Sabres Trade Rumors: Teams Asking About Key Forward's Availability

The Buffalo Sabres season has not gone the way they expected. But team building is not always linear. After a promising season in their rebuild last year, things are down in 2023-24, but they're still focused on building the team into a contender with staying power. With so many of the young core players locked in, they're now looking for proven veterans to help them win now. And along with that comes trade talks.

"'We have our kids, now we need to complement them'," is the way that insider Jeff Marek explained the Sabres' mindset on the 32 Thoughts podcast. "You gotta have veterans around some of these guys," agreed Elliotte Friedman.

But who will they be sacrificing? We've already heard that Casey Mittelstadt is a prime trade candidate. Friedman has now revealed that another key forward is a trade target around the NHL:

I heard on the weekend... Some teams asked Buffalo about Alex Tuch, and I think Buffalo just said 'we’re not doing that'.

Tuch, 27, had a breakout season last year, racking up career-highs with 36 goals and 43 assists for 79 points in 74 games. That also came along with a plus-minus rating of +14. He's taken a bit of a downturn this season with 14 goals and 34 points in 44 games, but is still registering over 19 minutes of ice time a night, however, and remains an important piece of the Sabres top-nine.

Tuch is in the middle of a 7-year deal signed several seasons back with the Vegas Golden Knights. It's a $4.75 million cap hit, and it expires after the 2025-26 season.

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