The trade deadline for the NHL is about six weeks away, and the Buffalo Sabres have one big decision they must make sooner rather than later regarding Alex Tuch. He is currently in the final year of his contract and has been a big part of the Sabres' success, as he is currently second on the team in points.
Recently, Elliotte Friedman on 32 Thoughts shared his thoughts on the situation, and he led by saying the worst thing the Sabres could do right now is tinker with the lineup. "You know, Kekalainen went in there, and he warned those guys that if it doesn't get better, there's going to be big changes. Well, it's a lot better. So why would he go in there and throw a stink bomb in the room?" Friedman said.
The NHL insider went on to lay out a plan that the Buffalo Sabres could use to keep Tuch, but it is going to require some significant changes after the season.
Buffalo Sabres could sign Alex Tuch to an extension now and then use the summer to clear the necessary cap space
Friedman noted that Tuch is not the only one who is looking for a contract extension after this season. The team was able to get Josh Doan's extension done, and that was a big priority, but Michael Kesselring and Zach Benson are in line for new deals after the season.
Neither of those is a priority for the Sabres right now because the team isn't going to look to trade either of them at the trade deadline. However, Tuch is one they might consider because he is a unrestricted free agent, and the Sabres don't want to run the risk of having him walk away with nothing in return.
The challenge, as Friedman noted, is that the Sabres are playing great hockey, and the last thing that Jarmo Kekalainen would want to do is disrupt what they have going on. The plan that Friedman lays out is to sign Tuch now and then after the season, make some moves to make sure Buffalo is under the salary cap.
"If you wanted to sign Tuch, you could sign him now and punt everything to the summer," Friedman said. "And if I were in his shoes, that's what I would be thinking."
It is certainly not a bad thought because any new contract for Alex Tuch wouldn't kick in until next season. This new contract would have no impact on the salary cap this year for the Buffalo Sabres.
Kekalainen would certainly have some options during the offseason as well, with players like Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Owen Power, or even Josh Norris that he could trade to open up significant cap space. Those moves, then, in theory, could allow the Sabres to keep Tuch while also working out new deals for Benson and Kesselring.
There is no question that it is a risk to sign Tuch to a long-term deal without a clear path forward for the salary cap after this season. However, the Sabres are playing their best hockey in 15 years and have a legitimate chance at not only ending their playoff drought but also earning home ice in the first round.
It is not the conventional way to approach something like this, but for the Buffalo Sabres, it will require some outside-the-box thinking in terms of how to keep the momentum of this season without risking the chance of losing a key part of their roster in the summer.