2025-26 Buffalo Sabres Season Preview. Hope becomes Reality? - Sabres Semantics - The Armchair GM's Sports Network

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Time to sharpen those swords. You're listening to Saber Semantics,
a hard hitting interview and discussion show featuring players, alumni,
media and all others who covered the NHL's Buffalo Sabers.

(00:57):
With interesting stories from the past and current of analysis,
this show is sure to provide an entertaining and unique
perspective for both Sabers and hockey fans alike. Exclusively on
the armshaed GM Sports Network.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Welcome into another episode of Saber Smantics right here on
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Make sure to give us a like, hit, subscribe, smash
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(01:35):
and our Twitter polls or fan polls for our shows
that come up every week on the show. You can
also give us a follow on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok for
our our short reels and content. Brandick Puto and Austin
brought her with you to discuss and preview the Sabers
twenty five to twenty six season that gets underway by
the time this comes out will be tomorrow their first

(01:57):
game against the New York Rangers on Thursday night. We're
gonna go over the initial roster, some quick thoughts on preseason,
the roster moves that have been a result of the
initial roster, the updated injury report, and sort of the
outlook there. And then part two today will go over
the fan polls with some expectations there and as well
we'll finish off with our season storylines and expectations. So, Austin,

(02:20):
with that said, your first time back on the show
since I believe was the offseason episode. So obviously we
got through the prospect challenge, we got through the entire preseason.
What have been your thoughts in the last month or
so of what you've seen from the Sabers as we
start to ramp up here and get the regular season.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
I mean, I think for the first time, and I'm
not going to say the first time, but for the
first time like truly in the past, I don't know,
three seasons, general feelings of excitement. Obviously, you don't ever
want to take too much from the prospects challenge and
the preseason obviously because they literally mean nothing, especially you know,

(03:00):
coming from two guys that covered junior hockey where we
would see players lead the preseason it's scoring and then
literally be waived the next day, because preseason literally means nothing.
But obviously a lot of encouraging signs. The one thing
you can evaluate in the preseason is, you know, a
couple individual players and I know, obviously a few players

(03:20):
stood out for the Sabers, which is good. The good
the guys you expect to be good were good. A
couple of young guys actually had some nice showings. I know,
you know, Redee Merca starting in the HL a little
bit of a I'm not gonna call it a head
scratcher because obviously it was always a possibility given his status,
but not where exactly I thought, but clearly earned a
longer look at pro with the way that he performed

(03:42):
in the preseason. But yeah, just general thoughts and feelings
of excitement. Obviously when we get into it, a few
injuries suck early, but you know, unfortunately that's what happens.
Injuries happened in hockey all the time, and when you
are the Sabers, your roster at the top looks really good,
but you're depth gets a little bit testy, and we're

(04:02):
gonna find out pretty early in the season just how
good their defensive depth is, because missing their key acquisition
from the offseason is not exactly a great way to start.
But at least it looks like it's not too serious
on cassel Orring.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Yeah, we got to pull on Michael kessel Ring obviously
gonna miss some time and we'll get into that with
the injury report. And obviously it's a it's a hole
on the on the second d pair, right, so somebody's
gonna have to step into that role or we'll see
what sort of happens with that. But you mentioned Redee Merka, Awesome,
we'll start there because this was our first sort of
look at him, the Sabers first overall pick in this

(04:38):
June's entry draft. Obviously a big six foot six, right
shot defenseman, played with the Seattle Thunderbirds and still has
the opportunity to go back to Seattle to play in
the WHL this season if if the Sabers so choose
to do so obviously, like as you mentioned, got sent
down to Rochester for now, but played four games in
the preseason that a goal and assist. What were your
initial thoughts of what we saw from Smerca and don't

(05:00):
want to pencil him into the lineup right away here,
like let's let's let's try to limit the expectations. But
the good first impression for what's possible to come in
the future from him, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (05:10):
I know, you know, when he was drafted, a lot
of the talk was this is a raw prospect, you
can have an impact on this team four or five
years down the road. I think he's a little bit
further along than that. Definitely a raw defenseman who has
a lot of obviously two way potential like we saw,
but like any eighteen year old kid, probably a couple
of years away, which is why I was a little
bit surprised, you know, sending him down to Rochester. He

(05:30):
did earn a longer look with the professional organization. He
played well in the preseason. He had his ups and
downs as any eighteen year old defenseman would, but did
definitely not look like too small for the moment. Like
you said, No, reason to pencil him into this lineup
this If he's he's in your top four this year,
there's a problem. I would have preferred him to go

(05:53):
back down to Seattle. He still very well could, just
because I think in Seattle he literally will play number
one minutes all situations, tons of minutes. The minutes are
a little bit harder to find in Rochester. And also
for an eighteen year old defenseman, it's pretty hard to
be sheltered in the AHL. The HL is a good league,
but we'll see how they handle him. Like I said,
like him going down to get to work with Leone,

(06:15):
I think he's a really good developmental coach, obviously coming
from the USHL. But the upside with Murca is there,
people got really excited about him, and I think, you know,
that's a good thing. He definitely popped off and had
some really good moments. But like any eighteen year old
first round pick, for the most part, you know, not
everyone's Zach Benson or around the league. You know, we're

(06:36):
seeing obviously Michael miss made this the Sharks, even though
he kind of looks like a thirteenth forward right now.
But no reason to rush this kid. But plenty of
reasons to be excited. The skating, the offensive capability, the
physical attributes are there, defensive game is a little bit
further along than I thought. But still patience with this
kid because he is good. I think he is gonna

(06:56):
carve out a really long career in Buffalo. But good,
good first impressions from him, for sure.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
And I forgot to mention that you're doing work with
elite prospects Austin, and obviously with the covering the CHL
is something that we both have done. And when you
look at it from a scouting perspective, like sending MRCA
down to the HL like you mentioned, if he's going
to be like a six to seventh defenseman there, or
sending him back to the junior program, and whether he
stays in Seattle. You know, we know Kelowna is hosting

(07:24):
this year, so maybe they go and make a ton
of big trades in the WHL like we've seen in
the past, to load up for that mem Cup and
possibly even one of the other teams that's trying to
win the Western Hockey League championship, and maybe Merca gets
moved or stays with Seattle, whatever the case might be.
Do you see the value in him being in that
eighteen nineteen year old range of not jumping and forcing

(07:45):
him into pro hockey, into the American Hockey League and
having him play a full season which he only played
forty three games in Seattle as we know, Do you
think that there's more value in possibly him going down
again to the juniors even though he's a men amongst
boys down there.

