The Buffalo Sabres' season rolls on into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a meeting against the Montreal Canadiens. However, for the Sabres' front office and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, he can't lose focus on the upcoming offseason. On Wednesday, he got some clarity on what the summer months might look like and what he might be able to do with the salary cap confirmed.
The league announced that next season's salary cap would be $104 million, which is over $8 million more than this season's salary cap of $95.5 million. This is great news for the Sabres as they are entering an offseason with several tough decisions that really hinge on Alex Tuch.
Tuch is currently in the final year of his contract and is set to be an unrestricted free agent, and can sign with any NHL team on July 1st. This is good news for the rest of the NHL, and potentially Tuch, because it is a really weak free agent class, and there are not going to be many top-tier players who can make a difference for a team.
He has only helped his argument over the last few weeks with an incredible run in the playoffs, with four goals and three assists in the first round against the Boston Bruins.
Buffalo Sabres have enough cap space to sign Alex Tuch but might not have much left to do anything else
According to Puckpedia, the Sabres will have around $13.1 million in cap space with a salary cap at $104 million. The expectation is that Tuch is probably looking for a contract with an AAV around $11 million, but might be able to get more in free agency.
However, it is well noted that he grew up in Western New York, and he probably would love nothing more than bringing a Stanley Cup to Buffalo. The deeper the Sabres go in the playoffs, can only help their case that it is a real possibility in achieving that goal.
For the Sabres, there is undoubtedly risk to signing an older player like Tuch to an $8 year contract with an AAV over $10 million. The good news is that the salary cap appears to only be going up so the percentage of the salary cap that Tuch would count against should only go down.
Where the challenge ultimately lies for Jarmo Kekalainen in that while he can sign Tuch, there are other players who are in need of new contracts this summer. That group includes restricted free agents Zach Benson and Peyton Krebs, who are younger and have been playing great during these playoffs.
It will be almost impossible to keep all of these players, and if the Sabres are focused on bringing these three back, then it means having to trade players to shed salary. That could include players like Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen ($4.5 million AAV), Josh Norris ($7.95 million), or Jordan Greenway ($4.0 million).
While the increase in the salary cap certainly helps, the Sabres are still going to be forced to make some tough decisions this summer.
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