has its press conference,

and we think Bryson can be what in the future.

And then, of course, the picks are the picks.

Yeah, I mean, Bryson, I think he fit his role in Buffalo very well, which was the number

seven guy, and then Metsa showed up.

So maybe Metsa was number seven, and Bryson was number eight, whatever.

They're the two depth defensemen, and I thought both performed well.

I honestly feel Bryson was having his best year.

You know, he's a good puck mover.

You know, he plays his angles really well defensively, and Metsa has been excellent.

I mean, his numbers are crazy.

So, you know, you're bringing Shannon, so the Sabers might have just said, look at, you

know, they probably would have wound up, Winnipeg would have gotten them for free if they

wanted it, because they probably would have wound up waving Bryson, so I don't know exactly

how that worked.

But I see him as a number seven defenseman in the NHL, and nothing more.

Nothing since the moves from earlier with the two players from the Jets and the one from

the Rangers to the Sabers.

And I say that because as we talked about earlier, there still can be, and are trades that

are getting out around the league, even though it's after three.

Paul Hamilton, I got to know where you are.

You're not on this Amboni, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be doing this.

No, I'm actually in the front atrium, just because they have a bigger media room that

we only use for occasions like this that are off the atrium.

So I walked out with our equipment so I could talk to you live, didn't want to bother

the writers inside the room, so nice.

And yeah, I think if Kekalainen were to start early, it would be on social media where

we could just join it in progress.

Yeah, I'm hoping that we can, I'm planning on being able to hear that share that with you.

I do see, I do see some Sabers folks started to file into the room right now.

Okay.

Paul 26, 5 and 2 since this all started, that's insane.

Numerous, best team in the NHL comments last night on ESPN, since you know, that started

and now they're tied for first.

What is that?

By the way, they have just sent out a notice, Kekalainen is starting shortly, so we should

probably cut this short.

Okay.

Do you have a quick thought on just sort of how insane all this is, because we've asked

you that before, I know, but after last night, what's, oh, that the Sabers are in this

position.

Yes.

Yeah.

And the players are just giddy about it, because they're all they've done, been doing

is selling and selling and selling every year.

Now they're bringing guys in and they just love it.

So assigned that they probably are done.

Once we get your Mo Kekalainen in the room, there's not going to be anything else.

If they're definitely done, if we just got this thing from the Sabers.

All right.

I'll let you go.

Thanks.

I'm going to get going.

Yep.

Good.

Paul Hamilton on the Western Hotline, he'll set up so we can hear Kekalainen here shortly,

and maybe I should break now.

I'll figure out what to do with Sammy P. NHL Trade Deadline Day, the Sabers GM coming

up live shortly here on WGR.

The ticket, Lady Jennifer of Coons.

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Featuring an all-new cast, this installment takes the comedy out of the courthouse and

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Why have I asked my age back guy I found on Angie.com to change my grandpa's trachea tube?

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Hey, there it is, this is me on the drums.

That's nerds gone wild, hit and run and Cammy Clooney a part of this at the, uh, everything

Buffalo party in Sarasota, there you go.

That's cool, man.

It's just so fun.

How are you, Dan?

You playing instruments?

I did.

French horn way there.

Oh, my French horn.

I love that.

I love that.

You're French horn.

Yeah.

It's pretty cool.

It was really fun.

Had a great time.

It's bringing Paul Hamilton.

I don't know if Paul's ever played any instruments.

Paul, you playing any instruments or seeing or anything growing up, would you play?

Uh, I gave piano a try, I gave guitar a try, I gave drums a try and none of them worked

out for more than like a few months.

Well, listen, I mean, you devoted enough time to hockey to be, uh, to be pretty good at

that, right?

I mean, hey, you know, I've got our things.

I think if I'm not mistaken, this might be the first time you and I have spent a half

hour together.

So I'm nice and comfortable and downtown Blazdell here.

I found a nice spot.

I got my, uh, comfortable.

I got my popcorn and my TV.

I'm ready to roll for a half hour.

Yeah.

So you guys, uh, just heard it.

Paul is going to join us here up until the top of the hour here.

So he's here for the next couple of segments.

And the reason I was surprised because, of course, it is Trade Deadline Day in the NHL at 3 p.m.

Paul's appearance is on WGR are brought to you by equitable advisors, planning for your

futures about more than just money, let equitable be your guide in my Ray Lax Honda, Ray Lax.

We got this.

So Paul is settled in for the day and anything could happen at any minute.

But we also know there are things that already happened.

