Alex Tuch extension (poll)

[mjd1001]

Alex Tuch contract extension seems to be popping up in many different threads....so I thought a poll with everyone's thoughts year end would be interesting.

Adrian Kempe seems to be the target most are looking at, so here is the question....

If Tuch and his agent were looking for a deal like Kempe (8 years $85m, $10.625 million per year through age 37) what would you do?

1.) sign him to that deal asap

2.) trade him for the best offer at the deadline

3.) let him play out the year here, and in the offseason compete with everyone else to re-sign him (maybe to a 6 year deal)?

Of course vote for your favorite of those options, but if you have any other thoughs, or if you want to add which would be your 2nd choice besides what you voted for, post away.

Edited December 28, 2025 by mjd1001

[EM88]

There are a few variable here.

Are the Sabres in a playoff position near the deadline or did they drop out of a playoff spot.  Choice #3 is more appealing if they are in a playoff spot rather than if they slide back down the standings.

If you let him play out the deal and he becomes a free agent, do the new CBA rules kick in over the summer where the most anyone, including the Sabres, could give him is a 6 year deal?

With all that said, I am someplace between choices #2 and #3 right now.  I really do not see the urgency to pay him top dollar for an 8 year deal.  The fall back position is getting him for a shorter deal in the offseason, missing out in the offseason but getting him for this entire year and getting cap space in the offseason, or trading him and getting some likely valuable futures or young players back and cap space.

Not only are those fallback positions not all that bad. I tend to like them more than giving Tuch the huge deal.

[Scottysabres]

If he can’t be signed to a reasonable deal before the deadline you have to move him. He’ll still be a UFA at end of season.

[Mr. MVP]

What if we trade him for a slightly younger, slightly less expensive player?  A player that won’t make us miss Tuch.  Or trade him plus a prospect or two for someone better?  
I do not want to give him an 8 year deal.  This team is on the up and up.  Having a contract like that can really hurt a team 5 years from now. 

[Scottysabres]

36 minutes ago, Mr. MVP said:

What if we trade him for a slightly younger, slightly less expensive player?  A player that won’t make us miss Tuch.  Or trade him plus a prospect or two for someone better?  
I do not want to give him an 8 year deal.  This team is on the up and up.  Having a contract like that can really hurt a team 5 years from now. 

Yes, this.

Past GM’s have already handcuffed some of our cap space, it’s not good.

[triumph_communes]

40 minutes ago, Mr. MVP said:

What if we trade him for a slightly younger, slightly less expensive player?  A player that won’t make us miss Tuch.  Or trade him plus a prospect or two for someone better?  
I do not want to give him an 8 year deal.  This team is on the up and up.  Having a contract like that can really hurt a team 5 years from now. 

What team is doing this kind of trade?

[Scottysabres]

12 minutes ago, triumph_communes said:

What team is doing this kind of trade?

Don’t stop him, he’s on a roll 🤣

[Gatorman0519]

The greatest value of Alex Tuch would be best seen in the playoffs. Need to sign him imo. 

[triumph_communes]

2 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said:

The greatest value of Alex Tuch would be best seen in the playoffs. Need to sign him imo. 

If he isn’t giving a discount, why sign him beforehand and not just let him prove the point?  

[Jorcus]

Most likely the situation is binary. Either we sign him at around the Kempe market rate or we trade him before we lose his rights. The issue is not what happens 5 years from now but what our situation is next year. With the Skinner contract hump and other signings, going to an open market bidding situation we will lose him for certain. Other teams have the cap space that we can not match next year and the AAV will be higher for a 6 year contract than an 8. 

The real question is what will make this team better this year, next year, and the year after. Terry Pegula is 74 years old. His team has not seen the playoffs in over a decade. The 5 year rebuild is over. Any decision or trade has to be based on what is going to make the Sabres better right now. If you can trade Tuch for a player who can make the team better right now then sure pull the trigger. Finding a trade like that sure seems like a long shot given Tuchs wide skill set and experience. 

The question is  how do you manage the cap for next year? To sign Tuch you are probably going to move some contracts. We do have a lot of cheap help available so you could try to move on from Krebs and Quinn. Replaced by Kozak and Rosen or Helenus. You might be able to trade Greenway for futures or toss a draft pick in to move him. Maybe a Byram trade or you would have to even consider moving Zucker. Lot's of possibilities but I guess that is why Jarmo hired those smart negotiators. 

From my point of view you keep Tuch unless you can make a hockey trade that makes you better right now. I doubt you can find that trade so you have to start finding a way to make room for his contract. 

[Pimlach]

What about trade him soon and get a useful player back rather than settling for futures at the deadline? 

[Gatorman0519]

27 minutes ago, triumph_communes said:

If he isn’t giving a discount, why sign him beforehand and not just let him prove the point?  

I’m tired of giving our talent away for lesser returns. 

[EM88]

29 minutes ago, triumph_communes said:

If he isn’t giving a discount, why sign him beforehand and not just let him prove the point?  

In Vegas regular season per 82 games, he was: 21.1 goals, 25.7 assists, 46.8 points.

In Vegas in the playoffs per 82 games, he was 23.6 goals, 17.4 assists, 41.0 points.

Not all that much of a difference.

He had about the same ice time in each sample and played basically the same role (mostly 3rd line with some occasional moves up to the top 6)

[mjd1001]

7 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said:

I’m tired of giving our talent away for lesser returns. 

If you pay Tuch a huge contract, as he gets into his 30's you may find out that you have lesser talent because of opportunities you could have done with that money instead of playing a guy who is going to decline throughout his new deal.

