There’s no getting around it – Alex Tuch is taking Western New York by storm. Since his initial debut with the Buffalo Sabres on December 29, the 25-year-old winger has produced both in terms of counting stats, and underlying metrics.

Through 14 contests, Tuch now leads the team in points per-60, and his xGF rate of 51.64% is second among Sabres forwards who have played at least 10 games (Mark Jankowski currently holds the top mark at 54.74%). Of the 160 even minutes he’s played with the blue-and-gold so far, a vast majority of his time has been spent on the de-facto top line alongside Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner.

As a unit, they have produced outstanding offensive results. Though they’re giving a lot of it back defensively, Tuch’s presence has certainly helped push the pace offensively. At the very least, their high-event metrics have made for some entertaining hockey while they’re on the ice.

Tuch’s contributions are evident when watching him play. On top of his infectious enthusiasm and charismatic nature (attributes that have taken center stage since his arrival), his value as an on-ice entity cannot be overstated. Let’s dive into some film and hone in on where he has excelled the most with his new squad.

FIeld of Vision

When you picture a 6-foot-4 NHL forward, most people would imagine a grinder-type of player. Someone who recovers pucks in deep and maintains a steadfast net-front presence. Though Tuch is certainly capable of being this type of entity, it’s not necessarily his default style.

When I went through and honed in on his play, a few specific traits stood out to me. During his time with the Vegas Golden Knights last season, his propensity to recover dump-ins on offense stood out.

Interestingly enough, he hasn’t been asked to do this on a line that does very little “dump and chase” on their zone entries. He has, however, found other ways to contribute. Though he certainly doesn’t shy away from his share of battles along the boards, his primary function has been that of a more patient, opportunistic forward.

In the clip below, Tuch doesn’t jump into the fray as Thompson and Skinner battle for the puck deep in the Nashville Predators’ zone. He’s lurking out of frame, near the high slot. This is something I noticed him doing a lot when I watched his film.

He likes to attack with the play in front of him. He sort of meanders in space and picks his spots to strike. In this instance, he waited until a lane opened up out-front, then turned on the jets to sneak past Mikael Granlund (who had his back to a surging Tuch) for a nice scoring opportunity.

I noticed another good example of this tendency during last weekend’s matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers. After some sloppy puck-handling in the slot, Tuch dishes it over to Mark Pysyk on the right wall, then retreats toward the blue line.

Again, you see him reset and get the play in front of him. He then takes advantage of having his opponents’ backs turned to him and sneaks back into the slot where Skinner finds him. Tuch then has the choice to shoot or pass to an open Mattias Samuelsson. He chooses the latter and it nearly results in a goal.

For someone his size, he certainly has a deceptive nature to his offensive game. He’s a player who, at times, goes out of his way to get the play in front of him. It appears as though he does this to facilitate his superior positional intelligence, and exploit gaps in the defense. None of this would be possible without his outstanding ability to burst into tight spaces quickly, as seen above.

The “burst” I’m referring to is the secret sauce that makes Tuch so special. His ability to not only assert himself into a play at any given moment but also diagnose said moments are incredible. A prime example came against the Dallas Stars earlier this month.

John Klingberg embarks on a routine zone exit amid a line change for both sides. Tuch is positioned near the defensive blue line, awaiting the zone-entry attempt. He notices Klingberg mishandle the puck on an unforced error. Immediately, his instinct kicks in and he pounces.

Now you have Tuch on the counter-rush at full speed. It results in a prime setup and scoring opportunity for Thompson in a high-danger area. Again, the burst combined with his instincts here is a perfect representation of what makes him so special offensively. There was no hesitation on that play and it paid off with a high-danger chance-for.

Patience and Positioning

We saw it a bit in the last section, but Tuch’s patience in transition is that of a very experienced, disciplined player. He excels at exploiting gaps in coverage while putting himself in a position to receive outlet passes from his teammates.

The “patience” part of this tends to shine most brightly during rush opportunities (as opposed to set chances). Here you see Thompson make an excellent move around Claude Giroux while picking up speed in transition. Tuch could have easily chosen to match that speed and enter the offensive zone opposite Thompson on the left side.

Instead, he opts to slow down just a little. This split-second causes Rasmus Ristolainen to drift toward Thompson, becoming the third Flyers asset locked onto the puck-carrier. Now that the opening is there, Tuch gets himself in position to receive a pass from Thompson. Ristolainen adjusts nicely (yes, it felt weird typing that) and thwarts Tuch’s shot attempt, but the approach was a smart one nonetheless.

This next clip is an even better example of a very similar sequence of events. This time, Cozens is the one turning a controlled exit into an offensive counter. Tuch is again, very patient as he waits for Matt Duchene to close in on Cozens as the second man in.

This opens up a lane for Tuch to receive a pass from Cozens, leaving Nashville’s last remaining defender in a two-on-one situation with Pysyk crashing down on the right side. Tuch ends up firing wide on his shot attempt, but the sequence to get to that point was impressive.

Swarming Tendency

Before I dove into the film for this article, I wanted to get a better idea of what Tuch did well away from the puck. We’ve touched on his deceptive speed and physicality along the boards, but his aggressive approach comes through in a unique way when he pesters opposing puck carriers.

I’ll refer to this as a “swarming trait”. Tuch is the type of player who can cover east-to-west in a very effective manner. When he chooses to do so, that puck-hounding approach can give opposing teams fits as they try to establish a counter-rush. This, in turn, can prolong offensive possession for the Sabres while Tuch is on the ice.

One such example of this facet of his game came against Nashville. On two occasions during this sequence, Tuch tracks the puck and puts himself in a position to prolong his team’s attack. He does this on both the far left side of the zone, and then the far-right just seconds later.

It’s something that could go unnoticed, especially if the sequence doesn’t result in a goal, but it’s an important part of his game. There are times when I wish he did this on a more consistent basis because when he does decide to swarm the puck, it tends to have positive effects. That said, Tuch is a positionally intelligent player (as evidenced above) and he won’t arbitrarily chase the puck around unless it makes sense to do so.

Special Teams Impacts

I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least touch on this topic before wrapping things up here. Don Granato has leaned on Tuch to play heavy minutes since his return from injury. That includes power-play and penalty-kill time. He has represented a positive reinforcement on both units, but his most significant contribution has come on the man-advantage.

The on-ice performance delta isn’t the result of just one man. Peyton Krebs’ presence on that unit has had an equally important impact, but his rapport with Tuch has been a mutually beneficial thing in that regard.

On the penalty-kill, I noticed that the Sabres use Tuch as a pressure man in the high slot. Though I’d stop short of calling him a “power-kill” player, he does a nice job of pressuring and forcing puck movement. What I’d like to see is an even more aggressive approach with both Tuch and Rasmus Asplund forcing the issue up high, but perhaps that’s an experiment for another time.

Either way, Tuch is contributing in every facet of the game and his presence has been noticeable thus far. Hopefully, he can keep it rolling for the remainder of the season and beyond. His past underlying results suggest that he will, and that’s good news for Buffalo.

Advanced Metrics courtesy of Evolving-Hockey and Natural Stat Trick

Charts courtesy of Hockeyviz, and Corey Sznajder

Photo credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images