Sabres rumors: How Bowen Byram trade impacts Alex Tuch UFA pursuit

Among the handful of trades in the National Hockey League on Tuesday was a puzzling trade between the Buffalo Sabres and the Chicago Blackhawks, in which the Sabres sent defenseman Bowen Byram and forward Jordan Greenway to Chicago.

In return, the Blackhawks sent their first round pick (fourth overall) and second round pick (45th overall) in Friday’s NHL draft, along with defenseman Louis Crevier, to Buffalo.

The moves free up over $10 million worth of salary cap space for Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen, who is attempting to get pending UFA forward Alex Tuch signed to a new contract to keep him with the club long-term. However, according to NHL Insider Chris Johnston, it likely isn’t going to keep Tuch from exploring the free agent market early next month when the calendar flips to July.

“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 wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Expect Tuch to test the open market.”

Tuch, who was acquired by the Sabres in the highly-publicized deal for former captain Jack Eichel, has been one of Buffalo’s most reliable sources of offense since his arrival. This season, he scored 33 goals with 33 assists for the Sabres, who won the Atlantic Division for the first time since 2007 and advanced to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2011.

In 615 career games with the Golden Knights and Sabres, Tuch has 200 goals with 248 assists for 448 points. He’s coming off a seven-year, $33.25 million contract that paid him an annual average of $4.25 million.

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