Buffalo sent veteran winger to Washington in a sign-and-trade before the NHL Draft
Former Buffalo Sabres winger Alex Tuch indicated that there remained a significant gap between what the club was offering and what his agent was asking, but that the Sabres did raise their offer before he was dealt to Washington on June 24.
The 30-year-old winger was at the top of the free agent list and was looking for a payday in the same neighborhood as Adrian Kempe’s $10.625 million eight-year deal with the LA Kings. The Sabres reportedly were not willing to exceed the $10 million mark going back to last summer when Tuch was eligible for an extension, and only late in negotiations did they raise their offer.
“There was a push, I did appreciate it,” Tuch said on the Cam and Strick Podcast on Wednesday. “They came up. I'm not going to give any specifics on the matter. There was there was still a bit of a gap.”
In the end, the the Capitals stepped up to an amount just below Kempe’s number, and gave the Sabres a third round pick to sign Tuch to an eight-year, $84 million deal ($10.5 million AAV) and then flip him in a sign-and-trade.
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"It's gonna hit hard when I go back to Buffalo and play in front of those fans again. I know that,” Tuch said. “But Washington stepped up and made a big offer, and I couldn't refuse it."
Washington also added winger Jordan Kyrou in a trade with the St. Louis Blues to bolster their offense, and last week it was announced that Alex Ovechkin will return for at least one more season, something that Tuch is excited about.
“The Kyrou addition was huge. I kind of made my decision leading up into that, and I was thinking like, 'Oh, what are the possibilities and everything' and then they trade for Kyrou, and I was like, 'Wow, Washington is going to be really good."
Buffalo has yet to make a move to fill the gap left by Tuch’s departure, but there are rumors that they have interest in signing WNY native Patrick Kane. If that does not come to pass, it is possible that Kekalainen will rely on internal improvement from youngsters like Konsta Helenius, Noah Ostlund or Jiri Kulich to bridge the gap.
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