BFHS 11/26/25: A dance partner?

BFHS 11/26/25: A dance partner?

All right, the Baker Favorite Hockey Show is back at you here on a Wednesday morning, November 26th, 2025. Good day, everyone. I am your host, Chris Baker. You can find me on X at Sabers Prospects, and I am here as always with your Buffalo Sabres beat writer for the Athletic. That’s Matthew Fairburn. You can find all of Matthew’s work at the aletic.comsabers. I’ve been plugging the hell out of the athletic lately, Matthew, because tis the season. And I just want to get one more plug in here before we take a little holiday break and enjoy our Thanksgiving by saying get over to the athletic if you’re not currently a subscriber and get the deal. I’m not going to tell you what the deal is because frankly I don’t know what the current deal is, but get over there because we know that one exists. You can find everything. football, hockey, baseball, etc., etc. Golf. I can go on and on, but I won’t. As people are joining, if you’re watching this on YouTube, like this video. We get about 10% of the folks that consume this show on YouTube liking the video. Let’s get 20%. All right, I’m making a push. All right, so like this video. That would be a big jump. Okay, I don’t I was going to say h let’s go to like 12 and a half%. No. 20 20%. 6:15 I’m yelling. I’m going to wake my dogs up. And when you’re when you’re talking to your family and friends on Thanksgiving weekend tonight, you’re out, you know, enjoying some beverages on Thanksgiving Eve. Make sure to peer pressure your friends into subscribing to the channel. Say, are you subscribed to the channel? Are you subscribed to the Sabres Prospects YouTube channel? Have you hit the notification bell? That’s right. What are you doing? Like the video. Pressure your friends and family into doing it. Into leaving five star reviews. It’ll help the show and it’ll be a good start to the holiday season. We’re up like a 100 subscri 100 a little over 100 subscribers in the last month. So, it’s helping. You know, the the numbers are are going up. The algorithm seems to be happy. Let’s keep it happy. Well, now that Matthew’s mowing my lawn doing the the opening plugs for the show, I’m all out of sorts. Thank you, Matthew, for doing that. But I have to do it so I can get into rhythm for the show. So, like this video, subscribe to the Sabers Prospace YouTube channel. Hit the notification bell so you know when Matthew and I go live. You can find the Bacon and Fourbon Hockey Show on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. And you could please leave a fivestar review. Enough plugs. Let’s just dive right in. People know the spiel, but there are new people and we always have to do it for them. And there might be a new face coming back in the Buffalo Sabres lineup pretty soon. The injury bug for this team, Matthew Fairburn has been omnipresent all season long. Somehow the team has managed to stay afloat with a 99 and four record, a 500 points percentage through 202 games. That’s my math, right? But yes, the Sabres seem to be getting closer to having a little more breathing room in the infirmary. Things are starting to trend in their favor. Excuse me, Matthew. You’re at the rink. You’re down there every day. Not right now. What do you Well, what are you seeing? I know you’re not right now, but you’ve been this week. What are you seeing and hearing on the injury front there? It sounds like Josh Norris has a chance to return this weekend. That’s not guaranteed. He He definitely will not play against the Penguins, but he has not been ruled out for the weekend. The Sabres play the Devils at 4:00 on Friday at home and they play the Wild on Saturday night on the road. So, if he can’t play in one of those two games, then maybe Monday against the Jets at home looks pretty good. Then they hit the road for six straight. So, they’re going to have Josh Norris presumably if nothing pops up, you know, for this pretty tough stretch of games that that they have coming up. And earlier than expected, I think, you know, he he was back skating on a line, which was the first clue that he was making a step in the right direction. He was with Benson and Osland, and then he was rotating with Benson in Benson’s spot on the top power play. So, those are good signs that, you know, they’re they’re taking up practice time to give him reps in important spots. And you would think they’ll just keep things the same heading into Wednesday, but the lines they went with on Tuesday with Norris as a part of it, you look at it and you think it’s a pretty good forward group. You know, they’ve got the top line they’ve been going with with Thompson centering Don and Tuck. They have Norris centering Benson and Osland and then Mloud with Zucker and Quinn and it was Krebs with Kak and Malenstein I believe with Dunan Greenway as the extras. Greenway on his load management plan. Uh probably won’t get into some of these games. They will have to do something with the roster, right? They got to activate Josh Norris whenever it’s time. So, do you put Greenway on IR since he’s not playing or do you send Josh Dunn down since Osland was one of the guys skating on the line with Norris? Or do you do something about these three goalies? I don’t know. That that’s sort of the I think the options that they have at their disposal right now. I would think maybe Dunn goes down. To me, I would do Greenway, but that’s still just a short-term fix if you’re going to be able to play them in one of these games. But I I’d rather get Greenway completely healthy, completely up to speed and strength, even if it means, you know, it buys you an extra few days before you have to put done on waiverss or um maybe find a trade partner for the goalies. Yeah. by the way the lines were in practice that you just reviewed. I’m not sure I see a Noah Austin going down right away. Uh it just doesn’t feel like that’s what they’re going to do. That’s the easiest thing. And we we’ve seen them sometimes do the easier thing to buy themselves some time or you know use uh the move back to Rochester to make sure a young player is still playing minutes and staying sharp and getting hungry and all that stuff that we’ve talked about in the past on the show. Hey, but I guess we’ll see what happens. By the way though, there might be fans that don’t know who Josh Norris is. So, so if you’re wondering who Josh Norris is, he has played four games for the Buffalo Sabres. Came over in the Dylan Cousins trade. I mean, I’m being facitious here, okay? But it’s it’s so funny that when you look, he’s only played in parts of four games since coming over from Ottawa at the trade deadline last year. But no, a um