The Buffalo Sabres could be involved in something more than a rental deal before the NHL trade deadline this Friday. GM Kevyn Adams has indicated that he has interest in signing pending unrestricted free agent wingers Jason Zucker and Jordan Greenway to contract extensions and has interest in making hockey deals that would bring back players currently in or ready to play in the NHL and one of the names apparently on a contender’s wish list is winger Alex Tuch.
Tuch scored in a 4-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, and he is second on the Sabres with 22 goals this season. Although the 28-year-old has another year left on his contract, his name was mentioned by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman as a potential target of the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning and again on Saturday by Eduardo Encinas of the Tampa Bay Times.
The Syracuse, NY native is eligible for a contract extension this July and would likely require a significant bump in pay from his $4.75 million salary. Tuch’s age and relatively low cap hit for a consistent 20+ goal scorer are likely the reasons why he has been mentioned the last month, but for the Sabres to deal one of their core players, they would likely be looking for more than Conor Geekie or the Lightning’s top prospect, Isaac Howard.
Howard was Tampa’s top pick (31st overall) in 2022 and leads the NCAA’s Michigan State Spartans with 23 goals. The 20-year-old winger is teammates with Sabres prospects Maxim Strbak and Patrick Geary and is a product of the US National Development Program, which Buffalo has a lot of connection to.
