As the Buffalo Sabres aim to eliminate the Atlantic Division rival Boston Bruins from the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, a lot of NHL organizations have turned the page toward the offseason.
Consequently, a fair amount of the hockey conversation has already begun shifting toward potential summer roster moves, including possible trades and free-agent signings.
Sabres winger Alex Tuch is at the forefront of those discussions, as illustrated by the fact Matt Larkin of Daily Faceoff ranked the 29-year-old Syracuse native as the No. 1 unrestricted free agent currently set to hit the open market on July 1.
"He had already expressed a strong desire to stay in Buffalo before the season started; now that he's part of a Stanley Cup contender, his odds of re-signing skyrocket," Larkin wrote Friday. "... The Sabres surely understood that the risk of having him unsigned by the postseason was him upping his stock even more, but that's a nice problem to have."
Although Tuch did state he'd prefer to remain with the Sabres, there's been no suggestion he's willing to accept a "hometown discount" to make it happen. All indications are his asking price has remained relatively steady around $10.5 million per season dating back to last summer.
In March, Elliotte Friedman of Sportnet reported Buffalo had "budged a bit" in extension talks since Jarmo Kekalainen replaced Kevyn Adams as the franchise's general manager but the sides remained unable to reach an agreement on a long-term extension.
It's a story that will take center stage whenever the Sabres' postseason run comes to an end.
Will getting to experience playoff hockey in Buffalo make Alex Tuch more willing to sign a team-friendly contract with the Sabres?
Tuch grew up rooting for the Sabres, so he had memories about how crazy the fanbase gets when there's a chance to hunt down the Stanley Cup. Now he's getting to feel that energy firsthand after a memorable season that saw the club end its 14-year postseason drought,
Kekalainen will hope the electric atmosphere tugs on the power forward's heart strings just enough to consider lowering his asking price.
Buffalo is facing a tricky financial outlook this summer. It has just $13.2 million in projected salary-cap space (via PuckPedia) and has eight other impending free agents to make decisions on:
- UFA: Beck Malenstyn, Logan Stanley, Josh Dunne, Tanner Pearson, Luke Schenn
- RFA: Zach Benson, Peyton Krebs, Michael Kesselring
At minimum, the Sabres will want to retain Benson, Krebs and Malenstyn. Stanley has acclimated himself well to a third-pair role, and it's probably too soon to give up on Kesselring despite an injury-plagued first year in the Buffalo.
If Kekalainen is going to come anywhere close to Tuch's asking price, there simply isn't enough money left to handle the other key free agents, which would necessitate other roster moves.
The Sabres are coming off their best season in two decades, so they'd obviously prefer to avoid a significant overhaul that would see multiple key players depart because of cap constraints. Losing Tuch to free agency would be an equally crushing setback, though.
So, Buffalo will continue to hold out hope the 6-foot-4 winger, who's tallied six points in the first five games of the Boston series, is ultimately willing to help save them a little money moving forward.
There's no doubt he deserves a sizable raise from his current $4.75 million salary, but a double-digit AAV would both put the Sabres front office under a lot of pressure this summer and create real concerns about the impact of that price tag as he hits his mid-30s and beyond. That type of extension probably won't age well.
Those factors, combined with Tuch's representatives understanding a bidding war may ensure if he hits the open market, are key reasons why he remains unsigned as the calendar flips to May.
Buffalo is focused on its Cup pursuit in the short term, but the Tuch situation still warrants attention, particularly as rival organizations start to eye him as a prized summer target.
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