The Instigator Podcast

The trade deadline is two weeks away and we spend this week's episode discussing where Buffalo's pending UFAs could go and how the Sabres can leverage this year's deadline into even more draft capital for the club. We also touch on Kevyn Adams' public statements about the Sabres ability to weaponize their cap space at the deadline. Also on the show is a quick chat about the returns of Sam Reinhart...

The hockey world has reacted to the war in Ukraine, as Russia and Belarus have been suspended from international play by the IIHF and the 2023 World Junior Championships have been removed from Russia as well. Additional hockey-related sanctions have been placed on the two countries and we discuss the fallout that will come from the actions taken by both sides, from a hockey perspective. We also di...

Eric makes his triumphant return to the show to reflect on the humble beginnings of the podcast, what's unfolded over the last 10 years for the show, the Sabres and his career with the Nashville Predators. We talk about a host of NHL and hockey topics, including the fan engagement that's been cultivated in Nashville and some of the big events Eric has experienced with the Preds.

The Sabres will have some work to do in order to reach the cap floor for the 2022-23 season. That will mean some creative moves will need to be made via free agency and the trade market in the coming weeks and months in order to hit the minimum salary cap figure. We run down a list for forwards, defensemen and goaltenders who the Sabres could target to not only fill their cap void, but to help pus...

The main focus of this week's show is Alex Tuch and the impressive impact he's had since arriving in Buffalo. We talk about the underlying numbers he's carrying, the incredible point production and simply how good he's looked taking a step up in the lineup and helping to anchor Buffalo's top line. We add some thoughts about how Tuch's emergence can help fuel the next moves the Sabres make in terms...

The Montreal Canadiens fired Dominique Ducharme and named Martin St. Louis as their interim head coach as they work through a very difficult season. We discuss the Habs' decision to go with a somewhat unexpected hire for their interim coach and whether or not St. Louis will have the inside track to take over in a more permanent capacity. Tuukka Rask called it a career and we celebrate his career w...

We answer listener questions on air, but before we do, we discuss Rocky Wirtz's outburst at a Blackhawks town hall rally and what the fallout could be for the troubled franchise. We also talk about some of the adaptations being made to the All Star Skills Competition and which Sabre player we think would be the best representative at this year's All Star Game. We wrap up the episode with a handful...

It's been a busy week in the NHL and we open this week's episode with a conversation over Aaron Dell's suspension and the bind that it has put the Sabres in to with their goaltending. Not only do we discuss how the suspension affects the Sabres but the actions Dell took and if he was deserving of the penalty he received. Along the way, we touch on the new hirings of Kent Hughes, Patrick Allvin and...

One half of the Maintenance Day podcast team joined the show this week as Joe Yerdon was back once again. Unfortunately, Lance Lysowski was unable to join for our roundtable discussion. We touch on the Sabres difficult injury luck and how they will be addressing their goaltending pipeline as Devon Levi and Erik Portillo continue to impress in the NCAA. We also touch on the NHL's announcement of re...

The Sabres goaltending woes have continued for a second-straight season as the injury bug has bitten the team hard. We discuss the most recent injuries to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Malcolm Subban and what it means for Buffalo's outlook. We also discuss Jack Quinn's NHL debut and the promise he showed in his first game for the Sabres. The show opens with a discussion of Evander Kane's latest exploit...

The Sabres have dropped three straight since returning from the holiday break. We discuss the debuts of Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs and JJ Peterka, offering thoughts on how each looked as they played their first games in blue and gold. We also touch on the roster issues that face the Sabres as they work through what appears to be a growing COVID outbreak in the locker room.

Peyton Krebs and JJ Peterka are poised to make their Sabres debuts as the team finally gets back to playing after an extended absence due to the league's COVID influenced pause. We chat about how the pair will factor into the lineup along with another debutant: Alex Tuch. Beyond our excitement with Buffalo's recent recalls, we also chat about the cancellation of the women's U18 World Championships...