you know, an important piece, a critical piece. We saw Norris look really good in preeason in camp, the speed at other parts of the season when talking about missing Norris, how important he is. you’ve referenced that you think that he might be the Sabres’s best forward. I think he’s still their highest paid forward. He is for now until something gives with Alex Tuck. I think he is their most complete forward. I do when he’s healthy. I believe that he is their their most complete 200 foot forward. He is their fastest player. It’s probably I’ll be interested to see when some of the NHL edge data comes out after Norris gets a few games. Like Beck Malenstein is right now their fastest player by top speed along with Tyson Kak right behind him. So will Norris but Norris is just the such a great skater and you know effortlessly covers a ton of ground. Always doing the right things. it seems like at both ends of the ice and has a 35 goal season on his resume. It’s pretty far in the rearview mirror right now because of all the injuries he’s had the last few years. And there’s an assumption right from the fan base that this guy won’t be able to stay healthy or, you know, finish the season. But I think we’ve seen it before where guys get hurt a bunch and then they just don’t get hurt anymore. Like sometimes it’s just bad luck. We’ll see what the case is here. Is this a case where these injuries are going to follow him his whole career? Maybe. But I think there’s also a chance that he can stay on the ice. I think it’s one of the big X factors when we talk about will they be able to continue this climb up the standings? Will they be able to pull themselves into the fight? How much Josh Norris are they going to get the rest of the way? Because if they get a lot of Josh Norris the rest of the way, they’re a much better team. They just he is I think he’s their best pure center and I think he has a chance to really really pop in the right situation. So, we’ll see what happens. It’d be it’d be fun to see him on the ice this weekend and see what this team looks like, you know, against a couple tough opponents in New Jersey and Minnesota. You know, Lindy coming into the season had talked about the power play. It was a big focus of the season opening media availability and he had mentioned that, you know, a unit like that, you want to have all five guys keep the unit together all year. Of course, that went to crap, you know, basically in the first game of the season. Norris was one of those guys that was on that fiveman power play unit, the top power play unit in training camp in preeason. The assumption is that you would see him back on that unit maybe immediately. Who does he I guess who does he replace or do we think that he’s going to come back on that top power play unit? I mean, what do we what are we thinking there if uh Matthew Fairburn is running special teams for the Buffalo Sabres? He was rotating with Benson. So that would appear to be the spot. If he goes in, that’s where he goes in. There was Zooker, Don, Thompson, and Dalene were the other four on that unit. And so the left-hand shot of, you know, it looks like they would try to get back to a little bit of what they had coming into the season. Although I don’t recall it. I don’t feel like Don was on that top unit in the preseason. I feel like maybe he was on the second unit, but he’s played his way for sure into that role. And they’re trying to, you know, get the right mix of right-hand and left-hand shots also. So, you know, having a a shot as good as Norris’s on the left hand side does balance out the threats, you know, with Thompson on the other side and then Don cleaning stuff up at the net front. It’s It’s a I don’t mind the group. Uh we’ll see what what it looks like when they’re actually out there. But Norris’s shot is is topnotch. So he has a bullet. Yeah, it’s uh he’s he is a good power play player as well. you know, one of their in in terms of historically, I think he’s one of the more productive power players that they have in 2021-22 when he had his 35 goal season. 16 of those came on the power play and he had 23 power play points. So, he does a lot of his work on the power play and that should I mean they need the help. The power play has struggled and the penalty kill is the best in the league, but the power play needs to pick up the slack a little bit because through a quarter of the season, you’re feeling like they figured out one of those special teams units and a lot of that is, you know, there’s definitely some personnel at play there, right? They have Matias Samuelson and Connor Timonss as two of their best defenseman this year. Um, they didn’t have a good version of Matias Samuelson last year and they certainly didn’t have Connor Timonss. You know, you had Connor Clifton playing some of those minutes. You probably had Owen Power is still playing some penalty kill, but he was probably playing a little too much penalty kill last year. Yoki Haru would would get out there at times. So definitely a tip of the cap to, you know, the the Sabres coaching staff for getting the penalty kill right. I I think credit is due there because they certainly take quite a bit of the heat deservedly so on the power play, but you know getting half of the special teams battle right is uh is better than nothing because last year that penalty kill was pretty bad. Sabers 17.9% 20th in the league on the power play. this year. They were one for two in that big win on Friday against Chicago and just one of four on Sunday in their victory over Carolina. So yeah, and you know having a finisher, Sabres have struggled with finishing all year long. you know, their shooting percentage was kind of bolstered, almost inflated, I guess, with the nine goals that they scored on Soderblum on Friday in that big win over Chicago. But getting a guy that has a proven track record of finishing plays, and you mentioned his finishing ability, you know, 16 of his 23 power play points during that 35 goal season um were goals. You know, there’s an indication there that this could be a real boon for Lindy Ruff’s roster here in the coming days. So, the fan kind of thinking about, you know, is he going to stay healthy? I mean, it’s well placed. I mean, like I said, he’s played in just four games since coming here. I mean, and and you look at his history. And Matthew, you and I talked about Norris and the injury concerns well in advance of him even arriving in Buffalo. We had a conversation that day, Super Bowl Sunday, and and I was like, “Man, I love this player.” You know, we we talked about it. And it’s kind of weird how that was a wellfounded conversation that you and I had. Maybe