BUFFALO, NY. (WKBW) — Alex Tuch's time with the Buffalo Sabres has come to an end, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen told reporters Wednesday.
"At this point, we haven't come to a point in any of our talks that he'd want to sign with us," Kekalainen said. "I think he's moving on and getting into free agency."
Tuch, who came to Buffalo with Peyton Krebs in November 2021 as part of the trade that sent Jack Eichel to the Vegas Golden Knights, scored 30 or more goals in all but one season while in blue and gold.
But according to Kekalainen, it appears Tuch was ready to move on and test the free agency market.
"We wanted to sign him, but the one thing I've always said is it depends on the contract," Kekalainen said. "Obviously, with a 30-year-old player, there's risk involved with a max-term offer. He's going to be missed, but we'll be fine."
With Tuch set to depart Buffalo and defenseman Bowen Byram now in Chicago, that leaves two pretty big holes in this roster for Kekalainen and the front office to fill.
Kekalainen also told reporters that they have a "positive problem."
"Nothing disrespectful to Alex Tuch, he's been a great player to us, but we have a lot of good players on our lineup," he said. "We have a good plan on how to replace Alex Tuch, but we're going to look at every option, whether it's free agency or a trade."
Kekalainen also sang the praises of Jiri Kulich, Noah Ostlund and Konsta Helenius as "internal" players that he feels could help alleviate the skillset loss of Tuch.
Below, you can watch 7 Sports Director Matt Bove's take on Kekalainen's comments.
