Buffalo Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen circled back with one last offer to Alex Tuch before dealing the two-way winger to the Washington Capitals as part of a sign-and-trade agreement in late June.
Tuch, who inked an eight-year, $84 million contract as part of his move to the Caps, provided information about his departure from Buffalo during an appearance Tuesday on the Cam & Strick Podcast with former NHL player Cam Janssen and insider Andy Strickland.
"There was, as you guys like to call it, the 11th-hour push there. And there was a push," Tuch said. "I really did appreciate it. They came up [in money]. I'm not gonna give any specifics on the matter. There was still a bit of a gap. It just didn't work out and that's the nature, that's the business. I knew that if you look at it — if they get me closer to my number and stuff, then they're gonna have to move pieces out, so I understand that part of the business. I get that."
Although there was a lot of drama over the 12 months leading up to the 30-year-old power forward's eventual departure, it ended up being a pretty cut-and-dried situation.
All indications since last summer suggested Tuch wanted a double-digit AAV on a max-term extension, and the number settled around $10.5 million per season after Adrian Kempe received a $10.6 million AAV in his new contract from the Los Angeles Kings.
In the end, the 2014 first-round draft pick received exactly that extension from Washington a week before he'd have formally become an NHL unrestricted free agent.
"I think the emotional roller coaster of it all, looking back on it, it's not that big a deal I guess," Tuch said. "It's gonna hit hard when I go back to Buffalo and play in front of those fans again. I know that."
The former member of the Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights, who arrived to Western New York as part of the blockbuster Jack Eichel trade in 2021, wrapped up his Sabres tenure with 309 points (139 goals and 170 assists) in 360 appearances for the Blue and Gold.
Tuch now joins a revitalized Capitals roster that also saw the forward additions of Jordan Kyrou in a trade with the St. Louis Blues and the free-agent signing of Boone Jenner. The Caps received confirmation franchise legend Alex Ovechkin will return for at least one more season, too.
Sabres' Jarmo Kekalainen handled the Alex Tuch situation perfectly
Every negotiation has a breaking point for both sides. While we don't know exactly what Buffalo's front office offered in its final proposal to Tuch's representatives, it became clear awhile ago the organization never felt comfortable at the winger's asking price.
It's understandable. Giving any player a premium UFA contract that runs through their late 30s comes with considerable risk, especially for a franchise like the Sabres, who were already dealing with a little bit of a salary-cap crunch this summer.
Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic estimated Tuch will only provide $7.5 million in market value per season on an eight-year extension. That's $3 million of excess salary per season, which equates to $24 million over the life of the contract.
Some have argued you should accept the long-term consequences for the short-term on-ice gains, but even that's a flawed viewpoint. The 6-foot-4 forward is only projected to provide $8.7 million in value next season, per Luszczyszyn. So, it's a deal that immediately starts in the red.
Perhaps if the Sabres were in a situation where they're urgently trying to win a Stanley Cup — for example, it appears Washington is trying to capture one more championship before Ovechkin retires — the decision-making process may be a bit different.
Buffalo is just reopening its contention window after a 14-year playoff drought, though. The last thing it should do is cloud up the future cap situation with a contract holding a limited chance of providing positive value over the long haul.
The Sabres already have a lot of core pieces locked up for the foreseeable future (Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, Zach Benson, Josh Doan, Owen Power and Mattias Samuelsson) with more rising stars (Konsta Helenius, Noah Ostlund and Jiri Kulich) needing new deals in the coming years.
It puts Kekalainen in a situation where financial flexibility will be valuable, and there simply wasn't a path to keep Tuch at a fair number for both sides without likely having to sacrifice something, either now or in the near future.
It's fair to argue Buffalo's roster took a hit early in the offseason with the departures of Tuch and defenseman Bowen Byram, who was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks after it became clear an extension wasn't possible.
Yet, the Sabres are still dealing with an overabundance of forwards and they brought in a cost-effective replacement for Byram in the form of Olen Zellweger as part of a trade with the Anaheim Ducks. There's still a lot of talent on the squad.
Kekalainen may have some wheeling and dealing left this summer. He's been heavily linked to a potential trade for Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck as well as possibly bringing Buffalo native Patrick Kane back home in free agency, though the buzz related to those moves has lessened in recent days.
Whether another splash or two is on the horizon or not, it's hard to argue with the long-term thinking associated with the decisions the Sabres GM has made so far as he tries to build a sustainable winner.
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