Now Paul, I spent a little while since I spoke with you.

I was, uh, down in Florida for a few days.

You've been on with the other guys.

So let me just kind of rewind and go back to everything.

Um, I said earlier that, you know, if this Robert Thomas thing didn't come out, maybe

people, you know, feel a little different about the trades now, but let's revisit the

Robert, Robert Thomas thing.

From your perspective, what happened here?

Was it going to be something that would help the Buffalo Sabers and why did it not get

completed?

Oh, absolutely.

Would have helped the Buffalo Sabers.

I mean, that's kind of where Yarmul Kekalainen started is trying for a big swing, you know,

and seeing if he could get that completed.

The problem with it is the St. Louis Blues are not committed to trading him.

It's like we're willing to, but you're going to have to overpay by a lot.

You're going to have to blow our socks off if we're going to trade this player because

he's 26.

We don't need to trade this player.

So, you know, you're really going to have to put an offer on the table that would make

us move and Kekalainen felt it was just too much.

Whatever that might have been.

I mean, what if it's Murtka, Oslin, Helen, is, uh, what if it's all of them?

I mean, that's what they're looking for, Erbenson, and I mean, it can get to a point of being

ridiculous too.

So, uh, Kekalainen from what reports are, didn't let, and these are all reports.

I mean, we, we aren't in the room, obviously.

Sometimes these trades get warped and they aren't actually what people have made them out

to be.

But, uh, you know, so then he's kind of shifted to, well, what about Peraco?

What about Falk, uh, you know, getting and try to improve the defense?

I think if you're a fan, the positive thing out of this Peraco is, it's always been for

the last probably since Brear and Jury left.

As soon as a player has a no trade, it's no immediately.

I'm not going there.

And you know what?

It's more losing than the climates or the taxes or anything else.

It's the horrible losing.

And, um, you know, the, and people are like, why would I want to go there?

I mean, people once McDermott broke the playoff drought for the bills and Josh Allen showed

up.

People didn't want to come to the Buffalo Bills either for a while.

And then those guys show up and now the bills are a destination.

People all want to come.

People have wanted to be Sabers.

Went Brear and Jury were here and Hoshik was here.

The Sabers had no trouble getting people to come to Buffalo.

But you know, you can add in that, like if you haven't been in the playoffs for 14 years,

yeah, you can add in the weather and everything else because let's face it when hockey players

come here and never come here for anything but a January day where it's snowing an inch

an hour.

You don't get a very good impression of the city where, where players get better impressions

is when they show up for a draft here or show up for the combine here.

And there's, there's things going on in the waterfront.

There are, there used to be concerts going on down there and people actually get to see.

I always say, no, people might be tired of it, but I always bring up Craig Rive, who

was set on the area, goes, I was in tears when in San Jose when I found out I was being

traded to Buffalo.

I was so, so upset and unhappy.

Guess what?

He's still here.

He had never left.

Listen, how many guys, how many guys stay here after their careers that didn't even play

for the Sabers?

I mean, Scotty Bowman, Scotty Bowman coached here.

He also coached that, you know, Marcell Dionne, Darrell Sintler.

Marcell Dionne's a great example.

I was just going to say that.

I mean, you're right about that.

But here, somebody said to me yesterday and I agree with this because of what you're saying

and I'm, I'll back it up with this.

It's the stack of 14 years.

It's still there a little bit and it's going to take a little while to wash off.

There's no doubt.

And you wish, would wish and hope that, hey, you know what, look what we're doing right

now, but it's not that easy right now to do that.

And to finish Paraco, he didn't say no right away.

And he might be the first one in years that just didn't say, right away, say, I ain't,

I'm not going there.

No.

And Buffalo is on people's no trades right now because they just started becoming a good

team.

When these contracts were signed, they weren't a good team.

So there are everybody's no trades.

But, you know, so he gave it some thought.

Reports are correct.

It was at least a day and a half, two days that he mulled this over.

So he didn't write out a hand, say no and end it right there.

So I think that's a positive that now players at least are considering it that maybe Buffalo

would be a good destination.

He's from Western Canada and he is, that's why he mentioned, it was mentioned about going

to Anaheim or going someplace out west or staying in St. Louis and that reporting is

that that played in his decision too, that he would rather wait and see if there can

be a Western Canada move.

Kind of like what Tyler Myers did, it was a Detroit trade.

He said, let me think about it and he spent a good long, he's spent like a week thinking

about it and he was hoping maybe a better deal would come along for Vancouver.

And it did.