Speaker 3 (07:59):
Yeah, I know, I think there's me personally, I think
it's more beneficial for him to go down because, like
I said, you can't shelter an eighteen year old defenseman
in the AHL. If he's there, he can't be your
six or seven defenseman because that does him no good.
He needs to be playing as many minutes in games
as possible. In the WHL, like I said, he can
play the number one top pair role, but also in

(08:20):
the WHL his he can make mistakes. You know he's
gonna make mistakes in the hl's they're going to cost him.
He can like it's it might sound counterproductive to say,
you know, he can make mistakes and get away with
him in the WHL, but I mean that in a
positive sense, where he can make these mistakes, he can
push the envelope and if it burns him, like, he's
not going to be punished for it, because he is

(08:40):
going to be very good down in the WHL and
he'll he'll be able to recover and make like make
up for those mistakes better because he's playing to his
skill level. I do think he could be a solid
defenseman in the AHL, but the AHL is very tough
for teenagers. There's a reason that we don't there's a
reason that for the most part, eighteen year olds are

(09:02):
not allowed to play in the AHL because one, the
CHL wants their star players back, but two, like it's
a different organ it's it's a different it's a professional league.
Like Leone's there to develop sabers prospects, obviously, but he's
also there to win. Like you heard Carmano say, like
we want to win the calder Cup. We expect to
win the calder Cup this year. Merca development is crucial

(09:23):
this year. It's a huge year for his development. I
would not like to see it not wasted. Waste is
the wrong word. But even today you heard Rochester basically
say it's day to day on what we're gonna do
with Merca. But send them down or keep him up here.
That doesn't sound like a good developmental strategy. You can't
have if he's in the HL, he's in the AHL,
if he's in this WHL, Let him go back down

(09:43):
to the WHL, because for the long term, he needs
to find a home this year, settle into where he's
gonna play, and just start playing this game. We know
he's a talented kid. I don't love the idea of
moving him or stringing him along and evaluating him day
by day. That's not going to be good for him
long term, and it's not gonna good for the organization
long term because clearly they have high hopes for this kid,
drafting him as high as they did.

Speaker 1 (10:04):
And especially as a defenseman in the American Hockey League.
Is an eighteen year old a lot even more pressure
than maybe a forward would happen the scenario.

Speaker 3 (10:10):
So, hey, there's no there's not a lot of minutes
down in the HL for him right now. Like Zach
Jones is down there, Zach Metz is down there right now.
It looks like Ryan Johnson's on the sabers, But who
knows what happens when kessel Ring's going to be activated.
That means either Johnson or Bryson potentially are going down,
which means another role is being filled. So it just
we'll see what they do with him. Honestly, this could

(10:30):
be a bit of an overreaction because he could just
be in Rochester for training camp and then they could
send him down And this was all on point. But
my overall theme is find him a home and let
him stay there. If he's in the HL, let him
be in the AHL. Like I said, I don't necessarily
love it or agree with it, but at least you
know he's going to be down there with a good
coaching staff on a good team. But I still think

(10:51):
personally long term, you see him in this the CHL
this year. I just like I said, the minutes in
the AHL just don't seem to be there for him.
He's not gonna benefit from playing third pair minutes in
the AHL.

Speaker 1 (11:03):
He's just he's not going to right. So we're gonna
have to monitor this redeem Merka situation. But obviously, first
little sample size of him in a Buffalo jersey, you know,
there were some bright spots there, and we'll wait to
see him in a Sabers jersey in the next couple
of seasons, but moving on to more of the little
bit more of the preseason Austin, it was just encouraging,
obviously to see Josh Norris, you know, be healthy after

(11:25):
what he went through after the Sabers acquired him, and
the injury scenario and situations always been the issue with
Josh Norris, and I think that's why Josh Ottawa made
him expendable in the Dylan Cousins trade. And for him
to have seven points in four preseason games. Again, we're
not gonna sit here and start to say that Josh
Norris gonna have a great season because he had a
gut a great preseason, but for somebody coming off a

(11:48):
significant injury to see him have some positive results so
far through the four games and playing on that top
line with Tage Thompson and and the power play as well.
He scored some goals, set up some goals. It's just
encouraging to see for a guy that you're really relying
on this year to be a top center on your team.

Speaker 3 (12:06):
Yeah, I mean you just said it there, right. They're
not relying on him to be a top center. They're
relying on him to be the top center. He is
their number one center, and the way that it looks
is Lady Rough is going to lean on him and
Tage and Benson right now, at least early on to
be that top driving line. And obviously, I think I
think majority opinion on Norris was, you know, this is
a very good player. Just the injuries are always the concern,

(12:28):
and unfortunately, when that's your reputation, that's always going to
be the concern. I know there are some people who
don't think he's that good in terms of, you know,
being a number one center on this Cup winning team,
but the talent has always been there for me with Norris.
The injuries are, we'll see what happens. Obviously, he looked
really good playing alongside Tage Thompson, which is what you
want because we've heard Rough say since probably or pretty

(12:52):
early on last year in the season that he viewed
Tage as a wing. Tage is obviously said he doesn't
care where he plays and clearly showed last year that
he thrives on the wing or center, and that's just
a type of player Tages derned into. So good to
see them not only playing well, but developing that chemistry
together because these two are going to be relied on
to drive the offense from up top on Buffalo, And obviously,

(13:13):
like you said, preseason doesn't necessarily mean anything, but I
think they match up well, especially with Benson on that
wing there, they have the potential to mesh together to
be a nice little top line. And like you said,
early dividends are good. Hopefully it translated in translates into
the regular season.

Speaker 1 (13:26):
For him anyone else you want to mention in the
preseason that caught your eye. We our got our first
taste of Josh Done, Alex Tuck got back in the
lineup as well, and y Ryan McLeod or a couple
other names.

Speaker 3 (13:39):
Yeah, I got a couple of thoughts on coole each
when we get into like our our talk about the
actual roster and everything there. But for Doan, I just
like I said it early, Doan' is probably quickly going
to become a fan favorite in Buffalo. And a lot
of people are like, why would you say that he's
not going to wow you with points? That's just not like,
that's not the role he's going to be in, and
it's really not the player he is at this point
in his career. But he is. I liken him to

(14:02):
McCloud in terms of he does a lot of the
little things right, and he plays a way that is
just easy to root for. He's gonna make some mistakes.
He's took a little bit too many penalties for my
liking in the preseason, but I also know it's the preseason.
The officials are a little bit different in there. But
the hard nos two way play with a little bit
of offense here and there. I think he's quickly gonna

(14:22):
become a player that the Sabers hands want to root
for because he meshes the He's very good at hockey,
but also meshes the type of style that a lot
of these Sabers fans have been clamoring for, which he
does play a little bit of a harder nose game,
but he's good. He's not like a no offense to
you know, Mason Geartson, But Mason Geartson is clearly only
on this team because he's the closest thing to an

(14:45):
enforcer that can exist in modern day hockey. No don't
is a physical, hard nose player who also is good
at hockey, and to me, that's the type of player
that they need. And I do think we talked about
it in the offseason episode. But he's a little bit
of an underrated part of this uh Pa Turky kessel
Ring trade. People talked about Doan just as a throw in.
I think he's going to quickly show people that hey,
I'm not just to throw in, and he's He's the

(15:07):
type of player that I think you could slot top
line for a bit, second line for a bit, third
line is probably gonna be the most comfortable or on
the fourth line, and he'll play his role and play
it well. So Doan, I think is the guy I
want to highlight, not because he was outstanding in the preseason,
but I just think the style of hockey he plays
is going to be fun to watch and easy to
root for.

Speaker 1 (15:25):
Yeah, and that was our first taste of what he
could actually do in a Sabers jersey, right with the
small stample size we saw in Utah and Phoenix before that.
But yeah, I think Josh dona mean, we saw it
in the embedded about how much Kevin Adams had to
go back and forth with Utah to be able to
get Josh done a part of this trade, so they
obviously value him. The only other thing I wanted to

(15:45):
mention might sound silly but encouraging to see tape Thompson
take twenty shots on net in four games, because you
to think that that risk is now one hundred.