it’s behind him. He’s he’s feeling good, right? Like, has he spoken? He spoke yesterday. I mean, he he’s been around the room and he’s been in good spirits. He was certainly I mean he’s a he’s the other thing about Josh Norris that is you know context for people but worth pointing out like I feel like this guy is a really good guy in the room um and people I’ve talked to that coached him and been around him like he’s a he’s a favorite in the room usually he’s a favorite for coaches he’s a coachable player he’s sort of a team team guy and that he’ll play with whoever he’ll you know fit fit right in and he’s just an easy easy guy to like. So it’s what it adds I think to the you know you look at like the he was a fan favorite in Ottawa and you know there’s people in Ottawa that you know I keep seeing tweeting at me and stuff about you know hoping this guy can stay healthy but he is in good spirits. I don’t know. You know, it’s a bit of a guessing game always with exactly what these guys were dealing with. And that’s the tricky part with this one because is it one that could, you know, if they rush it back, you know, is it at risk of because last year he had the oblique and so if it was in any way related to like the oblique or ab muscles or muscles in general, you know, going back a little too soon obviously is a risk. if it’s a bone of some sort or or a back or, you know, who knows, you know, but there are other injuries where it wouldn’t be as big of a risk. But when I asked him something along those lines a few weeks ago when he first started skating about like, is this something that you need to be worried about jumping back too soon? He’s like, when I’m back, I’m back. There’s no tiptoeing in. So, I think we’ll see. It it sounds like like he seems like he feels better than he expected to at this point. I think mid December was a more likely target line for him in some ways. And I don’t think given his history they’d be rushing it. I mean, I certainly hope they wouldn’t be rushing it, but guess we can’t put put anything past them. They need him. So, we’ll see. But if he can stay healthy, I I I like his chances of making a big contribution. It’s just it’s the big if. I think the risk of the trade on the Sabres end was Norris’s health and the risk on Ottawa’s end was simply like what will Dylan Cousins become? Will he ever bounce back? And Dylan Cousins so far has just been Dylan Cousins that we saw the few years prior. you know, some good moments and then a lot of, you know, kind of not so good moments and the aggregate is just not not the impact player the Sabres thought they had in 22 23. The trajectory hasn’t drastically changed since he got to Ottawa. So, Buffalo still has a chance to win the trade, Chris. They’ve still got a shot. We’ll see how that one plays out, you know. that what gets me excited I guess about the line composition. We have seen Zach Benson really help Ta Thompson’s game when they’re paired together and now you have Benson on the left side with potentially Norris and Osen. I just like the the feel of that line. Two very young players, but Benson doing the work. he could have the same impact and and win loose pucks and be a a serious lever to pull, you know, that gets Josh Norris those looks for his finishing ability. And Noah Osen simplifying his life for a little bit on the wing. Now, back when he was playing in the Swedish Hockey League, you know, he was always a centerman in the junior ranks. Played a little center professionally, but they put him out on the wing a lot. when he was over in Sweden, he looked really good when he was on the wing and his life was simple. Now, his responsible play, I just like the the the feel the like how I can see this line functioning in my brain. I want to see it if that’s indeed what they go with. And Oscelin’s a guy that stays up. Um because we didn’t have that on sketched out when we were doing our lines. We certainly didn’t have Oscelin here. We did have Benson maybe with Norris and Thompson coming into the season, but we haven’t seen it. So, I’m really interested to see that now in action. I just wanted to kind of state my thoughts there. The way Tage is playing at center, I just think it’s such a better lineup when Tage is at center. Even if he’s marginally better on the wing, the way the team is currently constructed, it’s so much better when he’s playing center. It’s even if you know, I don’t know how you would number these lines. Maybe the Mloud line gets a little bit more ice time than the Norris line potentially. Um, but I’m not I mean with Benson, Benson is routinely one of the leaders in ice time. So, it’s likely that that would be your number two line. And it actually gives you a little bit of a clue about where their needs might be, right? Because and where maybe they see their needs because they now have Josh Don and Zack Benson as you mentioned. Like Josh Don has been a quality top six forward, you know, a guy that fits, a guy that can keep up on those lines. His scoring has been at a good pace on pace for 25 and 60, a comfortable comfortable pace like like what you would want, what you would hope when they were talking about replacing the production from Purka. He’s practically doing it on his own and adding a ton to that top line. And whether he’s on that top line or the second line, you know, there’s definitely that’s helping stabilize some things in the top six. You have two guys that have the necessary skill set of, you know, fighting for loose pucks and forchecking and getting to the front of the net and playmaking. I think Don is a good smart playmaker, but the question mark will be awesome on that that line. You know, still a young player, still kind of riding the ups and downs. Is that where they look at some point for another forward, you know, another guy that could plug in, you know, a top six forward that maybe doesn’t need to be when you’re healthy, maybe doesn’t need to be a center, right? We were talking earlier in the year about the potential need for a a middle six at the very least center which is a scarce commodity on the trade market. Maybe now depending on how Osam plays, they don’t need to necessarily make the deal now. He could be that guy. He could be the answer for you. But especially between Oselyn and Roseanne, you you do have some internal options for competition. Quinn is playing a little bit better. So, it’s another right shot that you could potentially put up at some point. And you’ve got Greenway who could plug in on the Mloud and Zooker line. You have, you know, still Roseanne and Osen that could plug in on those lines if if you needed. But to me, that looks like the spot where maybe