Just this season, Czech forward Adam Novotny made the switch from Czech Superliga side Mountfield HK - where he played almost 150 career games (junior and senior team stints combined) - to the OHL, joining the Peterborough Petes.
His motivation to move from his home country to Canada came from his desire to accelerate his development and push for a top spot in the 2026 NHL Draft. Such a motivation is only reinforced by the fact that several media outlets, including NHL Central Scouting, had Novotny within the top-fifteen selections of the upcoming draft.
And Novotny has proven his worth so far this season; through 59 games played with the Petes so far this season, Novotny has scored 69 points (36 goals and 33 assists). His efforts have helped to push the Petes into the Top 4 of the OHL's Eastern Conference and put them in position to go on a deep playoff run.
No matter how the season ends, the possibility that Novotny gets picked in the top-half of the first round is a considerable one.
But should he be the Sabres' top draft target? Absolutely.
Could he be on the board when the Sabres are on the clock? Maybe not.
NHL Central Scouting's 2026 mock draft has Novotny going twelfth overall, with teams like the Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks slotting into the order within range of the twelfth pick. Meanwhile, the Sabres are projected to pick during the last ten selections of the first round, which would put the team at least ten picks away from Novotny.
That said, there is someone that could help the Sabres move up the order to select Novotny: Alex Tuch.
Though Tuch and the Sabres have been engaged in negotiations on a new deal, there is currently no indication that the two sides will come to an agreement before the end of June. And with the Syracuse native set to become a free agent on July 1st, there is a chance the Sabres lose him for nothing.
By trading him for a selection in and around the Top 10, the Sabres would be in a strong position to draft Novotny.
And there are some similarities between Tuch and Novotny. At the surface level, Novotny can place as both a left and right-winger, meaning that he would be able to fill Tuch's spot in the right wing in the simplest of terms.
Both players are also seen as two-way forwards, meaning that they can score and defend effectively at the same time. In Tuch's case, he's recorded 69 blocks through 61 games played while also posting a +/- rating of 19, which is the third-best total by any Sabres player this season.
Offensively, Tuch has been a consistent point-scorer since joining the Sabres via the Jack Eichel trade. Of his first three full seasons with the Sabres, Tuch scored over 60 points in two of them. The 2022-23 and 2024-25 seasons would both see Tuch post 36 goals, while the former campaign saw him record a total of 43 assists. So far this season, Tuch has been averaging just under a point per game, having recorded 54 points through 62 games played. That said, he is on pace to record his second 70+ point campaign in four seasons.
With regard to Novotny, we can see a similar level of production to that of Tuch. Though his offensive production is only starting to materialize at this stage of his career, Novotny is an extremely disciplined hockey player who has a strong IQ of the game. He's more than capable of breaking up offensive chances by taking away offensive deflections and consistently blocking shots, all qualities that we see in Tuch.
Though Novotny might not have the physical build that Tuch brings (6 ft 1, 205 pounds compared to 6 ft 4, 220 pounds), he does happen to have a frame similar to a certain Sidney Crosby (5 ft 11, 200 pounds), who is also a capable two-way forward.
What would such a trade look like?
That's a relatively simple question to answer.
Tuch's offensive numbers alone would command a first-round pick with little opposition. Add on his two-way game and you're looking at one or two additional early-to-mid round draft selections.
To propose a sample trade, let's consider the Sharks, whose first round pick is projected to be within range of Novotny's draft position. Though the Sharks have been an on-and-off playoff contender for much of the 2025-26 season, it's clear that their rebuild is way further ahead of schedule than anticipated. As a result, the team could be willing to lose a few draft picks in order to gain the pieces required to firmly position themselves in the playoff race for the 2026-27 season.
A potential trade would see the Sabres send Tuch to the Sharks for one of their two first-round picks in the 2026 draft in addition to a second-round pick in 2026 or 2028. The Sabres could also ask for a depth forward like Adam Gaudette, who has put together two 20+ point seasons in San Jose but whose production would easily be eclipsed by that of Tuch.
It's important to remember that Tuch and the Sabres' front office could always agree to an extension anytime between now and the start of free agency. However, the true outcome of such talks is one that could realistically end up going either way.
It's also worth noting that the aforementioned sample trade and any similar transaction for Tuch will have to run through a sign-and-trade. This means that the Sabres would have to agree to a new contract with Tuch before the start of free agency and then could trade him to San Jose. The same sort of process happened with Mitch Marner last summer; the Toronto Maple Leafs traded Marner before the start of free agency after signing him to a new eight-year contract to enable the trade to the Vegas Golden Knights.
An extra bonus of doing a sign and trade is that the Golden Knights are able to get that extra year on a contract that they wouldn't have gotten if they signed him in free agency. This provides an additional cap flexibility that wouldn't have been provided had Marner signed as a free agent. Under the CBA, the maximum length of an extension is eight years, compared to the seven-year limit that would come with signing with a brand-new team in free agency.
Considering the above, the Sabres should be prepared to flip the Syracuse native for a pick that gets the team in range to select a player that could very well be Alex Tuch 2.0.