As the Winter Olympic Break ends and the NHL season picks up again, the Buffalo Sabres face important decisions about their team\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
\u200bThe Sabres start the second half of the season still in the playoff race, leading many to think they will be active at the March 6th\u00a0<\/a>trade deadline. While they are expected<\/a> to be buyers, there has been speculation that some of their key players might be traded.<\/p>\n \u200bThis speculation follows Buffalo\u2019s general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen,\u00a0<\/a>telling the players<\/a>,<\/p>\n \u201cYou are all pretty much all expendable, and no one is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u200bOne player widely rumored<\/a> to be traded by the Sabres is forward Alex Tuch<\/a>. Tuch is in the final year of his\u00a0<\/a>contract<\/a> and will\u00a0become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. The nine-year veteran and Buffalo have been discussing an extension, but they haven\u2019t been\u00a0<\/a>able to reach<\/a> an agreement.<\/p>\n \u200bTo sustain a high level of performance, the Sabres need to keep Tuch on the roster.<\/p>\n \u200bThe Rebuild is Over<\/p>\n \u200bBuffalo has missed the playoffs for\u00a014 straight years<\/a>, holding the longest active playoff drought in the NHL, and has been rebuilding during that time. With the playoffs finally approaching, the rebuild is coming to a close. Trading a player like Tuch is a move you make during a rebuild, and it would be a step backward for the team. Playoff teams typically add players like him, not subtract them.<\/p>\n \u200bTuch\u2019s return would involve draft picks and young, unproven prospects who wouldn\u2019t help the Sabres make a playoff push anytime soon. Buffalo should focus on acquiring experienced players who can make an immediate impact, rather than those who need time to develop.<\/p>\n \u200bThe Sabres have been working for years to end the rebuild, and trading a top contributor would send the wrong message to the players and fans.<\/p>\n \u200bVeteran Presence<\/p>\n \u200bOne of the most critical factors for a team making the playoffs is having veteran players with postseason experience \u2014 something Buffalo currently lacks. The Sabres are the\u00a0<\/a>youngest team<\/a> in the NHL, with an average age of 25.93, and most players have little to no playoff experience.<\/p>\n \u200bTuch brings the experience and leadership that the team desperately needs. He was part of the Vegas Golden Knights team that reached the\u00a0<\/a>Stanley Cup Finals<\/a> in 2018 and has appeared in the playoffs three other times. Having a player like this on your team is essential in April and May.<\/p>\n \u200bTuch plays a crucial leadership role for the team\u2019s younger players, and removing that presence could disrupt their progress. Buffalo needs more leaders, so trading away the team\u2019s biggest leader would be a serious mistake.<\/p>\n \u200bTime for an Extension<\/p>\n \u200bThe Sabres haven\u2019t had a team this talented since their playoff drought started in 2012, and much of that is thanks to Tuch\u2019s skill and leadership.<\/p>\n \u200bIf the Sabres want to be serious contenders this season and beyond, then Tuch needs to be extended soon. Regarding the trade deadline, Buffalo should acquire a veteran who can mentor and lead this team through the playoffs.<\/p>\n \u200bThe Sabres have made great progress, and it would be a shame to see them lose it all just because they couldn\u2019t extend Tuch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Winter Olympic Break ends and the NHL season picks up again, the Buffalo Sabres face important…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475922,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5100],"tags":[35276,6452,1107,229,5133,5,4,1108],"class_list":{"0":"post-475921","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-buffalo-sabres","8":"tag-2026-nhl-playoffs","9":"tag-alex-tuch","10":"tag-buffalo","11":"tag-buffalo-sabres","12":"tag-buffalosabres","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-sabres"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}