you would look to bolster the roster at some point. Well, let’s talk about that then, I guess, because you know, it’s kind of funny. You know, you mentioned Oscelin Rosane. We’ve kind of hinted at this. We’re I think you and I are uh in agreement that um they’ve been competent up here, encouraged by what their future could look like, but maybe it’s not the best situation to have these young guys and if you’re trying to make a playoff push and Kevin Adams said the windows open last year, window’s still open, right? Yeah. Right. Yeah. The window’s been just like Yeah. wide open now. This breeze is coming in. Yeah. Somebody left it. Someone left it open. Someone left the window open. But um the Yuri Koulik injury is almost like that Jack Quinn injury that he suffered two off seasons ago I guess was it two where when he got hurt and like Kevin had to act and he didn’t right Kik’s kind of the injury now that is a similar spot did he learn and so nice segue I guess bringing up how the lines are are constructed kind of tell you what the needs are Vancouver. They have nine wins in their first 21 games this year. Elliot Friedman reported that, you know, this team as they’re kind of near the bottom of the Western Conference, they are, you know, willing to, I think the quote was willing to listen to offers on veteran players and they do have some forwards there, you know, and if you’re the Sabres, if Vancouver wants to get younger, you have some compelling pieces that kind of fit that criteria that could make for a wide range of deals. small but also a big deal. And there there’s a few players that I think, like I said, would compel and I think there might be a couple players there that would be very interesting to Kevin Adams to add another veteran that Vancouver seemingly is looking to offload. Yeah, they have I would say, look, this is exciting, right? It’s the first team that we is sort of a known seller. I feel like this happens right around this time every year. This is right around the time when uh Chris Drury sent out his memo last year, right, that you know, Krider and these guys were available. It’s always exciting when there’s a a real tangible seller and you can kind of go through the roster and and see if there’s a fit. And some of the fits are better than others, I think. You know, of course, Elias Person is a name that people are going to go to. He now has the full no movement clause and that is a big deal, right? That’s a big trade if you’re making trying to make a trade like that just from a money in money out standpoint too. He makes $1.6 million. He has been better this year than last. But what’s interesting as we preface this conversation is we have not seen a lot of deals from Kevin Adams from the start of the season to the trade deadline, right? He’s made deals around the trade deadline like Middlestat, Greenway, Cousins for Norris, you know, the deadline type deals and he’s made deals in the summer, but he has not made a ton of these types of trades, the proactive, you know, jumping ahead of the market and getting something done in November or December. you know, Eric Robinson, you know, they got Riley Stillman the one year. The Jack Eel trade is the big one, but that was a a unique situation and they certainly weren’t buying in that in that deal. Uh I think, you know, there was some hockey component to it, but they were selling off the best asset in that one. So, worth pointing out as we preface, you know, these, you know, early season trade talks. Herson to me doesn’t feel like the most realistic move with that in mind from Kevin Adams, right? Is he gonna really shake up this group like that in season? I don’t know if I I see that. And you have to convince Person to wave his no move. Might be possible with Dalene here, but it’s still Buffalo and it’s still not the easiest. It’s the only that’s the only reason why it’s worth even mentioning his name in this discussion, I think, is is the Dalene factor. Um, and I I know you you want to kind of keep going through your thought process just on Personal Real quick if it does come to that. I think the cornerstone of a Person Buffalo conversation is probably an Owen Power because I or you know, they’re going to want like a Zack Benson, which I’m not doing. No. And maybe with talk broom, you would, you know, Thomas Dance mentioned that not in connection to Person, but he mentioned the Broom interest from the Conucks and you know, he sort of tied that into the possibility of them losing Quinn Hughes. That’s where I was going. They’re preparing for the eventual loss of Quinn Hughes. I would think they would want Byum or Power and power helps with the dollars in and out, but also the Quinn Hughes potential offloading down the road. But Byroom would would fit that too if you you know you got to add to it. But anyways, I just wanted to I just wanted to interject but keep keep kind of going through your process because I think there’s more realistic targets potentially to discuss. So Brock Basser, Jake De Brusk, they both have full no movement clauses. Uh Besser just signed. De Brusk signed somewhat recently. Convincing those guys to wave seems unlikely. Evander Kane will, you know, he’s not coming back here. Uh he has a 16 team list. He’s not coming back here. Don’t want him. Um the next highest paid guy that I mean, you know, I like this player a lot and I don’t know, they just resigned him, so I don’t know if they would go there, but obviously their plan has changed is Connor Garland. And you know, you talk about a winger that can play in the top six, that can, you know, add some of those components that we’ve talked about that would fit as far as, you know, playing a little a little nasty and and being responsible away from the puck and has, you know, definitely some scoring touch. He’s had 46 or more points in four straight seasons. Had 19 goals, 31 assists last year. He’s got five goals and eight assists uh in 19 games this year. Good player. I just don’t know about the availability of a guy like that, but he is 29. So, if you’re trying to reset your timeline and get younger, you know, a maybe you shouldn’t have resigned him, but b, you know, maybe that’s a guy that you reconsider and you say, you know, it’s time to potentially move off him. I like, you know, he’s got a $4.95 million cap hit this year and then he has four more years after that at 6 million. That’s a pretty good deal for that player in a in a rising cap. So, I think the cost might be kind of high on Garland, but he would be uh he’d be the type of guy that would add a veteran presence to the room. And he is a he’s a Massachusetts guy, so while he doesn’t have any trade