Sabres' New GM Willing To Meet Tuch At Larger Contract

The Buffalo Sabres seem to have finally turned a corner and are in the thick of the tight playoff race in the East. The Sabres have won 12 of their past 13 games and sit at eight games over .500 and in a wildcard spot. They are playing like their jobs in Buffalo depend on it because it might.

One of the players in the last year of their deal that the Sabres would like to keep around is Alex Tuch. He is a UFA after the season and has been a big part of the team the last number of years. This season, the 29-year-old has 14 goals and 35 points in 41 games. He plays over 18.5 minutes per game, nearly two minutes on the power play and over two minutes on the penalty kill per game as well.

Tuch is looking for a large, long-term contract and the Sabres are in it, so their want to sell if they can't get a deal done by the trade deadline is dwindling. David Pagnotta said, "I think Jarmo's mindset is a little bit different than what Adams had. I don't think Adams was willing to go that high in terms of AAV. Those discussions are going to happen over the course of January."

Tuch is on a steal of a deal and has been for his entire tenure in Buffalo. His cap hit is $4.75 million AAV and he has accumulated 120 goals and 278 points in 322 games since becoming a Sabre. He's put up 22+ goals and 59+ points in each of the past three seasons and is on pace to surpass both this season.

Tuch is in his prime, so losing a player like him would be much worse than going a bit higher on AAV when other players are likely to be moved over the course of the next year to reshape the team. The assumption is that Tuch would be around the cap hit of Adrian Kempe and Kyle Connor, who both recently signed new deals, but a bit less.

The Sabres aren't a very old team with many veterans as Tuch is one of the oldest right now. Keeping him around for the leadership and production makes a ton of sense.