Buffalo will be looking to fill their leadership gap if Alex Tuch leaves on July 1
The Buffalo Sabres could go a number of different ways as the NHL enters trade season leading into the NHL Draft in two weeks, and the beginning of free agency on July 1. Based on a lengthy impasse between pending UFA Alex Tuch, most insiders are expecting the 30-year-old to sign elsewhere since there continues to be a considerable gap between what Tuch’s representatives are looking for and what Sabres GM Jarmo Kekalainen is willing to pay him.
There is a slim possibility that Buffalo could get something significant in return for the Syracuse, NY native if they arrange a sign-and-trade, so that another club can have him on an eight-year deal and spread out the AAV to lower the cap hit, but with the likely scenario that he simply walks away when free agency opens next month, Kekalainen will have to pivot to fill the scoring gap.
Over the next few weeks, we will look at potential options for the Sabres. Some of the possibilities are not going to match Tuch’s stats, that absence may have to be filled by youngsters like Konsta Helenius, Jiri Kulich, or Noah Ostlund, but Kekalainen will need to find a veteran to fill the leadership gap.
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One potential avenue the Sabres could explore in free agency is a player that Kekalainen is all too familiar with, and that is Columbus Blue Jackets team captain Boone Jenner. The 32-year-old forward has spent all 13 seasons in Buckeye country, but recently the Blue Jackets re-signed 34-year-old center Charlie Coyle to a six-year, $36 million contract extension, after which the contract talks between Jackets GM Don Waddell and Jenner’s representatives cooled.
Jenner has scored 20 or more goals four times, but in recent years has struggled to stay healthy. Over the last five seasons, the Dorchester, ON native has only exceeded 60 games once, but did manage to score over 20 goals in three straight seasons during that stretch.
The Sabres have limited cap space this summer due to the one-year balloon payment on Jeff Skinner’s buyout, which may force Kekalainen to move out salary by trade or exercise another buyout if he wants to follow through on signing Zach Benson to a contract extension and make other moves.
This will also limit how much he can spend in free agency, with a shallow pool of quality players and other teams having more available cap space. Jenner is coming off a four-year, $15 million deal with the Blue Jackets, and teams may be leery of signing the veteran forward for much more than that, but the Sabres could give Jenner more term to decrease the AAV, while adding a leader in the locker room.
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