protection, but it could be like it could be worse for him as an East Coast guy than getting traded to Buffalo, I would think. Yeah. No, I think that he kind of fits from the player profile. Um, you know, he doesn’t have the size that would be ideal, but I don’t think it matters. He he definitely uh plays bigger than he is and score. He’s always had a good stick. He’s got that little edge to him. I like kind of where you’re going with that. Um, you know, what what’s, you know, what are the young players, you know, I mean, that we think that you’d have to put on the table to have a discussion about Garland. I mean, you’re probably talking about a Jack Quinn type of player. Would think so. And maybe a little more. Maybe a little more. Um, I mean, I know we all want to, you know, well, not we, I’m just saying the Buffalo hockey watching population all wants to move off of a Payton Krebs, all wants, you know, these are small deals and if you’re moving out of Krebs, but, you know, I think Quinn is probably the guy there in that discussion. And Quinn might have more value now than he has at any point in the last backtoback games, right? He’s he’s starting to play well. He he had a great game on Sunday. So that’s a situation where it would be so we we’re also going to get to Kefir Sherwood, you know, another guy on this list. And I think I am I’m not all the way out on Kefir Sherwood, but I’m I’m not all the way there either because he’s on an expiring contract. And um I believe it was Nick Kyper. Let me pull up his uh trade board reported that he’s going to want uh a pretty big contract. Um he’s looking for at least 30 million over six years, 5 million AAV out of Vancouver. And that’s going to take him through his age 36 season. So he was on Ciprios’s board. I don’t think he was on CJ’s board. He was not I don’t think on Well, you know, things have changed in Vancouver in the last I think CJ’s came out last week. Um, and things got uh things changed in a hurry in Vancouver. So, let’s see if he was on CJ’s board. Um, but your cost considerably less if looking for him though for this year. He was on CJ’s board. He was uh Okay. He was 17th. So, he’ll probably move up now that you know they are looking at looking to be in sell mode. But I mean that contract, it’s not a crazy ask for Sherwood. The way he’s played, the goals he’s putting up, he’s one of the league leaders in hits every year. He’s he was a guy I wanted them to target in free agency a couple years ago before he signed in Vancouver. He’s an Ohio guy. He’s a Miami of Ohio guy. Miami guy. Miami. Just like uh this Blake, the general manager here. I am the general manager of the Sabres. Yeah. Um, so you know, there’s reasons why maybe you could feel good about extending him, but does a $5 million Sherwood fit into your cap sheet the next few years? Maybe. But there’s some risk. Signing Alex Tuck. That’s the question, right? Are you signing Alex Tuck? And who who his wife is from? British Columbia somewhere out near Vancouver, I believe. I mean, I know I know they’re looking to get younger, but that’s interesting. Okay. You can never rule out anything with Jim Rutherford out there. I mean, they could be looking to get younger, but you know, maybe, you know, Tuck’s a guy that would fit what their their vision, you know, that you need a leader around. I don’t know. Not really where I’m trying to go in this conversation, but it’s kind of interesting that that team and the geography with I do feel like he would sign there. I just don’t know if it fits anymore with the reporting that’s coming out of there about them trying to get younger. That would have been one of the teams I I would have been looking at previously. But yeah, that that’s it starts to become a puzzle from that standpoint. It’s like, well, Sherwood doesn’t really fit. I’d rather have Garland at six than Sherwood at five, you know, and I think, you know, they’re similar ages. You know, the price would probably be more, but Garland’s already under contract. Sherwood is not under contract. And even if he does, if he got a little less than five, I think it would be with a rising cap, it would be a palatable deal. I could see a player like that player typewise aging pretty well, you know, as long as he continues to to be the type of for checker that he is. but the speed might go and that could be a bit of a problem for him. So, there’s risk there, but then it becomes a question of do you want Kefir Sherwood as a rental. Sounds like the cost uh I believe Thomas Durant said that it was, you know, like a second round pick or or a young player for a rental that could be a you know, are the Sabres in the mode where they should be looking at rentals? I would argue yes. you know, even I think a lower cost rental. I wouldn’t be looking at a first round pick rental, certainly not with where the Sabres are in the standings right now, but second or third round pick rentals I don’t have too much of a problem with and I think would send the right type of signal and maybe you can get them under contract. But my preference is Garland. Sure. Would I really like the player? I just think the situation might be a little bit of a clunky fit because they have some contracts to worry about. They have Tuck, they have Don, they have Benson, and they have Kessle Ring, and things are getting a little tighter on the books there. So, you know, are you going to fit a Sherwood in? Are you going to block one of your prospects for that long? I mean, we know that this guy could age gracefully into a bottom six role, but it just as far as keeping him around long term doesn’t seem like I don’t blame the guy for setting his market high the way he’s playing and it’s his best chance to cash in in his career, but it doesn’t seem like a natural fit to me from that standpoint. You’re on mute. kind of like the idea of going after Sherwood as a rental, right? As a rental. I mean, you g you gave up a second round pick for Beck Malenstein. You can give up a second round pick. Sort of gave up a second round pick for Timmons, right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I you did actually. I was in that deal basically. It was you got a prospect back and you had to give up Connor Clifton, but to upgrade there, you know, they’ve had a lot of draft picks. I kind of like the like the that would that would be a just a completely different way of thinking for Kevin Adams, but also the desperation that I think I want to see from the general manager’s chair to just do something that you know is going to help the team with and raise the competitive it would raise the group. It would raise the I mean and the finish, right? He’s Mhm. He’s