The NHL schedule was released Thursday, and Buffalo Sabres fans likely looked at it with one date in mind – the return of now-former Sabres star right winger and new Washington Capitals sniper Alex Tuch. But while Buffalo plays the Capitals in Washington on October 24 and November 19, Sabres fans won’t be able to cheer or boo Tuch in Buffalo until the two teams clash for the third and final time on March 18 – eight full months from now.

That said, it’s this writer’s opinion that, when Tuch does return to Buffalo, Sabres fans should be giving Tuch a warm welcome.

The end for Tuch in Buffalo comes after he’s spent five seasons in Buffalo following a trade from the Vegas Golden Knights. And in those five seasons, Tuch delivered solid results, even when the Sabres team around him was unable to be a Stanley Cup playoff team. He generated at least 33 goals and 66 points in three of the past four seasons, at a very team-friendly $4.75-million-per-season salary. 

While the Sabres team he was part of continued to struggle to make the playoffs, Tuch never complained or big-timed anyone. He was reliable and gave Buffalo a power forward that only a few teams can boast of employing, and he could’ve signed an extension with the Sabres long ago. So now, both the Sabres and Tuch made their own business decisions, and each side had every right to choose to move on. And that’s what’s happened here.

The salary cap is designed to redistribute talent, and that's what the Capitals have done by acquiring Tuch. Tuch gave the Sabres a lot of good years, even when the team has struggled. He could’ve asked out at any point in time, and he didn’t.

And Buffalo could’ve kept him for the long haul by re-signing him before he hit the open market this summer, but the Sabres chose not to. If you’re going to boo Tuch for that, you should be booing Sabres management and ownership just as much. And you can do that starting in Game 1 of their home schedule on October 3 against the Chicago Blackhawks.

But it’s easier to just lob raspberries at Tuch rather than the bigger picture in Buffalo, isn’t it? You can call a player ‘selfish’ for getting as much money as the market will bear, but we’re not going to do that. The Sabres had a roller-coaster season, but Tuch played his part, putting up 33 goals and 66 points in 79 games. And he deserves credit for that.

The NHL’s salary cap is designed to redistribute talent, and that's what the Capitals have done by acquiring Tuch. He gave the Sabres some of the best years of his career,’and in the end, both the team and Tuch have, of their own volition, chose separate paths. That happens sometimes, even in the best scenarios. And Tuch isn't the villain for making the best business deal he could.

By the time Tuch rolls into Buffalo in mid-March, Sabres fans will have three-quarters of the season to debate and discuss, so we predict that will take some of the anger out of Sabres fans when they see Tuch in person. 

Tuch has accepted a deal that everyone would take were it offered to them. And we don’t believe he should be crucified for that decision. He’s now 30 years old, so Tuch has less road ahead of him than behind him. It’s natural he’d want to go to a team he thinks has the best chance at a championship. And the reconstituted Capitals certainly have an easier road to a Cup final than the Sabres do in the highly-competitive Atlantic Division.

In the end, Tuch took the best deal he could get in a businessman’s decision. You can be upset that he didn’t stay in Buffalo for the rest of his career, but there’s no question that Sabres ownership and GM Jarmo Kekalainen should also be targets of your anger and frustration. 

When Tuch steps on the ice in Buffalo as a member of the Capitals, the right thing to do is to cheer him for the time he spent in Western New York. He didn’t win a Cup with the Sabres, but Tuch fought a good fight for Buffalo, and he deserves a happy sendoff as he and the Sabres move in their own preferred direction.