The Buffalo Sabres have a chance to end their 14-year playoff drought.
For all intents and purposes, it appears Alex Tuch will stick around to see that through.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported this week that Tuch isn’t likely to go anywhere despite the previous trade winds that were swirling around him.
Tuch, in the last year of his contract, would’ve been a logical sell-off player for a seller. But these Sabres aren’t sellers.
“Buffalo is not a seller. They’re going for it,” Friedman said. “The betting on Tuch is that he stays in Buffalo next week, whether there’s an extension or not. Even if they don’t sign him — and I would expect at this point in time, they’re not — I think he stays.”
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Friedman went on to cite a precedent for this choice that involves the Sabres’ new general manager.
“Don’t forget that Jarmo Kekalainen has been in this position before.,” Friedman said. “When Columbus won their first-ever playoff series, beating Tampa, they had some UFAs and Jarmo was in the position where he just said, ‘You know what, Columbus has never won a series — we’re going for it. And if we lose guys, we lose guys.’ And that’s what they did. So, he understands this, he knows how to handle it. And I think that’s the way he will do it in Buffalo.”
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The Tuch rumors felt like they began before this season even got underway. It was just a foregone conclusion the Sabres would struggle and that he’d get traded elsewhere rather than sign an extension.
The extension hasn’t come, but the Sabres aren’t struggling. They’ve got a great shot to make the postseason. Tuch is even talking about wanting to win a Stanley Cup.
And barring something surprising at this point, it seems like Tuch is staying put.