got a He’s definitely hot right now. I mean, he’s cooled off a little bit, but he has what 12 goals already this season. Yeah, he was on a heater. Leading goal. Leading goal in Vancouver right now. I don’t think he’s going to necessarily keep that up, but he would just add some pop. I mean, even like you think about putting him on on a line with with Norris and Benson, you know, like throw him right into the top six. And I think you have, you know, a pretty pretty decent decent group there. So, it would, as a rental, I’m okay with a rental at that level, you know? Yeah. I don’t think this is a team that should be throwing around first round picks for rentals, but the signal it would send, that’s what I mean, to the room is like, hey, we’re going for it. And yeah, second round pick, we’ve had a lot of those, right? Wasted some of them. And teams waste them every year. Um, look, the Calgary game, Matt, when we were talking after it and like they’re needing leadership, they’re needing inspiration, the player like they Let’s not forget that was just a week ago, man. Okay. It’s not like just because they won two games, not every No, there’s still a need for the general manager. Let’s let’s not forget there’s still a need to do something in my opinion. Yeah. Even as they get healthier, it’s like this was a roster that could use and the injuries should serve as a reminder of what’s to come. More injuries will happen. The schedule is condensed. Look around the league. There’s injuries all over the place right now. And it’s not just the Sabres. And if you want to be prepared for the next time it happens, you go out and you get depth, you get competition. And I don’t know what it would cost. I don’t know how long Vancouver is going to want to hold, but why not get ahead of the market? You know, meet the ask early. And look, it’s hard to imagine a guy that would fit better with what Lindy Ruff has talked about wanting, you know, their style of play to be. And yeah, if he’s here for a few months and can help you get to the playoffs, you’ve it also isn’t a bad idea in a certain sense to have the backup option if things don’t work out with Tuck. Kefir Sherwood is not Tuck. But if Tuck does, you know, not resign, and look, if they’re in a playoff push and they haven’t resigned Tuck, the trade conversation kind of goes out the window because it’s like you can’t do anything to jeopardize the playoff push. Like, if you’re in the mix at the deadline, you’re not trading Tuck. I don’t I know it’s probably not the smart, you know, smartest hockey decision in the world, but the context matters here in this market. And I’m not worried about assets. I’m not worried about maximizing the assets. Making the playoffs trumps everything. So if you’re even within sniffing distance, you’re not trading Tuck for the one reason that making the playoffs is more important than anything. For so many reasons, for organizational morale, for business purposes, for the experience, for the players, like it’s it goes without saying how important the playoffs are. But the other reason is that you probably stand a chance to convince Tuck, you know, as you get closer if you do make the playoffs, right? Or it’s a recruiting tool to replace Tuck if he leaves. And Exactly. So, I’m not trading him if if I’m anywhere close. And I don’t think Kevin Adams would even think about it. I think Kevin Adams doesn’t want to think about trading Alex Tuck because he knows that would not be a popular move. So, he would rather the team be competitive long enough to delay that. But if you have Tuck and you have Sherwood or somebody else, right, that’s a potential replacement, like if Tuck walks out the door and it’s a pretty weak free agent class, you might look at Sherwood and be like, “Look, can we, you know, is there a deal to be made there?” you know, if the cap dollars are just sitting there anyways and it’s hard to convince outside free agents to come to Buffalo, that could be a guy that if he’s already in the building and he’s made a playoff push would would think about sticking around. You give yourself options anyways. You’re going to have to build this team through the draft and trades because free agency free agency isn’t a great option for a team like the Sabres anyways. And it’s not looking like a great option for many teams these days with the way teams are retaining players in the rising cap world. And you just look at the free agent class next year and it doesn’t look great. You’re going to be looking for the next Kefir Sherwood, right? The the bargain bin guys, the next Dakota Joshua. Like Vancouver’s found some good ones the last handful of years. They just haven’t been able to get the rest of the roster right. But you’re looking for those bargain type players or you’re trying to make trades and and retain your own and build through the draft. So yeah, I don’t I don’t mind the idea. I love the player, that’s for sure. If you can’t get a deal done there in Vancouver, I think Ryan Lombberg’s been sitting out in Calgary here and there. Hope he’d be a lot cheaper. He’d be cheaper. Just another just another guy to rotate in to the bottom line. That’s all. Not an every night guy necessarily, but just something. Again, the compete level. Poor man Sherwood for sure. A little bit of a different look and attitude and edge to his game, but just and and listen, we kind of like that here too. I’m sure I don’t think Sherwood does have a ring. Lombberg’s on an expiring deal and doesn’t have trade protection. What does it say about the NHL, by the way, that I had to check if Ryan Lombberg has trade protection? No, I know. One third of the league, right? Too many players have trade. You got a one in three chance of of a player. So, a player that presently doesn’t have trade protection. Let’s bring it back to Connor Garland. He does not have trade protection this year. He’s a full no move in the next three years after this season. and then he gets to I think a 15 team no trade in the final year of his deal when he’s carrying that last year of the $6 million salary. So we spent a lot of time there on Sherwood, but I think I wanted to bring it back to Garland because that is I think your guy that would be your ideal player here and you kind of laid it out. But um talk about tuck insurance. I mean, he’s not tuck offensively, but he’s kind of fits the the player type a little bit, you know, as far as Does a Garland and a Rosane get you over the the hump of, you know, losing a tuck potentially, maybe? I don’t know because we talked I talked a little bit about that last week and I’m it’s still in my mind that Rosane from a profile is pretty close, but I don’t want to