Sabres have 1 advantage in Alex Tuch's free agency

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Sabres have 1 advantage in Alex Tuch's free agency originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

It's not yet clear whether the Buffalo Sabres will make Alex Tuch a free agent offer sizable enough to keep him around.

What is clear is that the NHL has given the Sabres a built-in advantage.

Under the league's current CBA, only the current team can offer a player an eight-year contract. Every other team can offer at most seven years.

That means that the Sabres can actually offer Tuch more money even if the annual average value is a little lower, because they'll be offering a whole additional year.

Given that it's probably hard for Tuch to know what he might earn if he signs a contract in free agency after a seven-year deal elsewhere, that eighth year has to have some appeal.

Local radio host Brian Mazurowski summed it up with this post on X:

On Tuch- Being able to offer the 8th year is the major hammer the Sabres have. A $9.2M AAV over 8 years is still worth more than $10.5M over 7.
There is no Tuch deal in Buffalo that isn’t 8 years.

— Brian Mazurowski (@BMaz1) May 29, 2026

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The big question really becomes more about whether the Sabres want to offer Tuch an eight-year contract in the first place. There'd be definite risk of the back half of that deal aging particularly poorly.

To make it worthwhile, Tuch would have to be really good in the first three or four years of the contract, potentially helping the Sabres to a deep playoff run. Otherwise it ends up being not worth it for Buffalo.

Tuch had zero points in their final series of the postseason, and he's not getting younger. He likely will keep contributing for a while, but the Sabres have younger players in need of extensions soon.

There's risk with Tuch, but it's clear that the eighth year could come in handy if the Sabres decide to wield it properly.

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