Article: Is Trade Target Alex Tuch A Trick Or Treat?

[Tony Abbott]

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[Citizen Strife]

Thing is, if they didn't want Rossi+stuff for Peterka, what will they want for Tuch?  Yeesh.

Besides, their problems are more than one player can fix.

Edited 9 hours ago by Citizen Strife

[Citizen Strife]

Can't edit note: I don't think the Wild was one Tuch or Thompson away from contention if their defense WAS working.  I'm even less convinced after getting destroyed by Utah and San Jose.

Credit to this team for never being out of it (or trying to convince us of that anyway), but when 5-6 goal games is the norm, you can't outrace that problem.

Edited 9 hours ago by Citizen Strife

[Scalptrash]

If he was 26 or even 28, sure, but he's not so that isn't worth it.

[FredJohnson]

I keep wanting to call Tuch "Shirt Tucker" like the insult on Letterkenny.
 

[MNCountryLife]

In my eyes, Yurov has proven he can play in this league already and Ohgren will get there.  Two staple players that we can have for 10+ years of solid productivity versus signing another retirement project.  

Edited 8 hours ago by MNCountryLife

[Dean]

I like tuch , would love to have him but the price will be to high for something we need less than a #1 center.  I doubt we even have the assets to pull off with all the other teams wanting him. I think Billy needs to go big on a center. Empty the cupboards for Tage. . If we got a true # 1 center than everyone else gets slotted properly. Tage 1, Rossi or yurov 2nd  , ek is a born to be 3 rd line machine and face off winning sturm at 4 . We could find less expensive wingers in cap are trade assets .  I also think after a # 1 center they need to get size in the top 4 d .  Stick checking doesn’t get you anywhere in the playoffs. We need size that can play top 4 minutes. 
    However I’m up for Billy just doing something. So maybe blowing his wad on tuch is better than this perpetual waiting for nothing to happen pattern we’re in. 

[MacGyver]

Tuch has a five team no trade clause. Could the Wild be on it? Personally I think the Wild are on a good number of players NT lists. Just given the number of aging vets that have given us the pass over the last few years. I do know he was elated to wind up in Buffalo because that's where he grew up. Maybe leaving there is not really attractive to him regardless of how bad the team is. 

Besides he's a little long in the tooth now to be thinking 7 year contracts that are sniffing around $10M. 

[mnfaninnc]

The one that got away. But, it's not nostalgia that has me wanting to bring him back, it's much more. Do you need a grinder? Tuch can do that. Do you need speed? Tuch can do that too. As he gets older, the speed may suffer a little, but he's still huge and can clog the middle of the ice.

ODC pointed out that we don't have the talented grinders with skill that other teams have when heading into the playoffs. Tuch is that type of player. Now think about this for a few minutes: Tuch hasn't seen the playoffs since his Vegas days. That's about a year of tread he hasn't spent, maybe 2 when you consider the intensity. Do you need a bigger wing to put with Rossi and Kaprizov? He's got it plus he has the RHS. 

Sure he's a little older, but truthfully, he's 1 draft year older than Ek and Kaprizov. That puts him in their age group. No one can predict when where the cliff is for him, but this much is true, he can still play. He makes us bigger and has speed and a shot. This would be a very good pickup. 

In response to Dean, I don't think we'd be able to afford Tage, but this move is a little more under the radar. Is there a win-win deal to be had here? 

Lastly, Tuch has a little swagger. Who remembers his shootout goal in the prospect camp? He may not hit in the regular season, my bet is he gets mean in the playoffs!

[mnfaninnc]

Regardless if we are playoff bound this year, Tuch is a good trade and a good extension building toward a deep playoff run in the future. He is not a rental. I really don't want a rental either. We need to be looking for some players who want to join this open window. 

I said before, maybe wholesale changes should be made with the veteran core at the deadline. Maybe we can still offload some of those guys and still build for the future. I think Tuch could be a big part of that.