repeat everything. If you if you don’t know what I’m talking about, go back and listen to our previous episode and like the video before we and like the video. Like the damn video, people. Hit the like button. All right, real quick. Uh let’s just talk a little bit about tonight. So Pittsburgh 3, four, and three in their last 10 games. They’ve kind of cooled a little bit. They’re presently outside of the playoff picture. This is a team though that’s had kind of the Sabres number 14601 in their last 21 games against the Sabres. Um, Pittsburgh has won four of their last five against the Sabres. And then when you go back even a little further, they’re eight and two in their last 10 home games versus Buffalo. Um, yeah, four of their last five home games they’ve won and eight-2 in their last 10 against the Saints. They are getting the bump of, you know, the Thanksgiving Eve home game. They’re they’ve had some attendance issues a little bit that attendance hasn’t been great, but I bet they’ll sell it out. They’re a good team. They’re getting the gravy boat, too. There’s a gravy boat. Gravy boat. It could help the Sabres. It could help the Gravy Boat is what started the uh the losing streak last year. It is. It is. Wanted to point out the gravy boat. But this is a team though that’s kind of had their number. And there’s two competing energies in play um with tonight’s game. The Sabres have scored 25 goals in their last five games, 13 in their last two. Pittsburgh gives up, I think it’s the second fewest in the NHL. Um, they’ve held their opponents to two goals or less nine times this season. So, kind of an interesting setup here. You have a team that generally plays very well against the Sabres on home ice. They’ve been limiting goals against this year. Savers kind of coming in feeling good, finishing more often than they have season to date and maybe just, you know, the vibe is better for the team. But with all that said, who’s playing net tonight for the Sabres? Oopan had the net to himself at practice on Tuesday. Okay. I don’t know what really is going on as far as leaving Alex Lion out of the net this long because he’s been at practice. you know, he’s been hasn’t missed a practice and has been backing up. So, with their roster issues, you would think if he were were injured, you’d put him on IR, right? You know, it’d be a pretty easy move to make. This is just a ride in the hot hand. And, you know, he is Luka Pekalukin is that guy right now. As I mentioned last week, like I like or prefer to jump off the guy before like the hot hand is going to become not the hot hand at some point and I would like a little bit of anticipation in terms of when that will be, right? You know, and picking some spots, but right now the uh the bet seems to be that Lucinan would be in that and then at some point somebody else will get in because they have a backtoback on Friday and Saturday. So whether it’s Friday against New Jersey or Saturday against Minnesota, another goalie will play regardless of how Lucinan goes tonight. But this is a this is one of those four-point games right in the standings. Pittsburgh is sitting at 106 and five with 25 points, three points ahead of the Sabres. They are just outside the wild card. Currently the wild card is 26 points. The Bruins and Capitals both have 26. So, this is a pretty big game as far as November game goes. I mean, they all feel somewhat critical to the playoff mix, but they they feel especially critical when it’s a team you’re going to be battling for wild card position with. Regardless of what you think of the Penguins and and whether they can sustain this all year, they they have Sydney Crosby, they have Agghani Malin, like they have the horses to they’ve gotten themselves off to a nice start to give themselves a little cushion and they’re playing, I would say, uh, a different brand of hockey now than they were last year. So even if you think they’re a little bit fraudulent, they’re ahead of the Sabres right now and they’ve they’ve got they’ve got some guys that have been there and done that. So this is pretty big pretty big two two points to get and to keep the Penguins from getting any points would be would be ideal. It’s kind of big for Pittsburgh, too, man, because you know they everyone thought they were going to be sellers coming into the season. They lose this game against Buffalo. This could be the beginning of the gravy boat slide. And then we just like we talked about Vancouver, we might be talking about what veteran can Kevin Adams look at and you know where I’m going to go, but all leads all roads lead to probably one name for me and we’re not going to go there right now. Uka Lucin, I have him at 23 and one career record against Pittsburgh. Um 907 save percentage, 321 goals against average. We’ll see if he fares better tonight in net for the Sabres if that’s indeed how it goes down. You never know. But it sounds like that’s that’s interesting. I like, by the way, I’m on the other side of this a little bit. I like him going back to Lucinan because I just whatever gets them to get down to two goalies. And if Lucin has a good game, it gives them more confidence to get down to two goalies and make a move with Ellis or kind of figure out forces their hand. And Lindy, they do have to make a decision at some point. They do need soon, very soon because almost you’d almost argue they should make a decision by the time Norris comes back, you know, and if it’s not Norris, you’re going to be getting Danforth and Kessle Ring back. So, you’re going to need I mean, the Kessle Ring spot is already accounted for with Mets, you know, he’ll easily go back down and then then you have the space. the they need to make a call there though for the sake of roster flexibility, the ability to maybe bring, you know, bring guys up and down as they see fit. I just feel like it would be be nice to get a decision there. I’m sure Lindy Ruff would be glad to have a decision and I think that if Lucin is playing this way, then you can go Lukan and Lion and figure out what to do with Ellis. That was the plan coming into the year. You know, maybe a young goalender would be of interest to some of these teams that are that are selling at some point, you know. Yeah, maybe a Coltton Ellis could could be a throw in in a in a package. I also got to thinking as you mentioned the gravy boat, you know, the Sabres had the saber for the player of the game at the start of the year and then they went away from that and they have this belt. I feel like they need to bring the beer saber on the road as the player of the game award. The beer saber really changed the energy on Friday and I feel like they need