Buffalo Sabres: Alex Tuch’s 3 most mind-boggling stats from 2022-23

Alex Tuch turned heads in 2021-22 with a solid season, and the Buffalo Sabres winger only got better in 2022-23 with quite a few sensational stats.

Alex Tuch was statistically one of the best players for the Buffalo Sabres in 2022-23, enjoying a breakout year that comprised 79 points, 36 goals, and 43 assists in 74 contests. And when you ask yourself who might be the most complete player on the team, it might just be Tuch, who can also pitch in well defensively.

This also makes the Sabres winger one of the most valuable players on the team. And while Tuch’s standard statistics generally jump out, there are a couple of advanced (and obscure ones) that show us how good he truly was last season. Let’s check out three of them.

Buffalo Sabres winger Alex Tuch’s most epic stats from 2022-23

1 – Takeaways

I’ve often talked extensively about Alex Tuch and his ability to get a stick in there and wrestle the puck from opponents. And last season, his 64 takeaways ranked 17th in the league, which also led the Blue and Gold.

No other Sabre came close to Tuch, with Casey Mittelstadt taking the second spot on the team with 50 of them, which tied for 66th in the NHL. Mitchell Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs took first place overall, with 104, and he was the only player in hockey last season to snag triple digits in the category.

2 – High Danger xGoals

Alex Tuch paced the Buffalo Sabres in this category with 14.69, putting him at 22nd in the league and ahead of players like Timo Meier and Sebastian Aho. This shows us that when given a high danger opportunity, Tuch was likely to take advantage of it, and it’s a trend that shouldn’t surprise you to continue into next season.

Tage Thompson took second place in the category among Sabres players with 13.07, which clocked in at 36th overall. Zach Hyman of the Edmonton Oilers and our good friend Matthew Tkachuk finished first and second, respectively, in the category with 26.67 and 23.43.

3 – Goals Above Shooting Talent

Last year, Tuch’s number in this category sat at 9.6, and he was not one, not two, but three Buffalo Sabres players (with Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens) to rank in the Top 10 here. This means that Tuch, along with Tage and Cozens, scored nearly 10 more goals than the average hockey player with similar opportunities to score, which further shows us just how good the Buffalo Sabres were offensively in 2022-23.

Not only was Tuch in the same company with a pair of teammates, but names like Connor McDavid and Tim Stutzle were also present. Jared McCann of the Seattle Kraken led the league with 17.

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference and Money Puck)