Buffalo Sabres star Alex Tuch and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen both expressed interest in coming to an agreement on a contract extension before the winger is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
It doesn't sound like a new deal is close, though.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet discussed the state of contract talks between Tuch and the Sabres on Friday's edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast.
"I still heard Tuch and the Sabres were apart," Friedman said. "Now, I don't know if they talked at all during the playoffs and, who knows, maybe we drop the pod on Friday morning and they announce he's signing, but I just heard before the playoffs that they were still apart."
It feels like negotiations have been pretty much stalled since last summer.
Tuch's reported asking price has remained relatively steady around $10.5 million per season on a long-term extension and it doesn't seem like Buffalo's front office, while it was led by either Kevyn Adams (fired in December) or Kekalainen, has been willing to meet those demands.
The Syracuse native, who grew up rooting for the Sabres, didn't do himself any favors in the second round of the 2026 NHL Playoffs. He failed to register a single point as the Blue and Gold were eliminated by the Montreal Canadiens on a Game 7 overtime goal.
Nevertheless, Tuch would still be the best forward available if he hits the open market in July, which means at least one team will probably be willing to match his asking price.
So, the ball is probably in Buffalo's court unless the 6-foot-4 power forward has a change of heart and is willing to accept a "hometown discount" to help the organization navigate a tight salary-cap situation.
Alex Tuch contract projection shows Buffalo Sabres star's demands aren't unreasonable
Tuch is a unique case because he's not a player who's going to produce 90-plus points. His value comes from being a highly dependable secondary scorer and power-play contributor (66 points in 2025-26) while also serving as one of the NHL's most versatile penalty-killing forwards.
So, it's a little tricky to determine the 2014 first-round pick's true value.
AFP Analytics recently dropped its 2026 offseason contract projections, and it pegs Tuch's next contract at $10.1 million per season over seven years, which is only a tad low than what the two-way winger has been seeking all along.
He also benefits from being an impending UFA, which means he's about six weeks away from creating a bidding war among as many of the league's 32 teams as possible. That's always going to drive up the price.
It's still fair to debate whether that's a doable number for the Sabres, though. They're projected to have just $12.9 million in cap space entering the summer (via PuckPedia), which means giving Tuch what we wants would leave less than $3 million for all of the club's other business.
As a result, Kekalainen would have to pull off other moves to make the roster cap complaint because, at minimum, Buffalo will want to re-sign restricted free agents Zach Benson (who should be targeted for a long-term extension) and Peyton Krebs.
That's without even factoring in trades or signings to upgrade the roster.
So, it may ultimately be a situation where Tuch is making sure to capitalize on his final opportunity to sign a lucrative max-term contract, while the Sabres simply don't have the flexibility to make that type of eight-year financial commitment to a player already in his 30s.
In fact, with Buffalo also wanting to retain defenseman Bowen Byram and having several other young players, including Noah Ostlund, Jiri Kulich and Konsta Helenius, who will need contracts in the coming years, it's probably best for Kekalainen to use that money elsewhere.
It's just hard to imagine Tuch's contract would age well for the Sabres given all of the surrounding circumstances that are part of the conversation.
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