Kevyn Adams is right in his approach to build the Buffalo Sabres
By Sion Fawkes
The Alex Tuch-Peyton Krebs Trade
You all know the story. The Buffalo Sabres traded Jack Eichel and a third round pick in 2023 for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, the 16th overall pick in 2022, and a second round pick in 2023. Blockbuster trade, right?
Yeah, kind of. But this is what you need to remember: Tuch was often stuck on the middle six while Krebs barely even played for Vegas, despite being a first round pick. Krebs was also a rookie, having played a grand total of 13 games with the Vegas Golden Knights, scoring just one assist. Krebs also, if you remember it right, spent time in Rochester before he debuted with the Sabres on December 29th.
Tuch was a solid, yet unspectacular player. Yeah, he carried a $4.75 million price tag. But other than that, he isn’t exactly what you’d call a guy expected to make a splash in Buffalo.
He did, but it’s safe to say Vegas expected far more out of Eichel, the supposed missing puzzle piece, than anyone in NHL spheres expected out of Tuch. Who was just 25 when he returned to his hometown.
So Kevyn Adams wasn’t necessarily the one making the splash here. The Knights were, and Eichel didn’t necessarily push them over the top. Instead, Vegas missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Eichel’s cap hit for Vegas is $10 million a year, and he scored fewer points per game than Tuch did in 2021-22.