Alex Tuch’s exit from Buffalo is turning into one of those stories where the truth depends on who you ask.
The winger was dealt to the Washington Capitals on June 24 in a sign-and-trade move, and he landed an eight-year, $84 million extension in the process. But the timeline around his departure is now up for debate after Tuch told Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic that he believed he was staying in Buffalo right up until the 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 added: “Going in, I always wanted to finish my career in Buffalo, but that just wasn’t in the cards.”
Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen sees it differently. Speaking to Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, he said the team understood Tuch was headed elsewhere before free agency even opened.
“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 also said: “He’s a good player that wanted to move on.”
There’s no clean way to settle the dispute now, and the gap between the two versions leaves plenty of room for interpretation. Tuch did not say he was actively in ongoing talks with Buffalo until those final days, but his comments made clear he never viewed a departure as inevitable until the deal was essentially done. His contract with Washington also came in at a $10.5 million AAV, which matches the long-rumored asking price Buffalo never seemed willing to meet.
What is clear is that Washington has gotten immediate production from the 30-year-old forward. Tuch has 12 points, including 10 goals and two assists, in 14 games for the Capitals.
Buffalo, meanwhile, has felt his absence in a few places, but nowhere more than on the penalty kill.
Tuch had been a key piece for the Sabres at 5-on-5, on the power play and on the PK, where he and center Ryan McLeod formed a particularly effective pair. Buffalo ranked fourth in the NHL last season on the penalty kill at 81.9%, but through the first 14 games of the 2026-27 campaign it has fallen to 28th at 68.6%.
That drop has been hard to miss. The Sabres have cycled through different forward combinations on the PK, but none have come close to matching what Tuch and McLeod provided together. Over the past two years, the two combined for 17 shorthanded goals, a big part of why that duo stood out.
Buffalo does have some younger forwards who could eventually help stabilize things, with Zach Benson and Josh Doan among the names mentioned for their defensive ability. But that kind of reliability in high-leverage minutes usually takes time to build at the NHL level.
Tuch will get his first game back in Buffalo on March 18, after scoring two goals, including the overtime winner, in an Oct. 24 meeting with his former team. When that return finally comes around, the reaction should tell its own story.
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