Speaker 3 (15:53):
Yeah, the only thing that really it's hard to evaluate
this thing, especially in preseason, but obviously we know the
goalie situation right, it's lion, it's going to be lying
to start. Really does kind of stink that you didn't
really get a clear picture of what the goaltending situation
was going to be like because UPL came back and
got hurt, which sucked. Georgiev didn't play well, which is

(16:15):
why we're in the situation that we're in now, and
we don't really know a lot about Colton Ellis, but
clearly Buffalo things highly of him enough to claim him
and throw him right on the roster. So hopefully based
off what Ruff said today doesn't sound too too long
term for UPL. But also we know how Lindy Ruff
is with these injuries. He could say he's progressing well
but still miss multiple weeks. So not a lot of

(16:37):
clarity on the goalie situation, which is something I didn't love.
But this is why you sign a guy like Alex
Lyon to be that stop gap guy, and we've should
he's shown he can do it before. But it's interesting
to note that the he's going to be in the
spotlight right away.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
Yeah, I mean, we might as well get into that
as our next point. Here is the initial roster they
got announced and as you mentioned, still luking in back
on back on the injured reserve after coming back for
that one game reaggravating something. Michael kessel Ring, as we
already mentioned, is also going to be week to week.
Jordan Greenway has been injured pretty much the whole off season.

(17:12):
Owen Power has a chance to play and tomorrow is
home opener, so we'll kind of monitor that in Carson
Meyer as well. Starting the year on the ir as again,
they put out this roster and then Gorgy I've got
waved today when they claimed Colton Ellis from the Saint
Louis Blues as you mentioned, but I've got it up
on the screen for you guys watch it on YouTube.
But does anything surprise you there? And we got a

(17:34):
poll about it about the forwards and the defense and
the guys that are gonna make the initial roster here.

Speaker 3 (17:39):
Yeah, nothing surprises me. I will say, I know rough
tried to kind of downplay and say cautiously optimistic, but
owen power doesn't practice on the second pair and run
the second power play in practice, and you don't wave
Alexander Georgiev if at all signs appear to be pointing
to power being activated and playing otherwise, there wasn't really

(18:00):
a rush to wag Georgiev. So that seems encouraging, which
is good because I was talking to a buddy at
work and the defense without kessel Ring isn't great. The
defense without power in kessel Ring was downright scary, but
it is good to see that at least one of
our second pair defensemen are coming back. And you know,

(18:20):
for the short term here, if if one power is
activated kind of appears like maybe Johnson's gonna get the shot.
So I'm kind of interested to see a power in
Johnson pairing for a little bit while we're waiting for
Kesselring to get back there. But yeah, obviously, I think
the big surprise for everyone is just the fact that
they claim Colton Ellis we kind of I think most
saberstands thought like there's just no way Georgiev can be

(18:42):
trusted to be the backup with the way that he
performed in the preseason and the way that he's kind
of played the last Oh you're a Sharks fan, he
wasn't good with the Sharks, he wasn't good with the
app He really wasn't good with the Avalanche either, So
it's like multiple years where he just he hasn't looked good,
which kind of sucks because like he did show a
lot of promise in me or But the Sabers claimed Ellis,

(19:03):
which I mean when you saw all the goalies on waivers,
it looked like, yeah, this is the right right time
to pluck one off waivers. Not gonna sit there and
pretend like I even knew who Colton Ellen Ellis was
or thought he would be on their radar, But based
off Doug Armstrong's comments today, he was like man like,
didn't expect anyone to claim him because he had no
NHL games, But the second we found out, like kind

(19:24):
of disappointing for the organization because he was clearly our
number three. So he showed some promise in the age
L it appears, and the Blues don't seem too thrilled
that he got claimed, but good for Ellis to at
least have a shot at maybe getting in some games
here early on, depending on how Luken is not his
situation plays out. But at the very least, if Ellis
ends up in Rochester, two pretty solid goalies for the

(19:47):
Amberks and kind of doesn't force a rats laugh or
leaning in into being on the Ambers roster and virtually
playing no games, because let's be honest, Levi is going
to get the lion share down there unless there's a
proven guy like Ellis to to take some pressure off them.

Speaker 1 (20:01):
Yeah, be nice to see those guys get some time
in Jacksonville. I think would be the thing to do
for the EHL. But with with Ellis, I mean, if
Saint Louis didn't have Bennington and Joel Hoffer, he'd probably
still be a Saint Louis Blue. So I guess that's sort.

Speaker 3 (20:15):
Of this way. Armstrong made it sound at least.

Speaker 1 (20:17):
Yeah, and it sounds like the Saber. He's been on
the Sabers radar for a little while now apparently, and
they were sort of hoping that he would get put
on waivers. But we're like, if he does stay on
the team with Lyon right now, it's it's easier with
Lucanan out of the picture, right now while he's still injured.
But then then what happens when when Lucanan comes back. Gorgiev,
as we mentioned, got waived after being put on the

(20:37):
initial roster, so and again three goalies that that they've
got right now on the roster.

Speaker 3 (20:43):
Yeah, Like I said, goalies usually get plucked off waivers
every now and then. So like, obviously there's a scenario
where when Lucanan is ready to come back, they wave
allis and he's gone, which would kind of stink. But
I mean, we know who knows what the Sabers team
is gonna do. I don't recommend the three goal situation,
and we've seen how that works, especially nothing against Elis,

(21:05):
but like it's not like he's got a boatload of
games under his belt, at least at the NHL level,
So it's nothing against him. It's not like when Luken
is ready to have Like he's not a type of
player where it's we have to keep him in the NHL.
You just got to risk it and hope he gets
hope he clears.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
Pretty good stats for him with Springfield, I mean last
season twenty two, fourteen and three and nine to twenty
two save percentage in a two point sixty three goals
against a former third round pick of the Blues back
in twenty nineteen. So obviously, like you mentioned, has some
has some upside here and we'll see how he sort
of factors into the competition.

Speaker 3 (21:37):
Yeah, exactly, So it'll be interesting. Like I said, we
don't really know what's going on with lucan In until
we get some more clarity on that. He's the guy
that's there, and you know, for his sake, I hope
he gets to get into a game. It'd be nice
to see a kid make his pro or NHL debut,
I should say, But who knows. I mean, goaltending was
always going to be the wild card for the Sabers

(21:58):
this year, and with lucanan situation, that like brings that
even more to the spotlight. That is probably the one
thing that could put this team over the top or
sink this team. I like Lying a lot, obviously. I
think he's a really solid backup. He helped Flora a
lot the year that the you know that they squeaked
into the playoffs and then went on a Cup run.
But it'll be, it'll be, it'll be interesting. It's it's
a he's probably happy to get to play, but I'm

(22:21):
sure it's not exactly what he envisioned. When he signed
on with the Sabers, was like, Kate right away, all
the pressures on me. We'll see how he does. He's
a veteran in this league, so looking forward to it.

Speaker 1 (22:30):
Actually, are you at all disappointed or just scratching your
head about why they signed Gorgiev or do you think
that was just sort of like a body to help
them through the preseason.