I'm all for not giving him that big deal, even if it means trading him now...so over the next few years the team has more talent (averaged out over the length of a potential contract), not less.

[Jorcus]

22 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

If you pay Tuch a huge contract, as he gets into his 30's you may find out that you have lesser talent because of opportunities you could have done with that money instead of playing a guy who is going to decline throughout his new deal.

I'm all for not giving him that big deal, even if it means trading him now...so over the next few years the team has more talent (averaged out over the length of a potential contract), not less.

We don't know what the salary cap will be in 4 years but we know it is going up in the next three. Each year the percentage hit goes down. The only problem is how to fit it in next year. No one should want take a step back right now for what might happen in 4 years. If you were the owner   and you were 74 years old would you really worry about the long term anymore?

Edited December 29, 2025 by Jorcus

[PerreaultForever]

45 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

If you pay Tuch a huge contract, as he gets into his 30's you may find out that you have lesser talent because of opportunities you could have done with that money instead of playing a guy who is going to decline throughout his new deal.

I'm all for not giving him that big deal, even if it means trading him now...so over the next few years the team has more talent (averaged out over the length of a potential contract), not less.

I'm not paying him that Kempe ask either (if that's what it is) but if they are in it at the deadline I'm not selling him for futures. Just roll with it. Is what it is at the end of the year. If he walks in the off season replace him. make a trade or sign a free agent. Jarmo earn the money time. 

[LGR4GM]

There's actually pressure on Tuch to sign.  He could lose access to that 8yr deal. 

[DarthEbriate]

Make the playoffs, ride his contract into the sunset, and use the space to sign Doan and Benson. If a team, let's call it Toronto, thinks that he's answer next season (and for 6 more beyond that) at $10.75M -- they're welcome to it.

(But I've got news for the Leafs: he's not Marner.)

[Taro T]

29 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

There's actually pressure on Tuch to sign.  He could lose access to that 8yr deal. 

And there being a new sheriff in town makes it increasingly likely that he'd lose the 8 year deal because while Adams might've tried to accomodate a deal for Tuch somewhere else to get something (besides cap space) for Tuch walking which would give him the opportunity to get the 8 year deal elsewhere, there is no reason to expect Kekalainen to do so if the deal doesn't make sense from the Sabres perspective.  And Jarmo has let studs play out their deals and walk at the end in the past.  It's a credible threat in a negotiation.

And a 6 year deal at $11MM would gross him $66MM with possibly 2 more years to try to earn more; and maybe somebody would offer him that; but if Buffalo offers 8 years at $9MM would gross him $72MM more by the time he decides to call it a career.  Would the ability to say he got $11MM/year be worth needing another deal in 6 years to get that same money?

[SabresBillsFan]

I like Tuch but he’s not worth more than 7 million a year. At times he seems like he’s going through the motions

[SabresBillsFan]

5 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

Make the playoffs, ride his contract into the sunset, and use the space to sign Doan and Benson. If a team, let's call it Toronto, thinks that he's answer next season (and for 6 more beyond that) at $10.75M -- they're welcome to it.

(But I've got news for the Leafs: he's not Marner.)

No way in hell I give Tuch anything close to 9 million or above. 

[Doohickie]

3 hours ago, triumph_communes said:

What team is doing this kind of trade?

The Sabres are very close to having such players move up from Rochester.  Possibly they're even here.  McLeod fills Tuch's role, Östlund replaces McLeod, Rosén (or maybe Helenius) replaces Östlund.  The point of moving Tuch would be to open up cap space to sign these guys.  We already have what we would be trading for- high end cost controlled forwards.

Instead, move Tuch for another stud defensive Dman with playoff experience.  Or Tuch and one of our goalies for a true starting goalie.  Goaltending has improved but can the Sabres improve even more?

If I'm Jarmo, I tell Tuch:  "We'll give you $9-10M for 4 years.  Take it or leave it.  Do you want to be part of your home team's turnaround?  That's what you get.  If home town means nothing to you and you think you can do better on the open market, then we need to leverage your worth to make the team better."

Edited December 29, 2025 by Doohickie

[Doohickie]

2 hours ago, triumph_communes said:

If he isn’t giving a discount, why sign him beforehand and not just let him prove the point?  

Because if you're going to wait to sign him, other teams will get the opportunity to do the same and the Sabres could get nothing out of him after this season.  I say if he won't sign, trade him before the deadline and get some value back.  I think with all the injuries the team has seen, the young guns have enough experience to together fill Tuch's absence.

To be honest, I've already mentally closed the book on Tuch's time as a Sabre.  Maybe Jarmo makes him an offer that he'll sign, but I think it's more likely Jarmo demands a home town discount that Tuch won't agree to.  He'd like to sign him, but not with young talent coming up that will require paydays.  Something's got to give.

Edited December 29, 2025 by Doohickie

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, SabresBillsFan said:

I like Tuch but he’s not worth more than 7 million a year. At times he seems like he’s going through the motions

I think that's all he's worth too but I'd overpay him under the circumstances up to 9 on a 4 year term 8 on a 6 years term and I don't think either of those gets it done. He wants over 10 on 8 and that's just bad business. 

[7+6=13]

There's a reason one of the first actions Jarmo took was to reach out to Tuch's people.  I imagine it wasn't to mouse into a contract, make this a drawn out thing or start conversation.  

I'm guessing it was specific and direct.  I'd bet he got his answers and mostly knows what he'll do, barring his camp calling to change their position.