Sabres have reached the Alex Tuch pivot point

Sabres have reached the Alex Tuch pivot point originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Buffalo Sabres and Alex Tuch have surely already been negotiating the potential of a new contract.

But now, with the Stanley Cup officially over, the offseason takes center stage. And with Tuch heading toward free agency, the Sabres don’t have much time left to figure things out.

There’s a decent chance they don’t get a new contract done with Tuch. Given his status as the top in-his-prime forward available this offseason, it makes sense for Tuch to test the market and see just how high the bidding can get.

The Sabres wouldn’t mind keeping him for the right price, but the price may not be right in the end.

Buffalo also has some restricted free agent contracts to figure out, headlined by the phenomenal Zach Benson, which could eat into the cap space that Tuch would otherwise occupy.

“The big offseason question for Buffalo is whether they can reach a deal with free agent Alex Tuch, who is one of the top players on the free agent market this summer,” ESPN wrote in a non-bylined article on Monday. “The Sabres will also need new deals for RFAs Peyton Krebs, Zach Benson and Michael Kesselring, with around $12 million in cap space within which to fit it all.”

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The mention of Kesselring there makes it worth pointing out that Buffalo may not retain him in their crowded group of defensemen, but the point remains — the Sabres have more business to worry about than just Tuch.

Tuch’s disappearing act in the second round of the playoffs, when he had zero points in seven games against the Canadiens, likely hasn’t helped his cause either. 

His overall talent isn’t in question, but that negative recency bias for the Sabres may reduce their bidding war interests a bit.

Don’t be surprised if Tuch leaves, but either way, it’s going to be a key storyline of this Buffalo offseason.

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