Alex Tuch contract talks

[matter2003]

On 10/18/2025 at 11:23 AM, LGR4GM said:

11 million x 5yrs maybe. But that's an overpay,  Adams specialty

Tage at 7x7 is an overpay? Might be the best contract in the NHL other than McDavid's 12.5 mil. 

Edited 4 hours ago by matter2003

[inkman]

4 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

This team 100% needs to lock up Zach Benson before July 1 so they can do an 8yr deal. 

What would you offer?

[mjd1001]

But the money has to come from somewhere in your allocation

Lets just look at next year, the cap is projected to be about $104 million.

-The Sabres have already signed a tad over $38m in forwards, $32m+ in defense, and $7m in goalies.  That takes them just over $77m.  So $26-$27m left.

-Next year Skinner's cap hit is $6.44m. That leaves the team with a shade over $20m to spend.

The lesser spots on the roster, Krebs, Malenstyn, and Bryson are all up.  Whether you bring them back or not, you are paying them or their replacements. At current they total $3.7m.  With the cap going up, its going to be hard to replace them cheaper than they are, so odds are it will be at least what you pay or slightly more. Lets say they get lucky and replace them dollar for dollar at $3.7m.  That leaves you with about $16.5m.

So, If you want to sign tuch for $11m per year? Lets say $10m per year.  At $10m per year, that leaves you with $6.5 m left over.

That $6.5m has to be used to sign Benson, Doan, and Kesserling.

I don't think you are going to sign those guys long term, or even short term, and get them under $6.5 per year combined.

Now I know you can try to trade Quinn, Greenway, maybe even UPL, but if the Sabres WANT to trade them becasue they don't think they are worth it, good luck finding another team that wants to take on those players at their salary.

We aren't even considering haveing a little bit of cap money left over in case of injuries next year, or just to keep a bit in reserve to give you flexibility with a trade or free agent signing if someone becomes available that you want.

If Tuch re-signs long term at $10m per year or more....it very well might be at the expense of NOT signing Benson, Doan, Kesserling, or more than 1 of them long term.

Unless the front office pulls some magic out of a hat, as much as I don't want to see Tuch leave, I'd rather have him leave than sign him to a big deal where he is aging and starting to decline...rather than possibly locking up the younger guys that...so far...are you looking good.  

Maybe not rushing into a deal is a good thing, give some time to evaluate just how everyone fits in.

Tuch currently is the best all-around, most versatile winger on this team.  Right now. But his next contract isn't paying him for what he is right now at age 29.  You are going to start to pay him at age 30, 31, 32, and likley 33, 34, 35 and beyond.  He will NOT be the best all-around winger on this team through the majority of his next deal.

 

Edited 4 hours ago by mjd1001

[Trettioåtta]

41 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

But the money has to come from somewhere in your allocation

Lets just look at next year, the cap is projected to be about $104 million.

-The Sabres have already signed a tad over $38m in forwards, $32m+ in defense, and $7m in goalies.  That takes them just over $77m.  So $26-$27m left.

-Next year Skinner's cap hit is $6.44m. That leaves the team with a shade over $20m to spend.

The lesser spots on the roster, Krebs, Malenstyn, and Bryson are all up.  Whether you bring them back or not, you are paying them or their replacements. At current they total $3.7m.  With the cap going up, its going to be hard to replace them cheaper than they are, so odds are it will be at least what you pay or slightly more. Lets say they get lucky and replace them dollar for dollar at $3.7m.  That leaves you with about $16.5m.

So, If you want to sign tuch for $11m per year? Lets say $10m per year.  At $10m per year, that leaves you with $6.5 m left over.

That $6.5m has to be used to sign Benson, Doan, and Kesserling.

I don't think you are going to sign those guys long term, or even short term, and get them under $6.5 per year combined.

Now I know you can try to trade Quinn, Greenway, maybe even UPL, but if the Sabres WANT to trade them becasue they don't think they are worth it, good luck finding another team that wants to take on those players at their salary.

We aren't even considering haveing a little bit of cap money left over in case of injuries next year, or just to keep a bit in reserve to give you flexibility with a trade or free agent signing if someone becomes available that you want.

