Alex Tuch

[DarthEbriate]

3 hours ago, Thorner said:

Look at the freaking map.

And Sabres fans complain about Luukkonen's goaltending.

[Mr. Allen]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

As good as Tuch is at blocking shots and takeaways the rest of his defensive side of the game is not up with the elite defensive forwards.

Tuch does not even have the best forward defensive metrics on the Sabres. 

Thank you.  I didn’t know.  

[LGR4GM]

2 hours ago, Brawndo said:

As good as Tuch is at blocking shots and takeaways the rest of his defensive side of the game is not up with the elite defensive forwards.

Tuch does not even have the best forward defensive metrics on the Sabres. 

Is it Benson? McLeod?

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, Brawndo said:

As good as Tuch is at blocking shots and takeaways the rest of his defensive side of the game is not up with the elite defensive forwards.

Tuch does not even have the best forward defensive metrics on the Sabres. 

I've never thought of Tuch as a "defensive forward". Who is calling him a defensive forward and why?

[Jorcus]

2 hours ago, Brawndo said:

As good as Tuch is at blocking shots and takeaways the rest of his defensive side of the game is not up with the elite defensive forwards.

Tuch does not even have the best forward defensive metrics on the Sabres. 

He is the guy I want on the ice at the end of a close game.

[Brawndo]

27 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Is it Benson? McLeod?

Benson 

[dudacek]

Tuch’s a tough one in that he’s going to get what almost certainly will be a bad contract yet typifies almost exactly what the team does not have enough of and can’t afford to lose at this juncture.

Thanks Kevyn.

In terms of the player as he is at this moment, he’s about as complete a package as one could ask for without being an actual “star”: rare size/speed combo, able to play in all situations with or against anyone. In terms of fandom, immensely easy to root for.

Glad I haven’t seen the “3rd liner on a Stanley Cup team” BS in this thread. RW is the shallowest position, but I’d be shocked if you could name 15 better.

Really interested to see how invested he is in the Sabres and this management team.He’s got a family now, his wife is from Vancouver, and he’s got a limited number of years left to enjoy playoff success.

Re-signing him may not be Kevyn’s decision.

[JohnC]

16 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

That is the tough thing about Tuch.  He is very valuable. In my opinion, the 3rd best player on this team. But how do you deal with his next contract?

-3rd best player. Fan favorite. From the area. He has an A.

-His next contract will START when he is 29, going on 30.  Players, on average (not all the time but on average), peak right about the age he is now. He my very well be starting his 'production decline' as he starts a new deal.

How much do you pay him, for how long?

Give him a 3-4 year offer and he may balk at that, and have a lot of fans that say the offer is offensive.  Give him 6-7 and its ALMOST a certainty he will be overpaid for the majority of the deal.  I have no idea how this plays out.

So what If the contract he signs results in the backside of the contract being an over payment. That's not an unusual outcome in these extended contracts; it's a standard feature of these contracts. The standard outcome for these types of long-term contracts is that the player in the first half to two thirds of the contract produce at a reasonable rate of return, and then there is a decline in production. That's a normal occurrence for every team in the league. I'm not bothered by it. 

The historical problem for this plagued franchise is that it makes poor judgments on which players to reward and not to reward with these extended contracts. Tuch is a player who should be rewarded for putting up with the shiiiiit that he has had endure after being trading from a championship franchise to this clown show operation that he got stuck with. 

[Pimlach]

18 hours ago, dudacek said:

Tuch’s a tough one in that he’s going to get what almost certainly will be a bad contract yet typifies almost exactly what the team does not have enough of and can’t afford to lose at this juncture.

Thanks Kevyn.

In terms of the player as he is at this moment, he’s about as complete a package as one could ask for without being an actual “star”: rare size/speed combo, able to play in all situations with or against anyone. In terms of fandom, immensely easy to root for.

Glad I haven’t seen the “3rd liner on a Stanley Cup team” BS in this thread. RW is the shallowest position, but I’d be shocked if you could name 15 better.

Really interested to see how invested he is in the Sabres and this management team.He’s got a family now, his wife is from Vancouver, and he’s got a limited number of years left to enjoy playoff success.

Re-signing him may not be Kevyn’s decision.

Interesting comments and interesting dilemma for Tuch. 

I suspect he will want to extend and continue to try to "fix" his team. 

A long term is his best financial move, but if he is realistic a long term deal could seriously limit his chances to ever compete for a Cup.  

Edited Thursday at 05:33 PM by Pimlach

[Huckleberry]

21 hours ago, shrader said:

I wonder how many people on here are left from when the team was good. I can’t keep up with all the name changes over the years. 

Did have a different nick back then, but been here since 2011.

[gilbert11]

On 4/9/2025 at 5:41 AM, JohnC said:

He's had a terrific year and is our unsung hero. And he is being impactful while playing on a lower line than his talent should be on. He's big, fast, tough, and does the dirty work on behalf of the team. In addition to his scoring production, he's our best PK player. On top of all that his leadership is demonstrated more by how he plays than by his talk. It's a shame that his terrific season isn't rewarded by having the opportunity to participate in the playoffs. 

Why has he been dropped to the 3rd line?

[LGR4GM]

31 minutes ago, gilbert11 said:

Why has he been dropped to the 3rd line?

No idea. They should flip Quinn and Tuch.

[JohnC]

47 minutes ago, gilbert11 said:

Why has he been dropped to the 3rd line?

The coach is trying to balance the lines. I would move Tuch up and Quinn down.

