Sabres Cleared $10 Million in Cap Space. It Still Might Not Be Enough to Keep Alex Tuch.

The Buffalo Sabres made a splash Tuesday night, shipping defenseman Bowen Byram and forward Jordan Greenway to the Chicago Blackhawks. Coming back the other way: Chicago’s first-round pick (fourth overall), a second-round pick (45th overall), and defenseman Louis Crevier.

On paper, that’s a haul of draft capital for a team that just won the Atlantic Division for the first time in 17 years. But the real reason Buffalo made the deal — salary cap space — might not accomplish what they hoped.

The trade frees up more than $10 million in cap room for general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen. The obvious target for that money is pending unrestricted free agent Alex Tuch, who is coming off a career year and a seven-year contract that paid him an average of $4.25 million annually. He’s due for a serious raise.

But according to NHL insider Chris Johnston, clearing that cap space probably won’t change the conversation. “Even though Buffalo freed up some cap space with tonight’s Bowen Byram trade, early sense is it won’t change the direction of talks with pending UFA Alex Tuch,” Johnston posted on X. “Expect Tuch to test the open market.”

Tuch, 28, arrived in Buffalo as the centerpiece of the Jack Eichel trade — the blockbuster that sent the former captain to Vegas. Since then, he’s been the Sabres’ most consistent offensive forward. This season he put up 33 goals and 33 assists, helping Buffalo end a playoff drought that stretched back to 2011 and win a division title for the first time since 2007.

For his career, spanning 615 games with the Golden Knights and Sabres, Tuch has 200 goals and 248 assists for 448 points.

Why testing free agency makes sense for Tuch

The salary cap is going up. The market for top-six wingers with size and speed is always strong. And Tuch has already been through a rebuild in Buffalo. He may simply want to see what’s out there.

The Sabres can offer him term and money. But they can’t offer him the kind of no-doubt contender status some other teams might. Buffalo just got back to the playoffs, sure, but they haven’t won a round since 2007. There’s a difference between being competitive and being a Cup favorite.

Kekäläinen now has the cap flexibility to make Tuch a competitive offer. Whether that offer is enough to keep him from shopping around on July 1 is another story. Johnston’s read suggests the Sabres might not get that chance.

They do have the fourth overall pick in Friday’s draft now. That’s a nice consolation prize. But it’s not Alex Tuch.