Biggest Takeaways From The Sabres Moves At The Deadline W/ Paul Hamilton

I'm Brian. I work at United Health Care.

So Brian, why do you care?

I care because I don't want to leave anybody behind.

I oversee one of the biggest resource center in United Health Care.

I see people walked in in my office every day, just like my parents.

They have no idea about the health care.

I feel like they are my uncles, aunties.

I treat these people like family.

I'm Brian and I'm committed to care.

The ticket, 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 accept it 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 accept it at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide.

Based on the February 2025 Nielsen report,

I'm done carrying around bulky drinks.

And I'm definitely done cleaning melted candy out of my pockets.

So yeah, I traded them both in for fruity rainbow five hour energy shots.

These little guys are as pocket sized as any candy.

But instead of a sugar crash, you get a zero sugar caffeine boost.

Candy can't even compare at this point.

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With a tasty caffeine kick.

That's right, caffeine just got a flavor upgrade.

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17.

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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 then my parents and the people at my school will not get met at me.

We've got the spritzer filled with water.

Just in case if stockets 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.

Didn't need a spritzer.

It wasn't firing.

No spritzer.

That's definitely not a young Owen Parker.

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 know just throwing that out there is a...

I'm Brian.

I work at Unite Healthcare.

So Brian, why do you care?

I care because I don't want to leave anybody behind.

I oversee one of the biggest resource center in Unite Healthcare.

I see people walk in in my office every day, just like my parents.

They have no idea about the healthcare.

I feel like they are my uncles, aunties.

I treat these people like family.

I'm Brian and I'm committed to care.

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 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,

I'm done carrying around bulky drinks.

And I'm definitely done cleaning melted candy out of my pockets.

So yeah, I traded them both in for fruity rainbow five hour energy shots.

These little guys are as pocket sized as any candy.

But instead of a sugar crash, you get a zero sugar caffeine boost.

Candy can't even compare at this point.

Fruity rainbow five hour energy shots treat your taste buds to an explosion of fruity flavor

with a tasty caffeine kick.

That's right.

Caffeine just got a flavor upgrade.

And it's not just one flavor.

Five hour energy shots bring you tasty caffeine and 17 flavors.

17.

So if you're craving that candy flavored chaos.

But actually want energy that works?

Grab fruity rainbow five hour energy shots.

Pocket sized zero sugar big flavor available now at five hour energy.com or on Amazon.

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 legal 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 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 they're 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.

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

So 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, 67230 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 wanted to be, 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 67230 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.

The first year. Yeah. So, 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 those.

And, you know, 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, you know,

it 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 Metza 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. You know, Bryson is now gone.

And I'm thinking, Metza 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 Metza probably is down there.

I don't know about Oslin. But so, you know, they would have to do that.

But you know, 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, you know,

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 champ with the Tampa Bay Lightning, which is important,

especially for a team whose best players are named Dalline and Thompson,

who have not won Stanley Cup. Now Thompson is one gold medals for Team USA on two different occasions.

Dalline 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,

quote, 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 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 has a career

52% face-off man in Carrick.

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

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

He's an NHL veteran. He again is a guy that if you mess with his teammates,

you will see he will arrive on the scene rather quickly.

And he can win you that odd face-off that you might need that drives Lindy Ruffin

saying 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 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.

They 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 they'll be able to join the Sabers.

And you think Carrick plays and maybe Stanley plays Winniar Ruffin?

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, Rosie and I just, he needs, he needs its change of scenery.

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.

So, yeah, that's a former number one pick. That was the number one pick they got in the wrist of line and trade.

You look at that draft, you can say, yeah, Roseanne's a bust and I think he maybe,

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, but it would have been better.

He, he, he, Paul 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's 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 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.

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

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

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, all right, let's say you did trade Murtka.

You still have other guys coming that some feel or maybe even better.

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

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,

but you're bringing Shannon, so the Sabers might have just said,

look, you know, we probably would have wound up Winnipeg had gotten up 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 NR 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.

Nice.

And 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 some Sabers folks starting 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 the way they have just sent out and noticed 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, yes, yes.

Yeah, amazing.

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.

I'm Hamilton on the Western Hotline.

He'll set up so we can hear Kekalainen here shortly.

And maybe I should break now.

We'll figure out what to do with Sammy P.

NHL Trade Deadline Day.

The Sabers GM coming up live shortly here on WGR.

I'm Spencer and I work at United Healthcare.

So Spencer, why do you care?

I care because my daughter Adeline has special needs.

I am motivated by Adeline who inspires me every day.

I am driven to help families like mine navigate the healthcare system.

I'm so blessed to lead an amazing team at United Healthcare focusing on

the member experience and making that better.

I'm Spencer and I'm committed to care.

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 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 Nielsen report,

I'm done carrying around bulky drinks.

And I'm definitely done cleaning melted candy out of my pockets.

So yeah, I traded them both in for fruity rainbow five-hour energy shots.

These little guys are as pocket sized as any candy.

But instead of a sugar crash, you get a zero sugar caffeine boost.

Candy can't even compare at this point.

Fruity rainbow five-hour energy shots treat your taste buds to an explosion of fruity flavor

with a tasty caffeine kick.

That's right, caffeine just got a flavor upgrade.

And it's not just one flavor.

Power energy shots bring you tasty caffeine and 17 flavors, 17.

So if you're craving that candy flavored chaos,

but actually want energy that works,

grab fruity rainbow five-hour energy shots,

pocket sized zero sugar, big flavor,

available now at fivehourenergy.com or on Amazon.

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