Speaker 3 (22:40):
No. I wasn't scratching my head, honestly. When I first
thought the signing was, I was like, oh, like, veteran guide,
go play in the AHL. That's nice. And then literally,
I think it was like less than twelve hours later,
Fairburn put out that, yeah, Luken, it's actually hurting her
a little bit worried about him. And then the Georgia
signing kind of made sense. I believe Timeline wise Rough
was the assistant in New York when Georgia was there,

(23:02):
and that's when Georgia was good, so kind of there
was the connection there. But obviously, when you just look
at how his career had gone recently, it was going
to be an uphill battle. And again, I'm not gonna
sit here and say it's very We can't even watch
preseason hockey where we are like the Sabers just Geo
Locke their they're broadcast, So I'm not gonna sit there
and pretend that I watched all his starts. But like

(23:23):
obviously the box score raw numbers did not look good
for him, and it kind of lined up with what
we saw from Georgia throughout the last year, so there
was just unfortunately, there's just no way he could be trusted.
Do I think the signing was questionable, No, not at all.
They needed a body and it worked out. And depending
on what goes on with his waiver situation, worst case,
there's a worse goal to have in your AHL organization

(23:43):
if that's where he ends up, like.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
Fair point. So we'll see if he does clear to Rochester,
maybe some other team claims him, who knows, but we'll
see what happens there. But it looks like it's gonna
be Lyon and Ellis until upl is gonna be ready.
Lion's gonna start tomorrow in the home opener. All signs
pointing to that. So anything else that you want to
mention from the the initial roster there Austin that was

(24:07):
that was posted. Obviously a couple of names that people
might not be familiar with. I know Tyson Kozac played
a few games with the Sabers, Mason Gertzen, as you mentioned,
sort of more of a just an enforcer guy, and
Uh and obviously Colton Ellis, who's a new name as well.
But on the defensive side, you've got Bryson and and
Uh and Ryan Johnson who are who are known names

(24:27):
as well. But anything else there that you want to mention, Yeah, no.

Speaker 3 (24:31):
Nothing really all that surprising, especially the way that they
talked about some of these guys. I think the only
really last roster battle came down to when it was
clear that uh, you know, Kessa Ring was going to
be on the IR to start the year. We weren't
really sure what Samuelson status was going to be. It
became clear there was a defensive position up for grabs,
and I think it came down to Ryan Johnson and
Zach Jones. I don't think either one was the wrong option.

(24:53):
Like I thought Zach Jones based off everything that I heard,
he looked really good in the preseason, so good to
see that. You know, he obviously didn't make it, but
he's clearly high on their list. But good for Johnson
to make the team early on. Like I said, I'm
kind of interested to see if he is the one
that gets to slot in on that second pair for
the home opener. That'll be interesting to watch as just
the year he finally puts it all together. Who knows.
We know all the skill is there, but I don't

(25:13):
think anything is all that surprising. Obviously, just a couple
of injuries suck, but it doesn't sound like it's all
that bad. But like I said, it is pretty hard
to trust Lendy Rough, but I guess we Yeah, once
we start getting into it, I'll be able to have
more thoughts. But I am a little bit bullish. I'm
a little bullish on the forward group, more more than

(25:34):
I thought I would be.

Speaker 1 (25:37):
My next question with that was if when green obviously
Greenway comes back, he slots into the forward group at some.

Speaker 3 (25:44):
I don't want him back.

Speaker 1 (25:48):
For for discussion, standpoint, he Greenway slots back in, you
have to take somebody out. Somebody goes down to Rochester.
Knock on wood. The Sabers don't have any major injuries.
In your opinion, who's the first guy that gets the
sac Rozan is it somebody else, depending on if it's
a bottom six or top six player. Like, in your opinion,
who are the guys that got sent down to Rochester

(26:08):
that you expect would be the first name or two
to be called back.

Speaker 3 (26:12):
I think after the preseason. I know there was a
couple of rough moments, but I think after the preseason,
like Hellnius has to be a high up on that list.
He played really well, and unlike a rosen I think Hellnius,
maybe Oceland because we saw Oceland play well in a
bottom six role in the NHL last year. Obviously, depending
on what they do with Kozak, we know he's high

(26:34):
on their list. But if he's going to be on
this team early on, he might be a guy that
goes down when Greenway's active, so he might also. But
I think if you look at Osland, Kozak, or Helenius,
those are probably the first three when Greenway comes back.
In a perfect world, I don't know what they're going
to do. In a perfect world, Mallenstein comes out in
Greenway Slotson on the fourth line with Crebs and dan Forth.

(26:54):
I am oddly high on dan Forth. I think he
is a nice little Swiss army knight that you can
slot in and just he's just a veteran who is
good in this league. Not flashy by any means, but
he plays that role well. So we'll see what they
end up doing. Greenway, that contract is really rough, obviously
giving him two years at that much money, given his
injury history, but I think he's still a valuable two

(27:18):
way defensive forward. But you're showing the forward group now,
like I like that top nine, Benson, Norris, and Thompson
showed a lot of skill. Koo Leach, I think is
really good and it's really good to have him insulated
between two vets like Sucker and Tuck. And then that
third line you have McLoud and Dan who are really
solid two way players who hopefully can stabilize Quinn and

(27:38):
let Quinn be a finisher on that line. We know
McLoud can play drive, play two way as a center.
So I like the top nine a lot. Like I said,
I'm very way more bullish on this forward group than
I thought I was going to be. Obviously it's not
elite high end, but to me, they have and this
is kind of the theme with what you're hearing people
talk about the Sabers is they're not elite or high
end by any means, but they have a high floor.

(28:00):
And to me, that's what I see what that top
nine is. You have two three guys you know, Norris
Thompson and Tuck who are really high end producers. Zucker
is a good vet. Benson could if this is a
breakout year for him, that's massive for the Sabers. So yeah,
I like the forward group. Don't like it's not Don't
get me wrong, it's not like the best forward group

(28:20):
in the league. It's not even a top ten FOURD group.
To me, this forard group has a high floor that
should make the Sabers successful this year.

Speaker 1 (28:26):
And before we hit the break, are you still looking
at it in the way that's sort of played out?
Are you still as disappointed that they didn't go out
and get a top six forward in the offseason.

Speaker 3 (28:34):
Yeah, I mean, of course, right because this banks I
like this four group of the high floor, but that's
also assuming cool each and Benson breakout, right, which they could,
and if they could, it's fine, But like, I just
don't love the idea of being in the playoff droat
that we're in and still for a fourth straight year
expecting something to happen that we don't know is going
to happen. So obviously a top six edition would have
been nice. But I do think this group has a

(28:55):
higher floor than I thought, and as the season gets closer,
I am much more of higher on them than I
thought I would be. But that is to say that
they're obviously is still room for improvement, and like we
just talked about, depth wise, like the second Super Tuck
or Benson Thompson, like the second any of the top
six missing game, it's a big hole in your top six.
There already is a hole in your top six that's unknown.

(29:16):
The second one of them gets hurt, it's problem dying.

Speaker 1 (29:19):
And I see a lot of hope there with Benson,
Leech and Quinn. Right, So, yeah, we're gonna have more reaction.
We're gonna take a quick break, we're gonna come back,
We're gonna go over the fan poles. We're gonna talk
about our season, storylines and expectations for the team and
as they look ahead to the season opener tomorrow night
against the New York Rangers. Stay right here, We're right
back on Saber semantics, right here on the arm here
GM Sports Network.

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(32:15):
Armchair GM Sports Network.

Speaker 1 (32:24):
Here we call it's Talking Died, and.

Speaker 3 (32:28):
Here we call the Boys and Blue.

