ORCHARD PARK – Winger Alex Tuch’s career with the Buffalo Sabres is over.
General manager Jarmo Kekalainen said this afternoon he’s looking to trade Tuch’s rights because he won’t be re-signing with the Sabres. Tuch, 30, can become become an unrestricted free agent next Wednesday.
Update: Tuch will sign an eight-year extension worth $10.5 million per season and be traded to the Washington Capitals, according to Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
“I don’t think at this point we’ve come to any points in our talks that would indicate that we would sign with us,” Kekalainen said at One Bills Drive, where the Sabres are headquartered for this weekend’s NHL Draft. “I think he’s moving on and getting into free agency, and we now got to look at our options, whether it’s a sign and trade, or if we can recoup some value now that we used him as a rental for our own team.”
Kekalainen said the Sabres “made it clear to him that we wanted to sign him.”
“He was an important player for us and a good leader – all those things that we talked about very many times,” he said. “But sometimes when the players have the power to choose, they choose differently.”
Tuch, who grew up in Baldwinsville cheering for the Sabres, fulfilled a childhood dream by joining Buffalo early in 2021-22 in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights.
He quickly grew into one of the Sabres’ core pieces, scoring 33 goals and 79 points in 74 games in 2022-23. Over his four full seasons, he averaged 32 goals and 68 points.
When training camp started in September, Tuch said he “would love to be here long term.”
What changed in the last nine months?
“I think that’s a question for him,” Kekalainen said. “We wanted to sign him.”
Kekalainen said re-signing Tuch would’ve carried risk. If he had signed a max deal, he would’ve been under contract until he was 38. Then there’s the money.
“We’re tight on cap this summer because we have the (Jeff) Skinner buyout coming, $6.5 million against our cap this year, then we get into a lot better situation a year from now,” Kekalainen said. “The AAV comes all eight years.”
On the open market – Tuch might be the best player available – he could command $10 million per season.
Tuch, one of the NHL’s best two-way forwards, scored 33 goals and 66 points in 79 games last season. He registered four goals and seven points in six games during the Sabres’ opening-round playoff victory over the Boston Bruins before going pointless in their seven-game loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
Tuch, one of the NHL’s best two-way forwards, scored 33 goals and 66 points in 79 games last season.
He registered four goals and seven points in six games during the Sabres’ opening-round playoff victory over the Boston Bruins before going pointless in their seven-game loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
The Sabres possess the draft capital – dealing defenseman Bowen Byram to the Chicago Blackhawks brought back the fourth and 45th overall picks – to acquire another top-six forward.
Kekalainen said the Sabres “will look at all the options” to possibly find a replacement for Tuch. They could also let some young players on their roster grow into bigger roles.
“Nothing disrespectful to Alex Tuch, he’s been a great player for us, but we have a lot good players in our lineup,” Kekalainen said. “But if you look at all the players we have that played pretty well this year in the NHL … it looks like I don’t know where we’re going to fit them all.”
Kekalainen mentioned three centers all 22 or younger: Jiri Kulich, who’s expected to return next season after a blood clot sidelined him most of last year, Konsta Helenius and Noah Ostlund.
“We have a very positive problem; we don’t know where to put every player,” Kekalainen said. “So we have a good plan on how to replace Alex Tuch, and we’re going to look at every option, whether it’s free agency or trade.
“But we also have a lot of returning options for the role of getting a little bit more ice time, more responsibility, more offensive time, all those things. So I think we’re in really good shape.”
Check back for more on this developing story.