Sabres agree to send Alex Tuch to the Capitals as part of sign-and-trade deal, AP source says

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Sabres have agreed to a sign-and-trade deal in sending veteran forward Alex Tuch to the Washington Capitals, a person with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

In order to make the trade, the Sabres first signed Tuch to an eight-year, $84 million contract, the person told the AP, and spoke on the condition of anonymity because the agreement and trade had not yet been announced.

The sign-and-trade option was all that was left for the Sabres to get anything in return for Tuch. Earlier in the day, Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said there was no progress in contract talks with Tuch, and was anticipating the player to hit the free-agent market once the NHL’s signing period opened next week.

By signing with Buffalo first, Tuch received the benefit of landing an eight-year contract. In free agency, he would have been limited to signing a seven-year deal with another team.

The 30-year-old Tuch is a 10-year NHL veteran who has topped 20 goals in four of his five seasons in Buffalo — including scoring 33 or more in each of the past two years.

In Buffalo, he had 139 goals and 309 points in 360 games in filling a top-line role. Overall, he has 200 goals and 448 points in 615 NHL games.

Trading Tuch comes a day after Buffalo lost another key contributor from a team that led to the Sabres winning their first Atlantic Division title and win its first playoff round since 2007.

The Sabres traded defenseman Bowen Byram and checking line forward Jordan Greenway to the Chicago Blackhawks. Buffalo acquired Chicago’s No. 4 pick and a second-round selection in this weekend’s draft, along with promising defenseman Louis Crevier.

Kekalainen revealed Byram expressed no interest in wanting to remain in Buffalo after his current contract expired next summer.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

Click here to read the full article