The Buffalo Sabres finally ended their Stanley Cup playoff hockey drought this past season, winning the Atlantic Division in the regular-season before getting to the second round of the 2026 playoffs. But while the Sabres lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the second round, they did beat an upstart Boston Bruins squad in the first round. That counts for something 

But as part of our annual process of grading Sabres players, and their coach and GM, TheHockeyNews.com’s 2025-26 grades for the most part will be well above-average. Buffalo’s young players evolved into difference-making talent, and their veterans came through with impressive performances. And their grades will reflect how well the Sabres did this past year.

Unfortunately, in this “Sabres Grades” file, we’re looking at a key player who has moved on – star right winger Alex Tuch, who departed via a sign-and-trade with the Washington Capitals. Tuch’s new salary of $10.5 million per-season was clearly too rich for Buffalo GM Jarmo Kekalainen, but the Sabres will be hard-pressed to replace the goal production and physical play Tuch brought to the table as a power forward. It’s bittersweet for Sabres fans to talk about Tuch so soon after his departure, but he deserves to be graded on his performance last season, not his departure. 

With that said, here’s our grade for Tuch in 2025-26:

Alex Tuch

Position: Right winger

Grade: A-

The Skinny: Tuch has been a fixture in Buffalo since the Sabres acquired him in 2021 in the Jack Eichel blockbuster trade with the Vegas Golden Knights. In three of his four full seasons with the Sabres, Tuch generated at least 33 goals and 66 points, including a 33-goal, 66-point showing in ‘25-26. The 30-year-old wasn’t as effective in the playoffs, posting four goals and seven points in 13 games. But he clearly is worth the $10.5-million he’ll now make with the Caps.  

Tuch has had better years in Buffalo than he had in ‘25-26. In 2022-23, he posted 36 goals and 79 points – both career-highs that remain career-highs to this day, Tuch’s finishing skills remain impressive, and in Washington’s top-six group of forwards, he could beat his career-highs and, more importantly, have a better shot at winning a Stanley Cup championship as a member of the Capitals than he would’ve had if he stayed in Buffalo.

The Sabres might have their own internal financial limits for players, and Kekalainen might’ve calculated that the cost of losing Tuch outweighed the benefit of losing Tuch. But what isn’t up for dispute is that Tuch had an excellent season with Buffalo last year, even with the pressure that he was under as a veteran.

Tuch had every motivation to finish the 2025-26 campaign on a strong note and re-sign in Buffalo. If he had no intention of doing that, Tuch should’ve been traded by Kekalainen. But if we’re arriving at this gradings for Sabres players, Tuch deserves credit for producing as much offense as just about any other Buffalo team member.

There’s no question last season was about as solid as it gets for Tuch. He’s going to be fondly-missed in Buffalo – OK, maybe ‘fondly’ isn’t the worst choice of words there – but Tuch can look himself in the mirror and honestly say he gave it a good run with the Sabres. It hasn’t worked out with a championship, but if Sabres ownership doesn’t want to pay Tuch market value you have to be angry that they didn’t keep Tuck. Buffalo could’ve been traded for draft picks and prospects.

Tuch performed well this past season. He was a model of consistency as a Sabre, but the business of the game drove a stake between the player and the team. And his grade reflects on the mark he made on the organization.