What are the prospects for the Buffalo Sabers now, and they still have hope of extending Alex Tuch
Mike Harrington: Alex Tuch on his contract situation: “I think Jarmo was in some of the negotiations before, so he’s familiar with what was going on. I’ll just let my agent handle it and that’s it. I’ll just stay out of it. I’m just worried about playing hockey.”
Mike Harrington: Chasing Sabers GM Jarmo Kekalainen on now “taking over” the contract extension: “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 as soon as I need to be notified about something, I’ll be filled in.”
NHL Network: Elliotte Friedman, on the Buffalo Sabers as Jarmo Kekalainen takes over for Kevyn Adams as GM, and how the Sabers really want to extend Alex Tuch. Can new General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen get a deal done?
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Mike Rupp: “Buffalo Sabres, Jarmo Kekalainen hired as general manager. So what are the prospects here for the future for Buffalo?
Friedman: “Well, one of the more interesting things from his media conference yesterday, Michael, was he said he still thinks he can make it, they can make the playoffs this year. And you know what the odds are against them, they’re at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and there’s a lot of teams between them, between them, in that second wild card spot.”
But someone said to me: that’s strategic. And the reason this is strategic is because Kekalainen believes that if you look at that roster on paper, they are good enough to be a playoff team. They have many skills. They are good in the middle, especially when Norris is healthy. They have some goaltending. They have a good D.
And that they think the biggest problem is that they are not competitive enough. And that on nights when they can’t beat their opponents, they don’t win enough games. And I think he’s challenging them by saying, ‘Me, if you want to stay here and stay with this team long-term, you’ve got to prove to me that you can compete.’ And I think he wants to see if they can compete.
And I’ll say this too, I think his quotes about Tuch were legit. I think he wants to keep it. It’s a challenge. From what 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 legitimate that they want to try to keep him. So it will be interesting to see what other decisions the Sabers could make if they step up and keep Tuch.”
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