If Tuch re-signs long term at $10m per year or more....it very well might be at the expense of NOT signing Benson, Doan, Kesserling, or more than 1 of them long term.

Unless the front office pulls some magic out of a hat, as much as I don't want to see Tuch leave, I'd rather have him leave than sign him to a big deal where he is aging and starting to decline...rather than possibly locking up the younger guys that...so far...are you looking good.  

Maybe not rushing into a deal is a good thing, give some time to evaluate just how everyone fits in.

Tuch currently is the best all-around, most versatile winger on this team.  Right now. But his next contract isn't paying him for what he is right now at age 29.  You are going to start to pay him at age 30, 31, 32, and likley 33, 34, 35 and beyond.  He will NOT be the best all-around winger on this team through the majority of his next deal.

 

This is a good comment!

It is slightly confusing how the Sabres can be struggling for cap space considering the roster we have - obviously effectively losing a whole top line slot to Jeff's contract is not helpful.

I would quite like to lock Benson and Doan up whilst they're a bit cheaper.

UPL and Power earning $13 million certainly doesn't help.

[mjd1001]

15 minutes ago, Trettioåtta said:

This is a good comment!

It is slightly confusing how the Sabres can be struggling for cap space considering the roster we have - obviously effectively losing a whole top line slot to Jeff's contract is not helpful.

I would quite like to lock Benson and Doan up whilst they're a bit cheaper.

UPL and Power earning $13 million certainly doesn't help.

I think they basically flushed money down the drain with the Greenway deal also. And its not just this year, its next year also.  The only value I see him giving this team is if he goes in the lineup and Quinn comes out. But then we can talk about the $3.4m per year that Quinn is getting that is basically flushed down the drain for this year and next year.

They aren't huge money, but I hated both of those deals when they were signed. Quinn and Greenway are closting just under $8m per year this year and next.

Edited 3 hours ago by mjd1001

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, matter2003 said:

Tage at 7x7 is an overpay? Might be the best contract in the NHL other than McDavid's 12.5 mil. 

What are you talking about? Who said jack about Tage Thompson but if you wanna play that game. 

Samuelsson. UPL. Power. Greenway. Are all over pays by Kevyn Adams. 

Dylan Cozens too.

Edited 3 hours ago by LGR4GM

[Pimlach]

On 10/18/2025 at 9:10 AM, Brawndo said:

I would take this with a huge grain of salt, but 11 million dollars is too much

At this point it, the best path forward maybe trading him. 
 

Retain 50%, yes I know who the owner is, and see what happens. 
 

I would also make sure all suitors have Jarmo’s Cell as he is making the trade. 

$11M is too much.  I hope this is wrong. 

[oddoublee]

12 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

$11M is too much.  I hope this is wrong. 

11 is too much. But...I would've been able to live with it if we didn't have horrible contracts with UPL, Power and Samuelson. Not to mention....Norris's contract which is a direct result of the terrible contract Cozens received. 

Blows my mind how badly the sabres have bungled their cap situation. 

[#freejame]

Samuelsson and Power will both have good looking contracts going into next season if the Sabres make the playoffs this season. 

[DarthEbriate]

14 minutes ago, #freejame said:

Samuelsson and Power will both have good looking contracts going into next season if the Sabres make the playoffs this season. 

Maybe Power if he takes off this year.

Samuelsson as a 3rd pair defenseman is going to be overpaid, particularly if Kesselring is a legitimate top-4 and can be locked up long-term at $6-7M on his own and Muel could be replaced next year by Johnson/Novikov combined for $1.7M.

Failing to buy out Samuelsson for 750k this past summer could end up being a pretty big issue when he's only in the lineup 40 games a year and LTIR-stashing is no longer an option for the playoffs.

[Carmel Corn]

1 hour ago, Trettioåtta said:

This is a good comment!

It is slightly confusing how the Sabres can be struggling for cap space considering the roster we have - obviously effectively losing a whole top line slot to Jeff's contract is not helpful.

I would quite like to lock Benson and Doan up whilst they're a bit cheaper.

UPL and Power earning $13 million certainly doesn't help.

UPL may be expendable….IMHO.  I don’t want him back and hopefully a trade will happen.  I don’t see him turning into the next Linus Ulmark.