to keep that. They need to harness it. They’ve got a belt now and it’s fine but it’s a little generic, right? It’s a little doesn’t have anything really that stands out that makes it uniquely sabers. Like the saber, the vest last year obviously didn’t work. So, it’s good that they got rid of that. The saber looked like it was getting a little dangerous in Alex Lion’s hands early in the year, but the beer saber, I don’t know, just an idea that popped into my head as you’re talking about the gravy boat and um the beer saber really changed the energy for this team. When I was down at the game on Friday, you came down in the second intermission from the press box. We just chatted for a little bit in the concourse there and I was telling you I was like I should get one of these beer sabers and use it to drink my coffee on the show on YouTube. But I’m sitting here I’m looking at these little windows and there’s no way that be able to fit it in and it would it’d be like those people on the jumbotron that were just and I’m not even oh my god making fun of these people because I Who’s used to drinking out of a beer saber? People think they’re just going to be able to chug out of it. But everybody that tried, you know, was just spilling all over themselves. You saw people later on, I think, figuring out like slow and steady wins the race on the beer saber. When you try to chug, it just ends up pouring all all down your chest, but there was some there was some sloppiness on Friday night at the arena, which is good. You know, it’s it’s been not bad attendance-wise. They’ve been up like a thousand fans a game from this point last year, which is, you know, pretty significant. They’re still down near the bottom in terms of capacity, but we discussed this last year, like the arena is probably too big and, you know, it’s a up over 19,000. Like, it’s one of the biggest arenas in the league and one of the smallest markets. So, actual numbers wise, they’re what, like mid20s maybe. like but the fact that they’re up alone is like it’s how much of that is paid gate? That’s a good question. They did give away a lot of tickets to the opener or included it with you know your they had fireman’s night recently. They had a couple events that I think it’s you know I don’t I know it’s never entirely paid gate but it it does make you wonder that’s it doesn’t matter when it comes to the revenue that flows in but in terms of the energy in the building it has helped like there have not been a lot of nights that I’ve looked around and thought and there was a lot of those last year where you’re like man this place is pretty empty right now that could happen but we’re already you know at late November. You know, there’s always that lull, I think, in the middle of the season sometimes, but post Bills season, there’s a chance if the team stays competitive that they could start filling it up a little bit. I’m sure the beer saber helped on on Friday and the uh butter dish on Sunday was probably a big hit. Got a few few more people in the uh in the building and an afternoon game that brought families down and kids down. And I think as you get into fatherhood a little deeper, it’s going to be a lot easier for you to load the kids up on a for a 1:00 than it is uh for a seven 7 o’clock. Absolutely. Yeah, that’s uh definitely played a factor. No Bills game on Sunday either. So y people were maybe the butter dish could be the uh the player of the game award in the locker room if they have a spare one lying around. You just are hellbent on getting rid of this belt. You just want to get rid of this belt. The belt to me is a little generic. I I just feel like uh the saber had a real real aura to it and the belt is just a little I mean everybody’s got one now, right? Like a player of the game thing. So some of them are going to be a little little more fun than others, but um I just think they need to have that beer saber energy with them when they go to Pittsburgh. Well, big game. Really uh interested to see how everything shakes out. see if the Sabres can continue their their winning ways and make it three in a row. Matthew Fairburn, you want to do your plugs before we get out of here on this Thanksgiving eve? It’s all It’s It feels like a Friday. It does. That’s why I’m so damn chipper. Uh I know you were really dragging me into the fight this morning. You were yelling right off the jump. Fire up, man. It’s just It’s a good Wednesday. Wednesday that feels like a Friday is always a good Wednesday. People can head to the athletic.com/sabers and find everything I’ve written there. Um, including something I I posted this morning about kind of what I’m seeing, some trends I’m seeing through 22 games, a quarterish of the season. And we’ll be back, I believe, Monday is the tentative plan. Um, we’ll have a couple maybe before. We’ll see. Maybe before. Who knows? Who knows if we get snowed in or something. Um, some snow is coming to the south. Don’t say that. I got to I got to Don’t say that. I got to fire up a snowb blower. I got to change my oil on a snowblower and I still have my deck stuff out and I was I got to like I got to get out there. I I know. I know. Don’t I’ve been busy, man. I’ve been busy. A lot of going on. Matthew Farbin and the production crew has not helped me with it. So, I’m going to get their asses out there. So, maybe we’ll see you this weekend, but at the latest, I would say Monday. Um, and we’ll have some more hockey to discuss when the time comes cuz Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Minnesota, I think it’ll be time for, well, depending on how it goes, one way or the other, it’ll be time for a playoff check-in. How How realistic is it looking? We’ll find out a lot about that in the next three games. I’m eager to have that discussion with you for Matthew Fairburn. You heard it, folks. You can find him over at the.com/sabers. He’s been cooking up a lot of good content this year. Get over there, check it out, and uh comment on his stories. For the production crew, who I had something cool to say for the production crew, but I can’t remember what it is now. I’m Chris Baker. Everyone, have a very nice Thanksgiving with your family. Thanks for making the show a part of your routine, and we’ll see you again whenever the hell we do get back here and do another show. Have a good one.

Kris Baker and The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn discuss everything Buffalo Sabres. Read Matthew’s latest at The Athletic:

Five keys for Sabres after 22 games: Josh Norris’ return, role players step up, more: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6837717/2025/11/26/sabres-standings-josh-norris-stats/