5 Way-Too-Early Landing Spots for Alex Tuch Amid NHL Rumors

We are not even a month into the 2025-26 NHL season, and the vibe is already feeling off for the Buffalo Sabres.

After Monday's loss to the Montreal Canadiens, they have won just one of their first four games, and there are already whispers of players potentially looking to get out by the trade deadline.

One of the more prominent names on the rumor mill is veteran forward Alex Tuch.

The 29-year-old is in the final year of his current contract, and extension talks have been put on hold for the time being.

Tuch is currently making a bargain salary-cap number of just $4.75 million, but he could be in line for a new contract that more than doubles that.

While he has been a bright spot in Buffalo in recent years, there is some risk in giving him a huge contract, given he will be 30 years old when his next deal begins and he has topped 67 points just once in his career.

In the short term, though, his current contract could make him an attractive rental and one of the Sabres' biggest trade chips if the season starts to go as expected.

Let's take a look at some way-too-early potential destinations for Tuch should the Sabres work to trade him in the coming months.

Edmonton Oilers

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Connor McDavid

After making back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals and losing both of them, there is still some immense pressure on the Edmonton Oilers to win a championship in the Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl era. It is the one thing their superstar duo has yet to accomplish, and it remains so painfully close.

However, the Oilers still have some flaws and weaknesses on the roster.

While defensive depth and goaltending are two of the issues that get the most attention, they could still use more scoring depth in their forward group and Tuch would provide a north-south, power-forward element that should help complement the skill of McDavid and Draisaitl.

His contract for this season would also make him an attractive option for an Oilers team that is always pressed to the upper limits of the salary cap.

Los Angeles Kings

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Quinton Byfield

The Kings really dropped the ball this offseason. They made their defense worse by swapping out Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence for Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin, and then didn't really do much to address their offense that was only mediocre a year ago.

This is a team that has made the playoffs four years in a row, but lost in the first round to the same team: An Edmonton Oilers side that can simply outscore them.

The Kings still need more offense, and they should be aggressive in trying to get it.

They have four picks in the first three rounds of the 2026 draft and still have some young players who could be attractive to a perpetually rebuilding team like the Sabres.

The question is whether L.A. general manager Ken Holland will be willing to be aggressive enough to make the necessary move.

New York Rangers

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J.T. Miller

The New York Rangers still believe they can be contenders this season, and if they are going to make the playoffs, they are going to have to do something to address their offense.

They are trying to tell themselves early in the season that the chances they are producing will eventually create more offense, but there is no guarantee it will happen given the makeup of the current roster.

Mike Sullivan is a strong tactical coach with a good system that consistently puts his players into scoring positions.

His Pittsburgh Penguins teams over the past three years were one of the best teams in the league when it came to generating scoring chances and expected goals. They just never had the goal-scoring talent to turn those chances and looks into enough goals to matter.

There is a possibility the same thing might happen with this Rangers team when you look at the forward lines they are using and a significant portion of the roster.

They need more goal-scorers, especially after trading away Chris Kreider this past offseason.

Tuch has scored 36 goals in two of the past three seasons and would provide some short-term goal-scoring punch to a team that desperately needs it.

The Rangers held on to their 2026 first-round pick in large part because of their desire to use it as a trade chip this season if needed.

Toronto Maple Leafs

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Auston Matthews

The Maple Leafs made a significant change to their core by trading Mitch Marner this offseason and bringing in a handful of lower-tier forwards to replace him. They took a quantity-over-quality approach to the offseason.

However, they are still lacking some sort of top-six replacement in their lineup for Marner. They need someone who can score and provide significant offense. The players they brought in this offseason are not going to cut it come playoff time, either.

They also had to listen to goalie Anthony Stolarz call them out for not doing enough to cause problems around the opponent's net.

Tuch brings some of that north-south play and net-front chaos, while also being able to score at a top-six level.

He's not Marner, but he's still pretty good and might bring a different type of element the Maple Leafs have been lacking in recent years come playoff time. He might be a good fit here if Buffalo would be willing to trade him within the division.

Winnipeg Jets

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Jonathan Toews

The Jets are in a similar situation to the Rangers, only with a slightly better roster.

They have an elite goalie, they want to be a contender, but they could still use a little more goal-scoring in their top nine, especially after losing Nikolaj Ehlers in free agency over the summer and not really doing anything to replace him.

With Ehlers gone, the Jets are bringing back only three players who scored more than 18 goals from last year's team, and it's worth asking if Gabe Vilardi is going to score 27 goals again after shooting more than 20 percent.

Some regression seems possible there.

The Jets do a lot of things well, and with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor at the top of the lineup, they do have a couple of elite scorers. But more depth and another goal-scorer would be a huge addition.

Tuch seems to fit the style of play and has an affordable contract. The Jets also have all of their first-round picks in future seasons and some salary-cap flexibility to work with.