The Buffalo Sabres have been one of the big surprises of the 2025-26 NHL season, putting together a terrific 32-19-6 record before the league paused for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
A key part of the team's success this year has been forward Alex Tuch, who is second in scoring with 22 goals and 48 points in 56 games. The 29-year-old is currently playing out the final season of a seven-year, $33.25 million contract; he'll be a UFA on July 1 if he and the Sabres front office can't agree to a new contract.
Although the lines of communication remain open between Tuch's camp and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, as The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta reported earlier this week on an episode of Daily Faceoff's DFO Live, “the two sides still haven’t inched closer to a contract extension.”
“With the Sabres in the thick of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference, Kekalainen may decide to hold on to Tuch and essentially use him as the team’s own rental if they cannot come to terms on a new contract by the March 6 trade deadline,” continued Pagnotta.
“The Sabres have not made the playoffs since the 2010-11 season and it may be the club’s desire to hold on to Tuch for the playoff run and take their chances to try to sign him after their season comes to an end.”
Sabres should be adding ahead of the deadline, not subtracting
Considering how potent the Sabres have been of late — they went on a 20-5-2 run to vault into playoff positioning in the East — it's almost certain Tuch will not be moved ahead of the March 6 NHL Trade Deadline.
But if Pagnotta's reporting is accurate, it doesn't look like he'll be getting a new contract before Buffalo gears up for the stretch run, which begins on the other side of the Olympic break on Feb. 25.
Tuch owns a five-team no-trade list as part of his contract.
If the Syracuse, New York native hits the market on July 1, he would likely be one of the big fish of the free agency period. Pagnotta believes that “the way things are going, it is entirely possible that becomes reality.”
“Nothing is stopping the Sabres and Tuch from ironing out an extension before the trade deadline, but the closer the two sides go without a new deal, the more other teams will try to pry him away,” he explained.
Without a playoff appearance in 15 years — the longest postseason drought in North American professional sports — GM Kekalainen and the front office need to do whatever they can to keep this club in a playoff spot over the last two months of the regular season.
This is the best team the Sabres have had in a long time, and management owes it to the fanbase in Western New York to make a splash and try to improve the roster further between now and March 6.
Tuch and his Buffalo teammates return to game action against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday, the first of a three-game road swing.
