Alex Tuch loves playing for Buffalo, but can the Sabres re-sign him to a long-term contract?

BUFFALO – As the Sabres took their place among the NHL’s heavyweights this season, their success bled into winger Alex Tuch’s family life.

Tuch said his oldest son, Tripp, “is just obsessed with hockey.”

So Tuch and his wife, Kylie, found a mini rink for Tripp’s playroom, where he puts on his roller blades, hears his father introduce him as “No. 89 for the Buffalo Sabres, Trippy Tuch” and skates a couple of laps with his stick raised as Dire Straits’ “Money For Nothing,” the Sabres’ introduction music, plays.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Tuch said Wednesday during his end-of-season media availability in KeyBank Center. “And he’s got that ‘Let’s go Buffalo’ chant down.”

Spending the last five seasons here has been a special experience for Tuch, who grew up about two hours away in Baldwinsville a rabid fan of the Sabres.

“I love it here,” he said. “I’ve loved my time here. I’ve loved playing hockey here.”

Not only is Tuch a 30-goal scorer and the Sabres’ best two-way forward, he’s a heart-and-soul guy who helped lead the team back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, ending an NHL-record 14-year drought.

No. 89 jerseys fill the rink each night. He’s one of the faces of the franchise.

It’s hard to imagine Tuch, 30, playing somewhere else, especially when he shares a story about his son’s passion for the team.

The grass isn’t always greener. The Sabres appear poised to be a Cup contender for years to come.

But if he hits the market as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, he would arguably be the top player available in a weak class. A long-term contract worth $10 or $11 million per season would likely be offered.

To stay in Buffalo, he might have to take a hometown discount.

“I’m going to do whatever’s best for myself and my family,” Tuch said. “That’s all. That’s my power and consideration. I don’t know how talks are going to proceed. I don’t know what they’re going to say. I don’t know the future. But my main priority is my family and where we’ll be, where my kids will grow up and who we surround my kids with.”

Tuch, who struggled in the Sabres’ second-round playoff loss, compiling zero points and a minus-8 rating in seven games against the Montreal Canadiens, wants to take time over the next few weeks and examine his options.

He said contract talks his agents had with former Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams last summer did not progress, so they decided hold off until some of the season progressed. He said the sides then chatted occasionally.

After Jarmo Kekalainen replaced Adams on Dec. 15, Tuch said they “had some good talks and then they kind of stalled out a little bit.”

“They continued to talk throughout the course of the season and at a point when we were starting to make the playoff push and everything, I decided it was in my best interest and the best interest for the team in general to put anything like that on hold until after the season was over,” he said.

Tuch said during his exit meeting on Wednesday, Kekalainen expressed his desire to bring him back.

“He’ll be in touch with my agent, and that’s it,” Tuch said. “Throughout the playoffs, it hasn’t been a focus of mine at all, honestly. I’ve just been thinking about the game and about the playoffs and that was it.”

Kekalainen, who called Tuch “a valuable part of our team,” said the Sabres will base their decision to re-sign him on, “How can we make our team better?”

“We have to come to an agreement that this is the type of contract that we can still make our team better,” he said.

Since the Canadiens ended the Sabres’ memorable season on Monday, Tuch has been spending time with his teammates and trying to get over the gut-wrenching 3-2 overtime loss.

“We had dinner last night,” he said. “Just trying to enjoy the time with them and trying to figure out even what I’m going to do this summer because things are quick with a Game 7.”

Following a four-goal, seven-point performance in the Sabres’ six-game opening-round victory over the Boston Bruins, Tuch hit a wall against Montreal.

In an ultra-tight series, just a goal or even an assist could’ve made a huge difference. Despite pumping a team-high 26 shots on goal during the series, he did not produce one point.

“Coming off a Boston series that I thought I was really strong both offensively and defensively, I tried to carry some momentum into the Montreal series that ultimately led to me having zero points,” aid Tuch, who scored 33 goals and 66 points in the regular season. “Everyone saw that, which was super frustrating. I thought my work ethic was there as the series went on. I thought my attention to detail got better.”

He said that attention to detail slipped a little in the middle of the series as some frustration sank in.

“Which for me is a little uncharacteristic because I pride myself on being a pretty consistent player,” he said. “So, offensively, I felt like I let my teammates down with that. But at the same time, I was really proud of my effort. I was really proud of a lot of things during this entire season.”