The Toronto Maple Leafs are heading into an offseason where there needs to be a drastic culture shift. John Chayka needs to change the overall identity of this team a bit, especially when it comes to adding more size and more pressure on the forecheck. And now that the Buffalo Sabres are now eliminated after their Game 7 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, one potential unrestricted free agent that suddenly stands out as a near-perfect fit for what Toronto has been missing is Alex Tuch.
Alex Tuch is a perfect fit for the Leafs' top six
Tuch is coming off a deal that carried a very reasonable $4.75 million cap hit, but after another strong year in Buffalo, where he scored 33 goals and finished with 66 points. That number is obviously about to climb in a big way. If talks between the Sabres and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen continue dragging toward July 1, the Maple Leafs should try their hardest to offer him a contract.Â
At 6-foot-4 and over 200 pounds, Tuch brings a style Toronto has spent years trying to add without ever fully finding it. He plays fast, pressures defenders relentlessly, gets to the middle of the ice, and still produces offensively at a top-six level. He also gives you a reliable defensive game, which matters even more in the playoffs when matchups tighten up and every shift starts turning into a board battle.
The fit beside Auston Matthews or William Nylander on the first or second line is pretty easy to picture. Tuch would give the Maple Leafs another true power winger in addition to Matthew Knies. Who can keep plays alive down low, create traffic around the net, and still keep up with the pace of Toronto’s skilled players in transition.
Tuch’s contract could cause issues in the future
The difficult part, obviously, is the contract. Tuch is reportedly looking at something in the range of $9 million to $10 million annually on a long-term deal, which is a massive commitment for a player entering his 30s. Still, this is exactly the kind of move Chayka may be willing to explore if the organization can also find a way to move out from the contract of Morgan Rielly and potentially even Anthony Stolarz. It would give them a ton of cap space to address the top six, center depth, and, of course, the blue line.
There is an argument to be made that this is the smarter route anyway. Instead of spreading money across multiple middle-six additions that don’t really change the ceiling of the team, like they’ve done in the past. If Chayka could add Tuch, another strong depth forward, and address the blue line, it would be a very successful first offseason.
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