Sabres winger is the clear-cut Team MVP after the first full month of play

While Tage Thompson has made his case to become a potential dark horse Hart Trophy candidate, he ironically hasn’t been the Sabres MVP through the first month of the season. How is this even possible? Let’s face it: The Hart Trophy will often go to the game’s highest scorer or at least one of the highest scorers, but they may not be the best overall player on the ice.

When selecting the Blue and Gold’s MVP for between October 4th and November 7th, a little over the first full month, really, I looked at about every stat line. The forward in question has just 12 points and four goals in 14 contests, but they’ve been physical, they’ve created turnovers, and they’re nearly blocking two shots per game. 

Tage Thompson isn’t doing much of the latter, so there’s no way I’d say he’s been the Sabres best player overall. Instead, it’s Alex Tuch, who is also sporting a plus-7 in what’s been a so-so season so far. 

While it’s true Tuch doesn’t have the greatest statistics across the board, it by no means should indicate that he shouldn’t deserve front-runner status to be the Blue and Gold’s most valuable player. He’s got a Corsi For of 58.5, a 14.0 on-ice shooting percentage, and he’s leading the team in expected plus-minus with 2.6 following the Blue and Gold’s upset blowout win over the NY Rangers. 

Basic and advanced statistics show that Alex Tuch is the Sabres MVP so far

Sure, this is a subjective discussion, and opinions will differ over who has been the most valuable piece to this up-and-down hockey team, but it’s clear Tuch has made his case as one of the few players who’ve been consistent to this point. 

There are other contenders out there who deserve recognition. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is once again proving he can be a long-term fixture as the No. 1 goaltender, especially as he navigated through some early-season pressure. 

Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka have been goal-scoring machines, but neither has been as sharp defensively as Tuch. Then, there’s captain Rasmus Dahlin, who, despite scoring just twice this season, has 10 points, 22 blocks, 14 hits, and seven takeaways. 

That said, there are numerous contenders for who could be the Team MVP by the time the 2024-25 season concludes. Nonetheless, it will be fun to track as the campaign progresses.