Jarmo Kekalainen disputes Alex Tuch's comments about Sabres departure

The Buffalo Sabres sent winger Alex Tuch to the Washington Capitals as part of a sign-and-trade deal on June 24. How long that outcome was a fait accompli has become a source of debate.

Tuch, who was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, signed an eight-year, $84 million contract extension with the Caps as part of the agreement. He recently told Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic his hope of staying in Buffalo never wavered until the very end.

"Up until the day I got traded and signed with Washington, I thought I was going to be a Sabre for life," Tuch said. "It was never like, 'Yeah, I'm gone.' I never had that feeling. I always knew I could be traded at any moment, but never for a second up until pretty much negotiations were done and the door was closed. I never asked out, never asked for a trade. I never wanted to move on."

He concluded: "Going in, I always wanted to finish my career in Buffalo, but that just wasn't in the cards."

Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen remembers the situation a bit differently.

Kekalainen explained to Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News the team's front office had known Tuch was planning to depart well before free agency was set to open.

"He decided he didn't want to negotiate with us anymore and he was gone a month before free agency," the longtime NHL executive said Monday. "He knew that and we knew that."

Kekalainen added: "He's a good player that wanted to move on."

Sabres fans will probably never know the complete, unbiased version of events.

There are obviously some semantics and creative word choice in play — for example, Tuch doesn't directly say he was actively negotiating with Buffalo until those final days in the organization — but perhaps it's telling his contract with the Capitals includes a $10.5 million AAV, the exact number of his long-rumored asking price the Sabres never appeared willing to match.

Of course, it's impossible to reverse history at this point. The 30-year-old forward is off to a strong start in Washington with 12 points (10 goals and two assists) in 14 games, while the Sabres have struggled to replace his dependable two-way, three-phase contributions.

Tuch, who scored two goals including the overtime game-winner in an Oct. 24 meeting against his former club, doesn't play his first game back in Buffalo until March 18. It'll be interesting to see what type of reception he receives when that game finally arrives.

Sabres have missed Alex Tuch most in one critical area

Buffalo knew it'd take some time for its new emerging cornerstones to fill the wide variety of lineup holes created by Tuch's departure. He played first-line minutes at 5-on-5, while also handling important roles on both the power play and the penalty kill.

His absence on the PK has caused the biggest issues so far.

The Sabres were one of the league's best playing a man (or two) down last season, ranking fourth in the NHL at 81.9%. They've dropped to 28th (68.6%) during the early stages of the 2026-27 campaign.

Tuch and center Ryan McLeod had formed a dynamic penalty-killing duo. Not only were they defensively sound, but they created a lot of scoring chances going the opposite direction, as highlighted by their 17 combined shorthanded goals over the past two years.

Buffalo has tried a bunch of different forward PK combinations through the first 14 games, but none of them have come close to matching the efficiency of Tuch and McLeod.

The Sabres do have some young forwards with a strong defensive acumen, led by Zach Benson and Josh Doan, who could eventually bring some stability to the penalty kill. Becoming skilled in those high-leverage spots at the NHL level takes time, though. It was never an overnight fix.

Nevertheless, getting the PK back to a respectable level of production will be important if Buffalo is going to keep pace in the highly competitive Atlantic Division.