The NHL has extended their Christmas holiday break in an attempt to curb the COVID outbreak that has swept through the league. The result of the postponed games officially put the NHL past the breaking point on Olympic participation and the league and player's association are expected to make a formal announcement on the withdrawal from the 2022 games soon. We close this holiday edition of the sho...

COVID outbreaks continue to impact the NHL schedule as this week has seen a number of teams impacted by positive tests and game postponements. We discuss how these most recent outbreaks are affecting the NHL schedule and what influence it may have on the league's ability to send players to the Olympics. Also on the docket is the impressive play of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and how he may be influencing...

Malcolm Subban has been acquired, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been recalled and there's still no end in sight for Buffalo's issues in net. We discuss what options are left to the Sabres as they navigate an injury crisis to their goaltenders and how it could affect the remainder of the season. Along the way we touch on the latest round of firings as Jim Benning and Travis Green are out in Vancouver an...

It was a huge news week in the NHL as the Montreal Canadiens fired Marc Bergevin, cleaned house with the rest of their front office and brought in Jeff Gorton to head up the hockey department. We discuss everything surrounding the moves and the difficulty in Montreal continuing to maintain hiring French speaking executives and coaches. Elsewhere, the Penguins have new owners in Fenway Sports Group...

The Sabres are slowly returning to health which means reinforcements are hitting the lineup. While Buffalo isn't back to full health, the return of Victor Olofsson and Henri Jokiharju will help boost the Sabres' lineup and we talk about what's on the horizon for further additions from within. The challenge surrounds how the Sabres and Don Granato will shape Buffalo's lines once more reinforcements...

The Sabres are off to a rough start at the box office. Ranking last in the NHL in ticket sales by a wide margin. We discuss all of the factors that have led to the Sabres averaging fewer than 8,000 tickets sold per game and debate whether or not they can turn a proverbial corner and push their ticket sales back up above 10,000 or potentially higher. We also touch on the situation playing out with...

The Sabres came back down to earth on their West Coast swing and their struggles to keep the puck out of the net are threatening to make the coming weeks an arduous journey. We discuss some of the struggles Rasmus Dahlin has dealt with and the path back to success for the former first round pick. We also offer up an update on Buffalo's prospect pipeline as a number of prospects are off to great st...

We went into emergency pod mode to offer up our reaction to the trade that sent Jack Eichel and a 2023 3rd round pick to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, a 2022 1st round pick and a 2023 2nd round pick. We offer up our thoughts on the quality of the return the Sabres got and what sort of players you can expect to see in Krebs and Tuch.

Perhaps the most significant update in the Jack Eichel saga dropped on Wednesday as Kevin Weekes reported an apparent trade package offered by the Calgary Flames for the Sabres former captain. We touch on some of the context surrounding the Weekes tweet, and the likelihood that Matthew Tkachuk would be involved in a deal for Eichel. We also discuss how things could be framed from the Vegas perspec...

The Sabres are off to an impressive start and we're here to break down just what has gone right for the club thus far and just how much further they can take it. We touch on some of the stand outs from the team's 4-1-1 start and discuss who might offer them a bit more as the season progresses. We also discuss the disturbing report on the Chicago Blackhawks investigation into sexual misconduct and...

Very happy to have Joe Yerdon join the show once again, this time to discuss his brand new site, Noted Hockey. Joe and I discuss the new site, what fans can expect from his coverage and even get into some of the nitty gritty of today's hockey media landscape. We also dig in on the Sabres opener and discuss some of the potential bright spots in this rebuilding season.

As the NHL regular season opens, we chat about the return of hockey to the ESPN airwaves, what it means for the sport and some of the impressive features the network showed off on their initial broadcast. We also touch on the Turner product and our anticipation for that along with some Sabres roster discussion to close out the show.

Rather than run down the usual list of teams we think will succeed this year, we tried our hand at a slightly different format of a season preview. We offer up a trio of potential stand out storylines to keep an eye on for the season and how they could affect the league at large. Before getting to that, we provide a quick update on the latest Jack Eichel news and reflect on where the Sabres stand...