[Doohickie]

I've been staring at this thread title this week and the only thing that pops into my head every time is

Alex Tuch, Alex Tuch
Galloping through the sward
Alex Tuch, Alex Tuch
And his horse Concorde
He steals from the rich
And gives to the poor
Mr. Tuch, Mr. Tuch, Mr. Tuch

Alex Tuch, Alex Tuch
Riding through the night
Soon every lupin in the land
Will be in his mighty hand
He steals them from the rich
And gives them to the poor
Mr. Tuch, Mr. Tuch, Mr. Tuch

Alex Tuch, Alex Tuch
Dum dum dum the night
Alex Tuch, Alex Tuch
Dum de dum dum plight
He steals dum dum dum
And dum dum dum dee
Alex dum, Alex dee, dum dum dum

Alex Tuch, Alex Tuch
Riding through the woods
Alex Tuch, Alex Tuch
With his bag of things
He gives to the poor
And he takes from the rich
Alex Tuch, Alex Tuch, Alex Tuch

Alex Tuch, Alex Tuch
Riding through the land
Alex Tuch, Alex Tuch
Without a merry band
He steals from the poor
And gives to the rich
Stupid bitch

source: https://mail.lyricsondemand.com/python_monty/dennis_moore

[Weave]

[mjd1001]

On 4/9/2025 at 6:45 PM, PerreaultForever said:

I've never thought of Tuch as a "defensive forward". Who is calling him a defensive forward and why?

What do you consider a defensive forward?  To me its not about offense and defensive, its a subtle difference....."with the puck" and "without the puck"

I have always thought he was the best forchecker on the team and one of the best in the league.   He's not great in his own end...He's not taking the body all the time or taking the puck away from the opposition in the defensive end. Still, seeing how he is good at forchecking, and I consider him very good "without the puck".

[JohnC]

38 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

What do you consider a defensive forward?  To me its not about offense and defensive, its a subtle difference....."with the puck" and "without the puck"

I have always thought he was the best forchecker on the team and one of the best in the league.   He's not great in his own end...He's not taking the body all the time or taking the puck away from the opposition in the defensive end. Still, seeing how he is good at forchecking, and I consider him very good "without the puck".

If he departed it would leave a major void on this roster. The way this team is currently assembled I would now consider him to be an indispensable player. Stats don't reflect his value to this team. He has attributes on and off the ice that when measured understate his true value to this team. When it comes to contract negotiation, this player is in the driver seat of this flat-tired bus of this deflated franchise. As someone else stated: The issue is more does he want to be here than the franchise's desire to sign him. 

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, mjd1001 said:

What do you consider a defensive forward?  To me its not about offense and defensive, its a subtle difference....."with the puck" and "without the puck"

I have always thought he was the best forchecker on the team and one of the best in the league.   He's not great in his own end...He's not taking the body all the time or taking the puck away from the opposition in the defensive end. Still, seeing how he is good at forchecking, and I consider him very good "without the puck".

That's not the definition I use. I have always considered forechecking as part of the offense. Creating turnovers generates offensive chances. Defense is back checking and defending in your own end. Tuch is not good at that. few Sabres are. A 2 way forward is good in both ends of the rink. 

[ska-T Palmtown]

2 hours ago, JohnC said:

If he departed it would leave a major void on this roster. The way this team is currently assembled I would now consider him to be an indispensable player. Stats don't reflect his value to this team. He has attributes on and off the ice that when measured understate his true value to this team. When it comes to contract negotiation, this player is in the driver seat of this flat-tired bus of this deflated franchise. As someone else stated: The issue is more does he want to be here than the franchise's desire to sign him. 

His blocked shots and shorties combined with is essentially point/game play does not actually seem to understate this play. I think what does that is his moderate stretches of inconsistent production. Whether via injury or if he is just by nature a little bit streaky. This is not meant as a damning critique of Sir Alex. I like him and I bet ol' GM Howdy Doody took plenty of calls from playoff teams looking to pry him away from us.

[JohnC]

43 minutes ago, ska-T Palmtown said:

His blocked shots and shorties combined with is essentially point/game play does not actually seem to understate this play. I think what does that is his moderate stretches of inconsistent production. Whether via injury or if he is just by nature a little bit streaky. This is not meant as a damning critique of Sir Alex. I like him and I bet ol' GM Howdy Doody took plenty of calls from playoff teams looking to pry him away from us.

Put Tuch on the top line and his offensive stats would be even higher. On this team he should a first or second line player. And as I said in a prior post, his stats don’t capture his importance to this team. 
 

He’s a good NHL player that a lot of teams would love to have.

[spndnchz]

8 hours ago, JohnC said:

Put Tuch on the top line and his offensive stats would be even higher. On this team he should a first or second line player. And as I said in a prior post, his stats don’t capture his importance to this team. 
 

He’s a good NHL player that a lot of teams would love to have.

He’s not fast enough for a top team spot. 

[mjd1001]

4 hours ago, spndnchz said:

He’s not fast enough for a top team spot. 

To me he certainly is.

When I watch him play, I don't see players pulling away from him. The opposite in fact, on the backcheck, I see him keeping up with, or catching opposing players more than most other guys on this team. Just recently look at some of his short handed goals....guys with lesser speed might have been caught from behind, he usually isn't.

In terms of stats, NHL edge tracking has him above average in terms of top speed every year since he has been here, and in the top 25 percentile of the league every year in terms of speed bursts. 

[JohnC]

5 hours ago, spndnchz said:

He’s not fast enough for a top team spot. 

I respectfully but strenuously disagree.

[EM88]

8 hours ago, spndnchz said:

He’s not fast enough for a top team spot. 

Not fast enough?  where did that come from.

He looks like he is one of the faster skaters on the team and above average in the league, and the metrics back that up.