The Dallas stars where Tyler Myers spent the first 13 years of his life.

So he basically got a chance to go home by waiting.

So Paraco I think is doing the same thing and but I think it is a positive to note that

he didn't say no right away, like it's been happening for the last 14 years.

Paul Hamilton on the West, her hotline, I just want to say that this just came across

from David, David Pagnota, who is obviously serious NHL network in the fourth period.

He has a note that says the Sabers are shopping goalie Devon Levi.

Wow, whatever you know, hey, he has his own report, but would you be stunned if that

were the case that the Sabers would be shopping?

That's an interesting word.

Meaning they would be proactive in seeing if there's a market for him.

I would be stunned if they weren't.

They took Alice on waivers.

I think the minute that happened, Devon Levi, he's never said this, this is my opinion.

Basically kind of washed his hands of the Sabers and it's like, okay, wait a minute here.

I'm still here in Rochester.

My numbers were basically identical to his in the American Hockey League last year.

They're bringing a young gold tender in.

What does that mean for me?

Why are you bringing a young gold tender in when I could have been the number three guy and

spend in Rochester?

And then if you have an injury, I could come up and play with Buffalo.

Where is the belief in me?

I'm just, again, I'm spitballing here.

He's never said this.

He's always said the right things in Rochester and approach things the right way.

But I think he would have serious questions.

I'd be surprised if he didn't have serious questions about his place in the organization.

It wouldn't shock me if he's asked him and traded.

Yeah.

Right.

And I'll say this too, Paul, because we all know how this works in all sports, but I

can relate to football the same way when you have a change in GM.

This GM did not trade for Devon Levi.

This GM did not draft Isak Rosean.

This GM was a part of drafting, Rodin Murtka, but it's not a surprise when you hear things

and they go, well, you know, this prospect here or there is really good.

Well, if the GM, if that particular guy didn't bring a man, they don't have that attachment.

And I don't know if Devon Levi ever can be an NHL goalie, Kevin Adams was so enthralled

by him.

He handed him the job twice and he wasn't even remotely ready for it.

And then finally, Adams figured out that he needs to get some seasoning in the American

hockey league.

And he's been down there for the better part of two years, which I think he needed.

I can't say, none of us can say if he can be an NHL goal tender, he hasn't gotten the

opportunity this year.

And I'm sure he will get another opportunity, whether it's here or whatever, but it's not

looking like Colt Nellis is going to be off the roster by the trade deadline day because

roster is expand.

You can have as many players as you want as long as you're into the cap.

And so they're really, you've taken it this far, there's really no need to alleviate

the three goalie system.

So if you're Devon Levi, you might be sitting there thinking, well, we're going to go into

the off season with three goal tenders.

Now Lionel is only under contract for one more year.

But still you still have Luke and an Ellis.

And you know, if I'm Devon Levi, if it were me, I would ask to be traded, whether he has

or not.

No, but this report would indicate it's possible.

Maybe he has let's take a time out when we come back, Paul.

Let's dive into the players.

The Sabers did acquire three different players.

They've acquired here over the last 24 hours or so, a couple from the Winnipeg Jets, one

from the New York Rangers.

And we'll also get into whether or not something could else be done today and what that could

be.

So Paul Hamilton sticks with us here for another segment.

We'll get to the top of the hour.

Then it's Chris Emma from Chicago on DJ Moore here on the north town on a motor vector

point show on WGR.

I tick it, Lady Jennifer of Coons.

Well, many thanks, good sir.

Here is my Discover Card.

They accept a discover at Renaissance Fairs?

Yeah, they do here.

Discoverers accepted at the places I love to shop.

Get it with the times.

With the times.

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Yeah, and it sounds pretty good, right?

Discoverers accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide.

Based on the February 2025 Nilsen report, attention fans of jury duty.

The groundbreaking comedy series is back for season two.

Featuring an all-new cast, this installment takes the comedy out of the courthouse and

into the mountains above Malibu for an annual company retreat.

The catch?

Everyone but the new guy is an actor.

Oh yeah, and the company is fake.

Get to know all the employees of Rock and Graham's Hot Sauce, a family business with everything

on the line.

And season two arrives with bigger laughs, higher stakes, and the same heart that made

the first season a cultural phenomenon.

And here's the fun part.

You'll be able to try all four flavors of Rock and Graham's Hot Sauce on Amazon.

Jury Duty Presents Company Retreat is now streaming on Prime Video.

Don't miss the Feel Good Comedy everyone's going to be talking about.

This episode is brought to you by Progressive.

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