Sluggish Sabres Facing Former Teammate Tuch To Start Road Trip

The Buffalo Sabres have encountered some early sluggishness through the first month of the season, posting a ,500 record, having issues generating offense at even strength and on the man advantage, along with inconsistent goaltending from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Colten Ellis. 

The Sabres begin a four-game road swing that will take them to California to finish out October with their first encounter with former teammate Alex Tuch and the Washington Capitals. Tuch leads the Caps with five goals and is happy with his new club, but misses his old teammates. 

“I thought we had a very special group there, (facing the Sabres) will be a little bit different. In Vegas, I was treated as the younger guy. In Buffalo…..as an older guy, it’s a little bit different. You’ve got a lot of guys that I mentored and I spent a lot of time with, and we were a really close group.” Tuch said on Friday. “I’ve gone into the corners with those guys in practice so many times, it’s going to feel normal. I’m waiting to see which one is going to be the first to give me a little cheap shot. My money’s on (Zach Benson).”

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Tuch indicated to Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic that he never wanted to leave the Sabres, but that negotiations with them never got there and finishing his career in Buffalo was not in the cards. Reports last summer had the 30-year-old looking for an eight-year max deal in excess of $10 million per season. That likely became more of a sticking point in talks after LA’s Adrian Kempe signed an eight-year deal at $10.625 million AAV in November.

The Sabres second-half surge last season made it impossible for them to trade Tuch, and they chose to keep him as an own-renta. The two sides never got close, which led to a sign-and-trade with Washington in late June, with Buffalo getting a third round pick and Tuch getting the deal he wanted; eight years at $10.5 million. 

“I’ll just have a big dumb smile on my face just thinking about playing against those guys. Love them to death and miss them, but really happy where I am right now.” Tuch said. “It was a sad day when I knew I wouldn’t be continuing to do that, but I’m really excited about this new chapter and I’m really loving it here.”

Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff indicated that forward Jiri Kulich, who took a puck to the head area at practice on Friday, is not in Washington and is undergoing further testing, but he is optimistic that he will join the club for the California portion of the road trip. 

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