- The Capitals are acquiring Alex Tuch from Buffalo in a sign-and-trade
- Tuch signs an eight-year, $84 million extension at a $10.5 million cap hit
- Read below for the full terms and what it means for Washington’s summer
Washington isn’t done shopping.
The Capitals are acquiring Alex Tuch from the Buffalo Sabres in a sign-and-trade, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Wednesday. Tuch signs an eight-year extension worth $84 million on the way out, a $10.5 million cap hit that makes him the highest-paid player on Washington’s roster.
Buffalo GM Jarmo Kekalainen said the winger “will be missed,” but the Sabres made it clear he wasn’t coming back:
The package heading back to Buffalo is thin. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported the Sabres get a third-round pick in return, and laid out the contract numbers:
Tuch is coming off a 33-goal, 66-point season in 79 games, his third 30-goal year in the last four. His 127 goals since 2022 sit tied for 33rd in the league. Buffalo landed him from Vegas in the 2021 Jack Eichel trade, and the Syracuse native turned into one of the team’s most dependable scorers across four seasons.
This is the second winger the Caps have added in two days. They grabbed Jordan Kyrou from St. Louis on Tuesday, and now they’ve stacked a $10.5 million cap hit on top of that move.
Alex Ovechkin is a pending unrestricted free agent with his own contract up, so Washington is reshaping the wing on the fly. Tuch’s new number tops Jakob Chychrun’s $9 million as the biggest on the books.
For Buffalo, it’s a hometown kid out the door for a third-rounder and the cap room to chase its own targets before July 1.