Speaker 1 (32:32):
Here we came some.

Speaker 5 (32:37):
From your.

Speaker 1 (32:48):
Welcome back to part two of today's Sabers Semantics season
preview episode right here on the Armchair GM Sports Network.
Brandick Putto on Austin broad Elite Prospects are back with
you continue to discuss the Buffalo Sabers outlook as we
hit the regular season opener for the twenty twenty five
twenty twenty six NHL season. Thank you to those that
are tuned in on our YouTube channel and video Make
sure to hit like hit subscriber smash that belts the

(33:08):
update with all of our video coverage and thank you
to those that choose to listen to us on your
favorite on demand audio platform. You'll also give us a
follow on Exit Sabersmantics, as well as on Facebook, Instagram,
and TikTok by searching the Armchair GM Sports Network. So
Austin again tomorrow night, the first game for the Sabers.
Quite the test. I guess you could say, well, we

(33:29):
don't really know what the Rangers are yet.

Speaker 3 (33:31):
I'm not high on the Rangers.

Speaker 1 (33:32):
I'm a lot I'm a lot more down on the
Rangers that I have been in probably the past four
or five years. I know they still have a lot
of the names on paper, but I just something about
that team just has a weird smell to it, and
I don't know if it's all it's all gonna work.
The cohesion there. We saw the Truba and Crider situation,

(33:53):
So again we're not gonna sit here on top with
the New York Rangers. But I actually do like even
though UPL is gonna be out tomorrow, I actually do
like the Sabers outlook for Tomorrow's game against the Rangers.
I don't know if I'm crazy by thinking that, but.

Speaker 3 (34:04):
Yeah, no, like I just said, I'm I'm very much
higher on the four group than I thought. I feel
a lot better about the game if the defense is
at full strength, and I know they're literally only missing
one player on their defense right now, but when you're
missing a guy like kessel Ring who you're slotting into
your top four, it makes a big difference for this team,
especially when all we've heard from this organization is the

(34:25):
defense is going to get better, which will make us better. Well,
the main thing, no offense to fire Timmons, because I
think he's a fine third pair of defensive, but the
main thing that was supposed to make your defense better
was kessele Ring, and unfortunately you don't have him, so
it does suck. But like I said, I'm not high
on the Rangers. I like to say I like the

(34:45):
saber Chances, but we've seen them come out pretty flat
and home openers before. I know last year the season
opener was was in Europe, but that was obviously a disaster,
and then even the whole opener against the Kings was
not They didn't score. So hopefully this team is juiced
up ready to go. But like I said, the season,
the long term season outlook, I like this team's floor,

(35:08):
which I think is what you're hearing from a lot
of people, like when we can get into it now,
But like if you pay attention to these, you know,
like the j Fresh, the Domino Sisition, the evolving Hockey,
the Micah Blake McCurdy, the guys who put out those
season projections. Most of the models have the Sabers projected
around ninety points, which gives you about a fifty to
fifty shot at the playoffs. I know that doesn't sound
great because it's fifty to fifty, but like you're telling me,

(35:30):
if you told me right now the Sabers finished with
ninety points, I'd sign up for that. And if it's
a fifty to fifty shot, I sign.

Speaker 1 (35:35):
Up for that. Yeah, I mean, considering where they've been
and you just hope that fingers crossed there was not
a thirteen game losing streak in there. But when we
look at it, we'll start off with the with the
Twitter pools offs and sort of what you were getting
at with the defensive sort of thing, and again give
us a follow on x at Saber Semantics you want
to get it on our fan poll. Soon quickly go

(35:56):
through these and we'll kind of react to it and
give your thoughts. As you mentioned, with the injury to
Michael Kestering, who should start the season as Owen Power's
defensive partner. And this is barring Owen Power obviously being
able to play in the home opener, which as you mentioned,
he was on the second Power play unit running it.
So you just you expect them to be in the
lineup tomorrow. Connor Timmans, Jacob Bryce, and Ryan Johnson. I

(36:16):
just threw broke bow and Byram him as a fourth option.
Connor Timmins and Ryan Johnson actually tied this pull Austin.
What are your thoughts? I kind of quickly mentioned Ryan
Johnson earlier in part one.

Speaker 3 (36:28):
Yeah, I mean I think I think either one is
the right option I personally, again when the defense is
at full strength. I do like the idea of Timmins
and Samuelson as a third pair, So I'd like to
see them play from opening night just so you can
get a sense of what that pair is. So yeah,
I like the idea of Johnson give the kid a shot,
right Byron ePower we know doesn't really work together. Well,

(36:51):
we know Byram is a good player, but we know
he only works with Dallien, So no point in splitting
that up because we know that line works. We know
Dallen will get out of byrum. So to me, those
are the two best options. And I do hope it's
Johnson because we're also if Johnson doesn't make it now
or just prove he belongs now, never going to.

Speaker 1 (37:13):
And you've been pretty high on on Ryan Johnson the
show over the years.

Speaker 3 (37:15):
But yeah, I mean he's got all the tangibles, like
he's he's got the skating, he's got the sketch, just
never clicked, and you.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
Know, right, So we'll move on to our next poll here.
Poll number two is what is the Sabers' biggest strength
going into the season? Forwards, defense, goaltending, And I threw
coaching in there, and it was actually a tie with
forwards of defense. But as you mentioned at the end
of the first segment today, you're a little bit more
bullish on the forward group than than you would have expected.

(37:44):
I'm in the same boat. I think the forward group
is actually one of their biggest strengths. That's obviously hoping
and projecting that Benson, kole Each and Jack Quynn have
good seasons within that core there. But I definitely think
the forward group has a lot more real liability than
maybe the Decorp as a whole, even though I do
think the decor is improved from what it was last season.

Speaker 3 (38:07):
See, while I'm bullish on the forward group and I
like what they've done with the top nine, I'm going
to go the opposite. I think this defense the top
sixth when healthy is their strength. You have a Dollien
who's one of the best defensemen in the league. You
have Byram, who's an offensive defenseman but we know works
well with Dallien. That's your top pair. You get a
good pair there. Oh empower. I am way higher on

(38:29):
o empower than the average Sabers fan. I know most
Sabers fans kind of hate him, but he's a very
good hockey player. Kesser Ring, I think literally will be
the McLoud on defense who just people are like, yeah, okay,
like solid player, But I think he's going to show
that he's way better than a lot of people give
him credit for. And then I like the third pair
of Samuelson and Timmins. You know me, I've been saying

(38:51):
for multiple years now. Sam Wilson's a third pair defenseman.
Well now it has worked out perfectly where he's a
third pair defenseman on the team. But hopefully I'm right
and hopefully he plays well as a third pair defenseman.
I think went healthy. Their defense is their strength, and
I think this organization does too, because that's what they've
been preaching, that the defense will improve. That being said,
they are one injury away from I mean, we're gonna

(39:13):
find out, right because kessel Ring is not healthy. We're
gonna find out pretty early on what that depth looks like.
But yeah, I think their forwards are Like I said,
their forwards have a higher floor than I originally thought,
which bodes well for this team because the floor has
been the center of the earth for this team lately.

Speaker 1 (39:31):
So if Michael kessel Rings, obviously when he's one hundred
percent healthy, that sort of changes things. But if you've
got to move a Ryan Johnson and then Bryson and
Timmins might have to move up in the lineup, or
Bryson even get in the lineup, that sort of changes things.

Speaker 3 (39:45):
Yeah. Absolutely, Like I said, I think it was when
they acquired kessel Ring, or maybe shortly after the Byron
contract came out, not one hundred percent sure someone would like.
An anonymous executive was quoted in The Athletic being like,
I like what the Savers have built with that top four,
with Byron Delly and Cuss ring and power, So people
around the league seem to think their defense can be

(40:07):
their strength. I also tend to agree went healthy. Went
healthy is a pretty big caveat.

Speaker 1 (40:13):
Though, right, And that moves into the third poll. What
is the Sabers' biggest concern forwards? Defense, goaltending, coaching? Goaltending
seventy five percent was the winner here coaching and forwards
twelve point five percent. Defense zero. Any surprise from you
on that one?

Speaker 3 (40:30):
No, no, not really. I mean the concern anyone concerned
with the forwards, I get it. You would have loved
to see another top six. We all would have, So
that makes perfect sense. Coaching. I'm going to assume the
coaching probably has to do with the special teams, which, yeah,
obviously until we see it improve, we're going to be
skeptical on it. But yeah, the overall majority is goaltending, right,
because Lukenan wasn't good last year played and simple I

(40:52):
was not up to par. We saw him two years
ago be really well and then the rest of the
team let him down. Last year kind of mimicked the
year they just missed the playoffs in terms of the goaltending,
kind of let the team down. We're gonna see, right,
Lucanan being out early sucks because, like what I just said,
he wasn't that good last year. He is an NHL

(41:13):
quality goalie. But we know goaltending can sink or swim
a season when you don't have one of the truly
elite goalies in this league, like a Bebroski, as a
Lefski or a Hellabuck. It's basically a crapshoot from year
to year. Hopefully this is the year where goaltending clicks

(41:35):
along with everything else. But yeah, this if Lukenan is
not up to par when he's healthy, it might not
matter how much better the power player of the defense
is because you need consistency back there. You need that
consistency to give the rest of the team confidence. But
we'll see, right. According to Adams and Rough playing better
defense should help out the goldtending. Hopefully they're right.

Speaker 1 (41:55):
And Lion and Ellis is playing a factor into that
as well.

Speaker 3 (41:58):
Yeah, I mean, I think Lion's a quality backup. We're
going to see how he fares as a starter early
on in the year, but the expectation is Lucanan to
probably get fifty five starts this year Leaven twenty seven
for Lion. I don't know. Maybe if Lucanan's good, that
seems about right. But we also saw James Reimer locked
down the stretch last year, so which I yeah, to me,

(42:21):
this is bang on. Goaltending is the one concern that
you should have with this team in terms of their
ability to break the drought. Right, They're not high end
on forward, but they're solid, they're solid on defense. Goaltending
is the one thing where you don't really know what
to expect.

Speaker 1 (42:36):
Put you on the spot. Does Devin Levy get into
the NHL game this year?

Speaker 3 (42:39):
Oh yeah, at least one. Yeah, there's gonna be there's
going to be an injury to lucan in or Lion.
And like I just said, like, it's not a guarantee
that Ellis stays with the Sabers if it gets waved,
because we claimed him so clearly he's on teams radars.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
Saint Louis could claim him back.

Speaker 3 (42:56):
Right, So I will say, yeah, he gets into an
NHL game, but the only way he gets like I
will say, I will give the Sabers credit the way
they have set up this year to handle Levi. I
don't mind. It's been You're going to be in the AHL,
and that is where you'll be, and you are going
to play a lot in the AHL. This will be
a different question next year because Lions signed a two

(43:18):
year deal and Lukenan signed on a long term deal.
If Levi has another season that we normally see from
him in the AHL, where let's face it, he dominates
the AHL for the most part. If he has another
year like that, who knows. But that's a problem for
next year. Right now. I like what they're doing with him,
but I'd say due to injuries, he probably at least
gets one NHL game.

Speaker 1 (43:39):
Fair And then the last poll I put up was
which play or which player was the biggest surprise named
to the roster. We kind of already went over this,
but Colton Ellis forty percent over Tyson Kozak, Mason Gertzen,
and now Alexander Gorgiev, who is obsolete because he's been
put on waivers. So again, Colton Ellis, I think just
wins that because As I mentioned, we didn't really know
who this guy was until yesterday.

Speaker 3 (44:00):
Yeah, And I mean, I'll say this, anybody voting for
Mason Geartson on this, I kind of get where you're
coming from. But if you listen to Lindy rough talk
during training camp and stuff, he went out of his
way to mention Kiartson early on, so he was kind
of obvious he's at least going to make the opening
night roster. And I don't really want to puke in
my mouth here, but like, are we ruling it out
that he doesn't trust Gartson to fight Rempy in this

(44:22):
first game because the team has that stupid reputation for
being soft. I really hope they don't, but I could
see it.

Speaker 1 (44:30):
Yeah, fair point. I didn't even think of the Rempy thing,
but yeah, that might be.

Speaker 3 (44:33):
He's on power play too for the Rangers, by the way,
for reasons why I'm down on the Rangers.

Speaker 1 (44:42):
And I think Will Cooley's on the first power play,
and I get again. We saw Will Cooley dominate with
the windsor spitfires the OHL level. But I like cool
a lot. Is he NHL player? I don't know, I like,
I like, I like Will Cooley a lot too. I
just I don't know if, like, do you think he's
a top line player. Anyway, We're we're not the New
York Ring Podcast, So we'll we'll, we'll move on. But again,
it's an it's an intriguing first matchup because, yeah, we

(45:05):
don't really know what the Rangers are yet, and we
don't know what the Sabers are with their floor and
there's how they're gonna if they're gonna play up to
their to their ceiling or play down to their floor, right,
So I think it's a good first test for them,
and again against one of the best goalies in the NHL,
even though he had a sort of shaky year last year.
But I think that was just the Rangers in general
with all their turmoil. But so thank you to those

(45:26):
that contributed for our fan polls to do those every
single week on the show. So before we wrap up Boston,
let's get over to our season storylines and expectations for
the team. So, uh, number one five on five team
goal scoring wise, but that should tell you a lot
considering that they missed the playoffs by a hefty sum.
What are you expecting from the Sabers this year, and

(45:47):
do they finally break the playoff drought if they reached
ninety points. You said it was sort of fifty to
fifty as whether they would get in or not. Do
they make it in your opinion this season.

Speaker 3 (46:00):
I'm gonna say no, they don't make it, But I
am gonna say I do think they're in it till
up till the end of the season, which doesn't sound great.
We want the drough to break. But if you tell
me like they're in it till the very end, on
the last day of the season, I feel like most
fans probably sign up for that because it's loser talk.
I'm not gonna pretend it's not. But being in until

(46:20):
the very last day would at least give us some
reason to be invested. Like I was talking to a
buddy at work the other day and I said, I,
you know how awesome it would be for the Savers
to buy at the trade deadline, like go get a
rental to help them, maybe push them over the top.
Like imagine you know, the Wayne Simmons and Dominic Cahun trade.

(46:41):
We were shocked by that one because we couldn't believe
they were buying. Imagine going into a trade deadline where
we expect the Sabers to buy something like, to me,
that would be awesome, which is loser talk, But no,
I'm not. I'm gonna say they don't end the drop,
but I will say this. They're five on five scoring well,
probably regress a little bit, but this team is built
to score. They just are. I'm gonna give seth Affert

(47:04):
some credit here. I do expect the power play to
be better and at least league average this year, which
I could look really dumb, but I'm gonna go with that.
The five on five scoring will regress, but their power
play will get a lot better.

Speaker 1 (47:20):
And yeah, I totally agree with that. If they're five
on five goes down but the power play improves, I
think that that's enough for progression there. And yeah, injected
Dinah Zebras to the Sabers into my veins. I would
love to see a move like that that we saw,
you know, back in the day when the Sabers were buying,
even they weren't buying the top end guys, they were
still making some quality moves for their playoff pushes. It

(47:41):
seems like, you know, four decades ago. But when you
talk about the Sabers, and last year Montreal was the
last team to make it in the East with ninety
one points. Actually them in the and New Jersey both
at ninety one points, the Sabers at seventy nine again
take half that thirteen game losing streak. They probably make
the playoffs, they have to leap frog six teams in
order to do so this season. When you look at

(48:02):
what's within the division this year, because you obviously have
to start with your your division in the Atlantic, You've
got the Toronto's, the Tampa Bay's, the Florida's, Ottawan, Montreal,
Detroit sort of we don't really know what they are. Boston,
everybody projects them to be horrible. But again until I
actually see, you know, Boston have another really bad season,
I'm not gonna say that that that's gonna happen again
because we've seen them be, you know, a very good

(48:23):
team within the conference for you know, the better part
of two decades now, so within the division and where
they're sort of, I guess what the outlook is there.
We know what Florida has some couple of key injuries.
We know Tampa Bay isn't quite what they were before.
Will Toronto be the same without the Mitch Marner. I
know they've made some good acquisitions as well that we

(48:44):
never like to give them credit for. But within the
Atlantic Division, Like, are you more optimistic than maybe you
were last season that they could get into a top
three spot in the conference, or they're gonna have to
go for one of the or top three spot in
the division, or they're gonna have to go for one
of these wild cards.

Speaker 3 (48:57):
Oh yeah, they're gonna have to go for the wildcard. It.
Like I said, I don't expect them to make the playoffs.
I think they'll be close. I think you can pro
you can pencil in Toronto and Florida top two. And
I know Florida's missing two guys, but they're still a
really good team. They're still deep top to bottom, Like

(49:19):
without Barkov and ka Chuck for a while, I mean
they still have Ryan hart Ver, Haggy Rodriguez, things like that. Toronto.
They're Toronto. I hate them obviously, but adding Wah is good.
Michelli looks like he could be an underrated player. I
will think it might be a little bit more of
a slog for them than they're used to. But I
think those two you can pencil into the top two

(49:43):
Tampa until I see Tampa fall off the face of
the earth. I'm just always gonna believe they're gonna be
that good because they they are that good.

Speaker 1 (49:50):
Like one hundred and two points again for them.

Speaker 3 (49:52):
Though, yeah, I guess I don't know about that high.
I am curious how Montreal handles this because when you
look at their numbers minus twenty goal differential, they reminded
me of that Sabers team that missed the playoffs by
by a point. Doing differences, Montreal squeaked in, but then

(50:14):
buff we know when Buffalo got that close, they kind
of fell off the place of the earth. I'm not
gonna say Montreal is gonna fall off the face of
the earth because I like to know adopts in trade.
I like kind of what they've done there. But a
little bit of regression to the mean for them, I
could see that happening. I could see them taking a
step back before they take that next step forward.

Speaker 1 (50:30):
Because they overshot last year. Everybody expected that.

Speaker 3 (50:32):
Yeah, yeah, there they have some good pieces, like Stefkofski
is really good, Demi Dad was really good, Hudson's really good.
But like they're young, they're they're the youngest team in
the league. Sabers are the second youngest team in the league.
The only difference is the Sabers have been the youngest
team in the league for like five years, so those
young players are NHL vets. So I could see that. Ottawa. Honestly,
I don't know what to expect. They were really good

(50:53):
last year, but they're the Autawa Senators and I hate
them and I'm never gonna give them credit. But I
think you're going Buffalo, Detroit Montreal fighting for that fifth
final playoff spot. I'm not super high on the metro,
so I wouldn't be surprised if that's kind of what

(51:16):
you see there. And the Bruins, like you said, you
don't expect them to be bad two years in a row.
I do. They were really really padded last year. I
know McAvoy's gonna be healthy, which will help a lot.

Speaker 1 (51:26):
But like maybe Swayman has a bounce back.

Speaker 3 (51:29):
Maybe, But aside from Posterknock, who's scoring on that team,
Like Geeky was really good, but he can be outperformed expectations.
Obviously he could duplicate it, but I don't see it.
So yeah, I think Buffalo is in that fifth spot
in the Atlantic, which hopefully has them fighting for that
final spot.

Speaker 1 (51:49):
Yeah, you mentioned Montreal twenty five point eight Buffalo's twenty
six point four to eight average average age entering into
the season as the two youngest teams in the National
Hockey League. And again, when you're more in Chicago, you
expect to be that when you've been when you're in
a rebuilding phase. But for Buffalo, you know, they kind
of look different in that sense because we've kind of
been waiting for how many years now for them to

(52:10):
not be the youngest team in the league, because that
just means that, you know, you people think that you're
you're gonna be good, but when And we're still waiting
here for the Sabers to take that next step forward.
But again, as you mentioned, I think, yeah, I just
I think it's gonna be too too many teams to pass,
especially like with the Metro teams with the wild card.
I just don't see like I do, I could see

(52:30):
a possibility of Buffalo being better than Detroit, Montreal in Ottawa,
but to me, that doesn't even still put you top
three in a division with Tampa, Florida and Toronto so
then it just depends on what happens over in the metro.
And and you got the leap frog couple of those
teams and six teams overall from where they were last year.
And again Boston always plays Buffalo tough too. So I
just as much as I want the drought to end,

(52:51):
I just don't see the clear path that says for
sure this team is going to be a playoff team.
But again, if they give that fifty to fifty shot
as you mentioned at ninety points, I think we got
to take it at this point.

Speaker 3 (53:01):
Yeah, like I said, I don't expect them to make it,
but I expect them to be close, and mostly, like
what you said, there's a lot of teams they have
to leave frog. I will say this again, I am
not discrediting Montreal at all. I think they are very good.
They're going in the right direction. It is just very
hard to see the dance stats. They got beat bad
a lot of games. They had a negative twenty goal differentially,
the same gold differential as the Sabers. Like I said,

(53:22):
they're gonna be a really good team, probably top three
in that division for many years to come. I just
I wouldn't be shocked if they kind of fell back
a little bit. And I think with the East, we're
seeing the same thing for now the third straight year,
where like, I just don't think the East is that good.
So ninety points could get the Sabers in, So if
they are there, I wouldn't be shocked. I just it's

(53:42):
three seems like a third year in a row now,
which obviously we this could look really dumb at the
end of the year. But like two years ago when
the Sabers or three years ago when the Sabers barely
squeaked in at ninety one, it was whatever. Two years ago,
the East was really bad, Buffalo failed to take a
step forward. Last year, the East wasn't that good. They're
begging for someone to take that spot. It went to Montreal.

(54:06):
I wouldn't be surprised this year again if if eighty
nine to ninety two points gets you in and the
Savers are projected to be in the mix, and that's
really all I can ask for right now. I just
I think we're getting to year fifteen, but I think
we're getting to year fifteen in a way that we're
not miserable. We're gonna be miserable when they miss because

(54:27):
we're just gonna because it's been so long. But I
think this year will look a little different, and I'm
also fully prepared. If this team makes the playoffs, I
probably means we're stuck with the front office that we have,
which is a whole another conversation for a different day.
But I think a lot of reasons to be hopeful
this year. I just can't. I can't pencil them into

(54:48):
the playoffs. I can't, but I'm hopeful.

Speaker 1 (54:51):
Yeah, you can't expect them anything with this franchise. So yeah, again,
we saw that they're they're making some changes with the
season ticket holders, which is nice. But again we'll set
to see what happens on the ice.

Speaker 3 (55:04):
And I will say home openers looking pretty good. I
was getting I was a little bit worried. I was
worried that it wasn't gonna be a good crowd. Tickets
are looking sold. It's a good thing we have. This
is the one game where you can have hope. What
happens after that, I don't know, but I was worried
it was gonna be a bad crowd. It doesn't look
like it's gonna be a bad crowd.

Speaker 1 (55:24):
I think they were gonna I think they were giving
away tickets with a flex pack for the home opener.

Speaker 3 (55:28):
They were, and I will say I was thinking about
maybe trying to buy a ticket to the home opener.
Two weeks ago. They were about fifty bucks where I
like to sit in the three hundred level fifty bucks US.
Those are now up to seventy bucks, So like, wow,
there's some demand. That's good. Like I said, reasons to
be optimistic, not gonna lie the second I wake up
Thursday morning. I'm gonna be giddy. I'm gonna be all

(55:51):
the way back. I'm gonna be all the way in
on this team, and just hopefully they're in it till
the end. Like I said, that's my expectation is that
they're gonna be We'll see.

Speaker 1 (56:02):
We got a couple more minutes here. There any other
season storyline you're looking at it? And I think you
mentioned Coole Each a little bit in the first second.

Speaker 3 (56:07):
Yeah, cool each. I guess you can kind of throw
in for very different reasons. It's cool each, It's Benson
and Quinn. Those are the three storylines because to me,
if two of those three players take a significant step forward,
Sabers are gonna be in good shape, and I think,
you know, obviously, the way that they've structured the lines,

(56:28):
I think Benson's set up to take a step forward.
I know a lot of people talk about how is scoring.
His scoring needs to step up. I will say this,
Benson's gift is his tenacity on the fore check in
his passing. And when you're on align with Thompson and Norris,
is the third option, You're probably not going to be
the finisher because Norris and Thompson are the finishers. I
wouldn't be surprised if Benson is just puts up some nice,

(56:49):
nice assist numbers this year, if he gets to stay
healthy and produces with that line. I just really like
the way that they are. I was worried about cool
Each being penciled into the top six center, but early
on the season, like I said, with Zuker and Tuck
on his wings, it does seem like they understood Kole
Each is good. He is potential to be the top six,
but we need to help him out early on, and

(57:09):
I just think getting to play with two veterans like
Tuck and Zuker is the perfect scenario for him. I
guess the other storyline if Quinn is good. We're fine.
I'm just I'm not sure what to expect there, but
Quinn as a third line winger I'm good with. I
guess the one thing we should talk about real quick
to end here is the Tuck situation. By all accounts,

(57:29):
it seems like they're open to getting something done. I
don't think it gets done before the season. If you
would ask me two weeks ago, I would have thought
it did. I don't think it does anymore. But it
was very encouraging to hear Tuck say at the you know,
his first time talking that he wants to be here,
because I know at the end of the year it
was it wasn't like fully said. But hopefully Kevin Adams

(57:52):
can get something done. Hopefully the season is because like
you need to be good and you need to get
Tuck signed. So I guess that is the one storyline
off the ice that everyone will be monitoring. We'll see
if Kaprosov and McDavid signing gets the ball rolling for
some of these these guys. I know it was like
Ikeel Kempe. Obviously Tuck's not in the Ekle level, but

(58:14):
I think Tuppet, Tuck and Kempe are pretty good comparable,
So hopefully, hopefully we see something there because that'd be
a good piece of good will for this team to
get Tuck signed. I don't think it gets done before
the season, not to say like he leaves, I think
he ends up signing. I just don't think it gets
done before the season. But that is one thing I
will be monitoring because it's a pretty big deal.

Speaker 1 (58:36):
And it's murkier once you get into the season with
a guy that's gonna be coming under strict free agent
because then once you get the trade deadline, do you
move him? But again, if Alex Duck wants to be
a Buffalo Saber, that they got to get this thing done.
And as you mentioned, with some of those other contracts
that got done right before the season, you're wondering if
Alex Tuck's name was going to be involved in that.
That was my one, you know, biggest season storyline is

(58:57):
the the veterans on the team have to be healthy. Yeah,
Tage has to play a full season not have the
risk injury. Puck can't be injured. Norris has to play
a full season, which, knock on wood for him would
be like seventy games if he could get if we
get seventy games out of eighty two and you signed
U that I would sign up for it every day.

(59:18):
But if he's playing forty five to fifty, then I'm
sort of not okay with it. And you know, making
sure that you know Ryan McCloud can step in that role,
but you want to have Norris in there because you
obviously in that big trade with Dylan Cousins, that was
the whole reason you got Josh Norris. So for me,
it's the Tuck, Thompson and Norris staying healthy this season,
and I know the Olympics are going to come into

(59:38):
that and the condensed schedule with with you playing a
lot of games when you're that have that month off
of the Olympics. So making sure everybody's healthy, I think
it's going to be the number one thing for the
Vets because those are the guys are going to be
relied upon on the forward group.

Speaker 3 (59:52):
Yeah. Absolutely, That's another storyline of Monitor two is is
the health. I like that because that will be key.
Having people slotted in their direct position will be paramount
for the Saber success and the best way to do
that with the depth that they do have or do
not have, for other words, is to stay healthy.

Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
Absolutely, So Austin, appreciate you coming on. And I know
we're not going to be recording for for a couple
of weeks. We've got Canadian Thanksgiving for American listeners. Yeah,
we're the crazy people that have Thanksgiving in October, but
the Thanksgiving Monday. Look forward to seeing your bills down
in Atlanta playing my Falcons. Only sab it once every
four years, but looking forward to it.

Speaker 3 (01:00:29):
Yeah, Sabers play Colorado at twelve thirty.

Speaker 1 (01:00:31):
That's more important, true, but hey, I'll we'll be able
to watch both. That'll be even better.

Speaker 3 (01:00:38):
I'll be working.

Speaker 1 (01:00:39):
Oh yeah, I guess, yeah, forgot about that. But regardless
of that, enjoy your Canadian Thanksgiving to all you out there.
Thank you that all that tuned in on the video
version and those that listened in your favorite on demand
audio platform. We'll be back with you all season long
for our Sabers content. So for Austin broad my name
is Brandon Putto. That's it for another episode of Saber
Semantics right here on the arm Sure GM Sports Network.
We talk again very soon. You're listening to the Armchair

(01:01:02):
GM Sports Network.

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2025-26 Buffalo Sabres Season Preview. Hope becomes Reality? - Sabres Semantics

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}2025-26 Buffalo Sabres Season Preview. Hope becomes Reality? - Sabres Semantics