{"id":684497,"date":"2026-06-04T19:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T19:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/684497\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T19:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T19:50:11","slug":"2026-offseason-primer-key-dates-free-agents-and-storylines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/684497\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Offseason Primer | Key dates, free agents and storylines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Storylines to follow<\/p>\n

1. Does Tuch re-sign?<\/p>\n

Tuch\u2019s future is the first big offseason decision for the Sabres \u2013 and one that would likely shape whatever comes next for the team this summer.<\/p>\n

Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen\u00a0reiterated in his end-of-season press conference<\/a> that the Sabres hope to retain Tuch, who\u2019s been one of the NHL\u2019s premier two-way wingers since joining Buffalo in 2021. Tuch said he received the same message from Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen\u00a0at their exit meeting.<\/p>\n

It simply comes down to finding a number that works for both sides. The Sabres need to consider contracts for their pending restricted free agents (including Zach Benson and Peyton Krebs) along with a possible extension for defenseman Bowen Byram and how it all fits within the salary cap. Tuch, meanwhile, would be among the most accomplished players on the market should he reach free agency.<\/p>\n

The Sabres do have an advantage as the only team that can offer Tuch a maximum-length contract of eight years. They hold that right until July 1 at noon, at which point they (and all other suitors) will be able to offer a maximum of seven years.<\/p>\n

2. How will Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen approach his first offseason?<\/p>\n

Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen\u00a0initially joined the Sabres as senior advisor on May 30 of last year \u2013 so, while he was undoubtedly a prominent voice in the team\u2019s planning last offseason, he was still in his early days getting to know the organization and its players.<\/p>\n

This summer marks Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen\u2019s first offseason in the GM chair for Buffalo, and he has a whole season\u2019s worth of evaluations upon which to base his decision making.<\/p>\n

During his decade as GM of Columbus, Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen\u00a0earned a reputation for taking big swings via trade and free agency if he felt his team was capable of competing for the Stanley Cup. We saw hints of that this past trade deadline in national media reports that the Sabres had engaged in trade talks for St. Louis stars Robert Thomas and Colton Parayko.<\/p>\n

While the pursuit of a big-name addition could still be in the cards, the Sabres\u2019 playoff run \u2013 and the immediate impacts of young centers Konsta Helenius and Noah Ostlund along with the expected return of Jiri Kulich<\/a> \u2013 lends credence to the idea that peripheral tweaks and internal growth might be all the team needs to build on its 109-point season.<\/p>\n

Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen\u00a0was asked after the season where he believes the roster needs to improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we just improved by getting some more experience, going through this playoff series against Boston, totally\u00a0different style\u00a0of play than Montreal, very physical,\u201d he said. \u201cI think even at the end of the regular season we saw\u00a0teams were\u00a0trying to push us out of the rink with physical play. It\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0affect\u00a0us,\u00a0we pushed right back.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd going seven games against Montreal, experiencing the pressure situations of the Game 6 in Montreal, winning decisively there, coming back home, another pressure cooker Game 7. Now the guys have that\u00a0experience,\u00a0they\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0have that experience before. I think\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0going to improve internally a lot just from that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, he will pursue every outlet to make the team better \u2013 be it additions off the ice or to the roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0going to look at every aspect of our team that we can improve on, same mindset for the player side as we have for coaches and management,\u201d Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen said. \u201cJust find any way to find that\u00a0little difference\u00a0that we can make to get better, from preparation to player evaluation to player\u00a0selection\u00a0and finally the roster decisions that we\u00a0have to\u00a0make before we get to next season.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. New contracts and extensions<\/p>\n

Beyond Tuch, the Sabres have a few key figures whose contracts will help shape the salary-cap picture moving forward.<\/p>\n

The list starts with Benson, whose relentless style of play thrived in the spotlight of the playoffs. He\u2019s still only 21 years old and already has three NHL seasons under his belt. Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen\u00a0was transparent in his hope to sign the forward to a long-term deal.<\/p>\n

The same can be said for defenseman Bowen Byram, who has one year left until restricted free agency and thus becomes eligible for an extension on July 1. He was a key part of Buffalo\u2019s four-headed monster on the blue line this season alongside Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson and Owen Power.<\/p>\n

Buffalo\u2019s free agent list also includes Peyton Krebs (restricted) and Beck Malenstyn (unrestricted), two high-energy players who embody the team\u2019s hardworking approach this past season. Both players said they hope to remain Sabres as long as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Storylines to follow 1. Does Tuch re-sign? Tuch\u2019s future is the first big offseason decision for the Sabres…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":684498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-684497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=684497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/684498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}