Alex Tuch

Uh, long time.

Alex Tuch, I mean, going back to the Eichel trade, he had been here for a long time, and he's from here, so he was the, he was maybe the only guy on the team that had a personal connection to what it was like in this city when the team is good.

I mean, it jumps to another level.

And Mattias Samuelsson, who also by the way would be one of these guys, veteran player at this point, like, you know, we're talking five years with him on the team.

Like, you're always gonna be playing second fiddle.

So I do understand it from his perspective, but they, they had to.

I, I heard that they offered him a deal that was north of what Alex Tuch got in Washington.

So they were willing to step up and make a giant offer.

The Lightning said, "No, thanks.

We're not paying you the amount of money that this is going to cost." The Leafs put their hand up and said, uh, "We'll do it." And they do a sign and trade very similar to the Alex Tuch deal, and they got like a fourth round pick.

Nothing crazy at all.

Raddysh is gonna walk into Toronto being expected to be a number one defenseman making $8.5 million per year.

Now he is going to be around legit NHL players and players that weren't on the Capitals that are a lot better.

You know, playing around, he p- got some experience playing on the same team as Ovi and Wilson, but now you also add to the mix big names like Khyru and Alex Tuch.

That is a completely different thing.

Playing in the NHL, what, what do we know? That decisions happen faster and mistakes are punished brutally, and that's where we find out whether the AHL dominance actually translates.

Um, you know, and, and, and Buffalo was looking for veteran help.

Like, they were in on Trocheck after, you know, they, they did the sign and trade for Alex Tuch.

So I wouldn't be surprised if, if they looked at that, 'cause they do need to replace what Alex Tuch brought, and there's a lot of youth on that team, so they could use-

Mm-hmm

... a little bit of veteran help.

All right? But, um, you know, now we've got, I think, some depth issues here in Washington, and I think it's pumping the brakes a little bit on the potential fantasy production for Ryan Leonard next year, or maybe it isn't.

And, and that's something that I'm, I'm looking forward to talking to you about because, you know, we've got two elite puck rushers that, uh, the Caps have identified as a, an area of weakness, so they bring in Alex Tuch, they bring in Jordan Kyrou, guys that can enter the zone with possession and set up plays.

That's excellent.

We're gonna have a healthy PLD, uh, which is also really nice.

I've got him tentatively projected, uh...

What, what is the line I've got here? Oh, actually, so I've, I projected him on the top line, but with less minutes.

So I've got him with PLD and Alex Tuch.

I f- It made sense to me to split up Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou when I was doing my projections and, you know, Daily Faceoff has that differently.

So you might as well take someone who can help a category.

Brock mentioned it yesterday with a guy like, uh, Alex Tuch, where you're staying away from, and, uh, he said, you know, he can help you if you draft him four blocks.

But let's say you get someone who has way more offensive upside than Alex Tuch at that part of the draft, you're still looking for blocks.

Just draft Simon Edmondson with your last pick.

Yeah.

I just, I think that is going to be a lofty bar for him.

But it is Alex Tuch in Washington.

Tuch has back-to-back 30-plus goal, 30-plus assist seasons, and honestly, him being the number two tw- number 22 ranked right winger off the board is perfectly in line with where he was in terms of fantasy points per game the last two seasons.

But to, or s- yeah, the last two seasons.

Bowen Byram, gone.

Alex Tuch, gone.

Uh, Devon Levi, gone.

They had to re-sign a lot of their core.