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The draft is all about excitement and so
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let's rank one through seven the most
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exciting players added to the Sabres
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roster during these two days of the NHL
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draft. Let's also give the Sabres a
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letter grade and talk about the biggest
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questions left after the draft. Now,
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all right, here's my most exciting
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players from the draft. Number one, how
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could it not be Dax Rudolph? It's got to
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be Rudolph as the most exciting piece of
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this puzzle for obvious reasons, but
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also because of the type of player he
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is. Not only where he was drafted, but
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the skill set he possesses just gives
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you so much excitement about the type of
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player, the type of game he will develop
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into. It's offense, offensiveminded,
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fluidity, playmaking, and playoff
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production. We detailed this after the
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round one recap and breakdown, but when
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you look at Rudolph's greatest assets,
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it's that obviously as a defenseman, he
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is so offensive generationminded that he
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just creates things for everybody in
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front of him. Also though, he played at
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his best down the stretch. She might
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have been the hottest player in the WHL.
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End of the season into the playoffs. He
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was a playoff performer. That's what you
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got to love against the best competition
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when the lights were brightest is when
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Rudolph delivered. Not everybody had him
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at a number four overall value in this
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draft. But because of the type of game
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he has, clearly he's got to be the most
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exciting piece of the puzzle for the
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Sabres. Quick reminder to make sure
1:42
you're subscribed to the channel because
1:43
all off seasonason we've got Sabres in
1:45
six videos coming for the big offseason
1:48
maneuvers and roster build of this hot
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stove season. Number two, it's Olen
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Zelwagger. He's a guy that comes over in
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the trade with Anaheim and essentially
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becomes a second round pick of the
2:00
Sabres. But when you look at his stats,
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he really has a lot to be excited about.
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He's 22 years old and yet has already
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played in 164 NHL games. So, he's just
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scratching the surface from a playmaking
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age standpoint and yet already has more
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than two full seasons of NHL games
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played and played in this last
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postseason with the Ducks. He's also an
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incredibly fast player. So when you
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think about how he adds to the Sabres
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roster, you're thinking, okay, already
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good experience, still young, hyper
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fast, has some playoff experience as
2:41
well. All that's super exciting. We have
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to see where he fits in obviously to the
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roster, the lineup in the off season
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where this looks to kind of fit
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together, but Zelwaggers are a really
2:53
interesting piece of the puzzle and he's
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the number two most exciting piece added
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by Yarmmo. Number three, I'm going to go
3:00
with Louis Krevier. He comes over in the
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Byum trade and you just look at some of
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these these tangibles, the the draftable
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skill set or or the listable skill set.
3:15
And you look at him on the slap shot. I
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mean, just a a howitzer of a slap shot.
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He also has some decent stick handing
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ability. and that size. You just combine
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the you combine all those things and go,
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boy, that's that's a really exciting
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package as well. He played in 78 games
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for the Blackhawks last year, which is a
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huge bulk of games and he's 25 years
3:41
old. So, let's see where he fits.
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Clearly, he's going to be in the
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defensive rotation somehow and we'll see
3:49
where that stacks depthwise. But I think
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Crevier, even though he might have been
3:53
a throwin to the Byum trade, I really
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like what he might bring to the table.
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Just watching highlights of him, I was
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thinking, boy, this is going to be fun
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to see how he adds to this roster.
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Number four, Ilia Morose.
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seemed like the Sabres were circling in
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the water bar rose off when they moved
4:13
up from 27 to 20 because he was not
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going to be available when they drafted
4:18
before they made the trade to move up.
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And you look at the type of package he
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brings to the table, he's big, he's
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strong, he's physical, he's a guy that's
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going to kind of drag you down, beat you
4:31
up, and wear you down. And you know,
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those are assets that translate very
4:37
well to the NHL. We talked about this in
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the round one recap in that he might not
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have a huge upside to be a first or
4:45
second line center, but if you are very
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confident he can be a third line center,
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that's a tremendous value to get at the
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uh in the 20s of the first round. So,
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Morose certainly has a package that
4:56
you're excited about. And I would put
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him at number four in terms of this
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draft season for the Sabres. All right,
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number five most exciting is going to be
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their fourth round pick, Oliver's
5:07
Morning. Another center comes in at pick
5:10
124 and this is a guy that has Boston
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College connections and that staff is
5:16
very close to the Sabres staff. So,
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here's what I like about it. I don't
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think the Sabres make this pick unless
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they have back channel confidence that
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he can be a player in the system that
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you can keep an eye on and has some NHL
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skill sets. Again, this is a good
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connection between the Sabres and the
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Boston College staff. He's obviously a
5:39
few years away from making it to the
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NHL. He's got to kind of see where he
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goes from here. But the at the end of
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the day, when you're kind of picking
5:45
fourth round and beyond, you're going to
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have to take a few flyers on things. If
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you're going to take a flyer, why not do
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it with again institutional knowledge of
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the player itself and why they recruited
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him to BC and what they envision with
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him. So that's why I'm going to put him
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at number five. Number six on this list
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is Hungarian Dolman Shaong Goth. Round
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five, pick 156. Again, a young center.
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Here's what's interesting about him. His
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father played professional hockey, so
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there's some bloodlines there. That's a
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good thing. Also, this is a young man
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that could make history being Hungarian
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born and trying to make the NHL. So,
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I've got him at number six on this list.
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And finally, number seven, Dylan Dumont.
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He was their sixth round draft pick. He
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went number 188 overall. And if you look
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at the most interesting thing about him,
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his age, just 17 years old right now.
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So, a lot to hope for and build with
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because of how young he is in the sixth
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round. Overall for the draft, I would
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give Yarmmo and company a B+. And look,
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I'm not going to pretend to know how all
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these guys have been scouted, pretend to
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have watched a bunch of their games in
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all these these leagues. Not going to do
7:00
that. What I'm just going to do is look
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at the type of player they got, why they
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got him, and how it all fits together.
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And look, there might be a bit of a
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reach for some for where they took
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Rudolph at number four, but I'm excited
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about his playmaking abilities. I'm
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excited about the type of player that he
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could potentially grow into. And I think
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overall, you just look at this and
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maybe, you know, you'd give them an A+.
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That's what a lot of graders will do if
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they feel like the team got great value
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for where they drafted. Like the Sharks
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are getting A+es all around for that
7:35
reason. The Sabres are not. But to me,
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this looks like a B+ on the surface. You
7:39
go, "Okay, I get it. A lot of these
7:41
things make sense. I see how they're
7:42
putting it together." They also moved up
7:44
from 27 to 20 and then all the way to
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number four. You got to give them credit
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on those fronts. And then this could be
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a draft that turns into an A. If Jackson
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Rudolph becomes a star, if Rudolph and
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Marose off end up becoming NHL players,
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if there's another player in here that
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ends up becoming a very good player,
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again, you you can move up obviously
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into an A. Here's the biggest questions
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left after the draft. Number one, the
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Sabres literally are not a better team
8:11
than they ended the season because they
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have lost players like Alex Tuck, like
8:15
Bo Byum, and all of these guys that
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they've acquired in the draft are going
8:20
to need at least a year of seasoning.
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Now, we'll see about Zelwagger and
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Krebier. Those are guys that are added
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to the mix to compete this upcoming
8:28
season for roster slot roster slots and
8:31
and you know where they end up um
8:34
fitting into the the grand scheme of
8:36
things. But there's going to have to be
8:38
another addition here. There's going to
8:39
have to be a trade. There's going to
8:40
have to be a free agent signing. The
8:42
Sabres obviously need to replace some of
8:44
the production that they have lost with
8:46
Tuck and with Byum. So that's the first
8:49
part. Where does that come from? Because
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that didn't come over those two days of
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the draft. The second question is going
8:54
to be goalending because at this point
8:56
in time, you've got to make some
8:58
decisions there. And I don't think
9:00
really any Sabres fan is going to feel
9:02
hyper comfortable with going back to a
9:06
UPL and Alex Lion situation that there's
9:09
going to have to be a a different name,
9:10
a different body competing in there. And
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look, there's the the Connor Hellabuk
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stuff that has been gurgling under the
9:18
surface here for a couple of days.
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Clearly, it wasn't a price that Yarmmo
9:22
was comfortable in in selling on. And
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so, we'll see if that price comes down.
9:27
We'll see if they pivot somewhere else.
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But the fact that they've had
9:30
conversations and clearly significant
9:32
ones about Hell Buck means that they
9:34
want to make an upgrade. They want to
9:37
make a move at goalie and that's going
9:38
to be something obviously to watch
9:40
during this off season. So, that's going
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to be the the two question marks going
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forward now with free agency here and
9:46
the hot stove of the NHL. But man, it
9:49
was a fun couple of days at the draft. I
9:51
loved seeing Deion Dawkins and Thurman
9:53
Thomas at the draft. I mean, that just
9:55
was very, very cool. Even though Thurman
9:57
called it the NFL draft, it's okay.
9:59
We'll we'll give it to you. You've had a
10:01
life in the NFL. It's all right. It's an
10:03
understandable Freudian slip, but that
10:05
was cool to see those guys up on the
10:06
podium on Friday night. All right,
10:08
everybody. Thanks so much for watching.
10:10
Appreciate you. As always, make sure
10:11
you're subscribed because Sabres and Six
10:13
breaks down all the big moves and all
10:15
the big news over the course of this off
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season. And so make sure you're
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subscribed to the channel. Appreciate
10:20
that very much. We picked up a bunch of
10:21
subs during this draft. And so let's
10:24
keep that thing going and keep the
10:25
momentum going. Also, plenty of Bills
10:27
coverage coming up here during the the
10:29
off season and mini camps are just
10:31
around the corner and then training
10:33
camp. And so make sure you are locked
10:34
into Bills Madic right here on the
10:36
YouTube channel as well. And my alma
10:38
mater Syracuse. You've got the Orange
10:40
Fizz. Plenty of Syracuse coverage right
10:41
here on the channel as well as we head
10:43
into football season. big expectations
10:46
for the football program that turned
10:47
things around after last year and then
10:50
also Jerry McNamera at the helm of the
10:52
hoops program. Thanks so much for
10:53
watching. Listen to me on SiriusXM
10:55
channel 82 as well weekday morning 6
10:57
until 9 Eastern time. I'm DA Damon
11:00
Amandelar. Appreciate you watching.
