What’s the outlook for the Buffalo Sabres now, and they still have hope to extend Alex Tuch
Mike Harrington: Alex Tuch on his contract situation: “I think Jarmo was in somewhat of the negotiations before, so he’s familiar with what was going on. Just gonna let my agent handle it and that’s it. I just stay out of it. I just worry about playing hockey.”
Mike Harrington: Tuch on Sabres GM Jarmo Kekalainen on his now “taking charge” to contract extension done: “That means a lot coming from him. I don’t know what’s going to happen. That’s completely up to him and my agent. And once I need to be filled in on anything, I’ll be filled in.”
NHL Network: Elliotte Friedman, on the Buffalo Sabres now that Jarmo Kekalainen is taking over for Kevyn Adams as GM, and how the Sabres really want to extend Alex Tuch. Can new GM Jarmo Kekalainen get a deal done?
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Mike Rupp: “Buffalo Sabres, Jarmo Kekalainen being hired as the General Manager. So what’s the outlook here, moving forward, for Buffalo?
Friedman: “Well, one of the more interesting things about his media conference yesterday, Michael, was that he said he’s still thinks he can make, they can make the playoffs this year. And you know what the odds are against them, they’re down at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and there’s a lot of teams in between, in between them, in that second wild card spot.
But someone said to me, that’s strategic. And the reason that strategic is because Kekalainen believes that when you look at that roster on paper, they are good enough to be a playoff team. They have a lot of skill. They’re good down the middle, especially when Norris is healthy. They’ve got some goaltending. They’ve got good D.
And that they feel the biggest issue that they have is that they are not competitive enough. And that on nights where they can’t outskill their opponents, they don’t win enough games. And I think what he’s challenging them is to say, look, ‘I, if you want to stay here and you want to be long-term with this team, you’ve got to prove to me that you can compete.’ And I think he wants to see, can they compete.
And I’ll say this too, I think his quotes about Tuch were legitimate. I think he wants to keep him. It’s a challenge. Like I heard there was a big, big gap between what Kevyn Adams was offering at the time and what Tuch wanted. But I’ve heard it’s legit that they do want to try to keep him. So it will be interesting to see what other decisions the Sabres might have to make if they do jump up and keep Tuch.”
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