Sabres agree to send Alex Tuch to the Capitals as part of sign-and-trade deal, AP source says

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Sabres have agreed to a sign-and-trade deal to send veteran forward Alex Tuch to the Washington Capitals, a person with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

In order to make it happen, the Sabres first signed Tuch to an eight-year, $84 million contract, the person told the AP, and spoke on the condition of anonymity because the agreement and trade had not yet been announced.

It is Washington's second big addition in as many days after acquiring winger Jordan Kyrou from St. Louis for the No. 16 pick in the draft, prospect Milton Gastrin and forward Connor McMichael. It's also Buffalo's second subtraction from its roster after sending defenseman Bo Byram to Chicago.

Also Wednesday, Nashville and Colorado made another swap, with the Predators getting Jack Drury, prospect Chase Bradley and a 2029 third-round pick for fellow forwards Zachary L’Heureux and Fedor Svechkov. It's the second trade between the teams since Chris MacFarland left his post as Avalanche general manager to take over control of the Preds' hockey operations department in early June.

“Jack Drury is a hard-working, reliable, full-sheet of the ice center who can handle the tough assignments while being elite in the faceoff circle,” MacFarland said. “His addition to our forward group bolsters our depth in the middle of the ice, and we’re thrilled to have him."

More moves are expected in the leadup to the first round of the draft Friday and with free agency on the horizon next week.

“Sunday, the ball started to roll and now everybody’s on the treadmill,” Blue general manager Doug Armstrong said on a call with reporters. “It’s gone from a nice leisurely 2.5 walk (to) probably a 4.5 walk today and there’ll probably be a 6 jog tomorrow and an 8 run on Friday.”

San Jose GM Mike Grier, whose trading of young forward William Eklund to Ottawa for the No. 9 pick suggests the Sharks are not done dealing, observed that there is a lot of movement happening around the league. The salary cap is increasing to $104 million.

“The cap's going up: Teams have money to spend, for the most part, for the first time in a while,” Grier said. “On top of that, I think free agent market, the free agent class, this year might not excite a lot of people, so I think that’s leading to a lot trades and people being open to trying to improve their teams in different ways. There’s some good players out there, but prices are high."

The sign-and-trade option was all that was left for the Sabres to get anything in return for the 30-year-old Tuch, who was expected to be the top unrestricted free agent available if he hit the market July 1.

Buffalo GM Jarmo Kekalainen said there had been no progress in contract talks with Tuch, who is coming off a season with 33 goals and 33 assists. The sign-and-trade allowed Tuch to get an eight-year deal, whereas he would have been limited to seven in free agency.

Like Tuch, Kekalainen said there was no movement with Byram, who he said expressed no interest in wanting to remain with the Sabres after his current contract expired next summer.

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Whyno reported from New York.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL