Elliotte Friedman’s Alex Tuch update indicates major Sabres free agency likelihood originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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When Elliotte Friedman talks, it’s usually worth listening.
Sportsnet’s major NHL insider usually has the scoop, and on his latest 32 Thoughts podcast, Friedman shared some news on Buffalo Sabres winger Alex Tuch.
Tuch is set to be a free agent, and it’s not clear whether Buffalo will be able to pull off a deal to keep him around.
“The one thing I did hear is that there’s still a gap,” Friedman said on his podcast. “There’s still work to be done.”
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Friedman has actually heard more than that, and he admits it, but he also doesn’t want to fully commit to the total separation storyline yet.
“I had a couple people tell me that he’s definitely testing free agency,” Friedman said, “and I said, ‘Guys I’m not going there because who knows what can happen.'”
This aligns similarly to how other reports have framed Tuch’s process at this point. No one seems to think he’s a shoo-in to return to Buffalo.
If anything, the speculation and rumors pretty much all lean toward a Tuch departure.
As probably the best free agent forward on the market, Tuch is going to get a huge payday from someone. The Sabres may not be able to justify that.
Tuch didn’t help his cause from a recency bias perspective when he scored no points in the seven-game series against the Canadiens that ended the Sabres’ season.
That shouldn’t impact his overall market value, but it may also be just enough for Buffalo to be fine with moving on from Tuch.
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