Sabres given 7 trade options to replace Alex Tuch

1 day ago 7

It seems like there's a decent chance that Alex Tuch leaves the Buffalo Sabres in free agency.

If he does that, the Sabres have plenty of options to replace him.

They've got a lot of internal depth on the wing and could just decide to embrace a youth movement in their forward group.

But if they want to make a trade to address the opening, there are plenty of choices out there.

The Athletic's Matthew Fairburn actually names seven trade options in a new article, splitting them into the three most likely and four longshots.

For the three that he terms "decent fits who are on Christ Johnston's trade board," Fairburn includes:

Blake Coleman, Flames
Jake DeBrusk, Canucks
Jordan Kyrou, Blues

MORE: Mitch Marner can't quite escape the haters

Kyrou would be interesting after the Sabres already had lots of trade talks with St. Louis before this season's deadline.

"Sabres fans have zeroed in on Robert Thomas when talking about trades with St. Louis, but Kyrou might be the more realistic target," Fairburn writes. "And he has five years left with a cap hit the Sabres wish they could get for Tuch."

Then there's the other category presented by Fairburn, which he calls "great fits who aren't as likely to move." Those four are:

Dawson Mercer, Devils
Simon Holmstrom, Islanders
Alex Laferriere, Kings
Yegor Sharangovich, Flames

Having the Flames on both of these lists could certainly suggest the Sabres should start making some long-distance calls to Calgary.

Buffalo certainly can save some money by letting Tuch go, and if the Sabres feel good about the asset they'd have to give up to trade for a new winger, maybe that's the right path to take.