Confirmed Signing with Link: [BUF] F Tage Thompson signs extension with the Sabres (7 years, $7.14M AAV)

[Chainshot]

I was offered Auston Matthews straight up for Tage Thompson in my fantasy league and declined the offer. He's been incredible. Who would have thought Matthews would be the 2nd best player born in Arizona

As an aside, a few weeks ago there were player interviews asking who different guys thought were the most under-rated player in the league. Auston's answer was Thompson (this was weeks ago, pre 5-goal outburst).

 

[Homesick]

I'm happy I don't have any crow to eat in this thread. Buffalo deserves this after Eichels entitled ass doing everything to sewer them

 

[Umingmak]

I was very critical of this contract when it was announced.

Turns out there’s a reason Kevyn Adams is an NHL GM and I’m a middle class nobody sitting on my couch at home and posting on HFBoards with a retired quarterback’s name as my screen handle.

 

[SnizzNasty88]

I think this is a great deal. The skepticism here baffles me. Yeah I get he had a high shooting percentage etc but if you watch this guy, he’s an absolute stud. 38 goals on a bad team is no fluke. Great deal for the Sabres and their fans, nice to see them showing signs of life. I’m a huge lover of this guy’s game. He’s a big diesel who can score, hit and forecheck like a truck? Sign me the f*** up for some of that. $7.14M AAV will look like a steal in a couple years. This guy’s got 80-90 point potential written all over him. This is the right bet you make. Good deal for the Sabres, congrats Sabres fans!

You wanna talk about a take that aged as best as you could possibly imagine, look no further ^, insane how people actually thought this absolute stud wouldn’t be worth every penny. 30 games in and he’s already underpaid! Congrats Sabres fans, this guy is legit the best player in the world right now and I am not kidding. Shades of Mario.

 

[Paper]

Patting yourself on the back for saying 80 point potential? Dude is on pace for 130, you're off by 50!

(Also his contract hasn't started yet, he's making 1.4M so slightly underpaid right now).

 

[Pizza!Pizza!]

i misremembered this signing as an 8x8 so the deal keeps looking better and better for me.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Honestly it was an extremely risky deal at the time considering his career before last year, but it absolutely looks like it will be a huge, huge steal for the Sabres going forward. Honestly the kind of massive discount that you can build a Cup winning roster out of.


Happy to be wrong about him tbh. He's so fun to watch, easily one of my favorite players in the league. He defies the standard laws of what a player should be capable of given his size and stature.

 

[5 Minute Major]

I dont like this deal at all.


Best case scenario he continues to play at the level he played last year... And then he's just ~barely worth a 7-7.5M deal.


If he regresses at all, this contract looks bad. And I definitely think there's a pretty reasonable chance he regresses here.

Best case scenario.

 

[Ace]

His breakout year last year was 38 goals and 30 assists For 68 points

he has 26 goals and 24 assists for 50 points this year. In 32 games.

 

[LBCANUCK]

I feel like thompson and a lot the sabres could use a playoff run, they have a ton of big guys that need that extra layer of playoff toughness. Dahlin was made for the playoffs and Power and Thompson will learn a ton.....really exciting team going forward unless they find a way to screw it up.

 

[Wats]

His breakout year last year was 38 goals and 30 assists For 68 points

he has 26 goals and 24 assists for 50 points this year. In 32 games.

Didn't he end the season last year on fire, feel like he's had this pace for a while now.

 

[Pi]

Have to eat my words here (if I posted them), I can't recall but I thought this was a terrible signing at the time.

Turns out that this is probably one of the best if not best contract in the league .

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

I wonder if there has ever been a better ratio of production vs cap hit in a season. 130 pts for 1.4 mil...

 

[BonMorrison]

This guy is an absolute sick f***.

Possibly the biggest hog in the league.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I was very critical of this contract when it was announced.

Turns out there’s a reason Kevyn Adams is an NHL GM and I’m a middle class nobody sitting on my couch at home and posting on HFBoards with a retired quarterback’s name as my screen handle.

At least you are willing to admit it. Some of the whipper sniper fans need to take notice. We all are pretend GM's in the end.

 

[Habs Halifax]

This guy is an absolute sick f***.

Possibly the biggest hog in the league.

He's got it all. Size, Skating, Shot, Strength, and he's got decent vision/play making.

An Anomaly! Massive break out season at age 24 when he was meh from 20-23.

Let me ask you this folks. Do the Sabres deserve development credit or is this all Thompson working hard at addressing his flaws? I bet you some fans will think a team can change KK into a Thompson now with "better development".

Is there a factor of talent playing with talent to this? Seems to me he is breaking out at a time when the Sabres talent is filtering in.

 

[Beerz]

He's got it all. Size, Skating, Shot, Strength, and he's got decent vision/play making.

An Anomaly! Massive break out season at age 24 when he was meh from 20-23.

Let me ask you this folks. Do the Sabres deserve development credit or is this all Thompson working hard at addressing his flaws? I bet you some fans will think a team can change KK into a Thompson now with "better development".

Is there a factor of talent playing with talent to this? Seems to me he is breaking out at a time when the Sabres talent is filtering in.

I give a lot of credit to Donnie Granato.

When Tage was on wing.. he would basically be stationary waiting on a one timer. Granato switched him to Center and he got to utilize his skating and movement

 

[Habs Halifax]

I give a lot of credit to Donnie Granato.

When Tage was on wing.. he would basically be stationary waiting on a one timer. Granato switched him to Center and he got to utilize his skating and movement

I like context like this. It's a good story and it's only beginning.

Thompson shot is scary. He really don't care who is in front on that one timer. Kind of like Weber's shot in his prime. Get out the way or you will get hit!

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

I give a lot of credit to Donnie Granato.

When Tage was on wing.. he would basically be stationary waiting on a one timer. Granato switched him to Center and he got to utilize his skating and movement

Full credit on the contract. Lots of credit on moving to centre. But the progression was already happening. Injuries slowed him down for a bit. He was rushed to the NHL by Blues even and then Sabres. Buffalo realized the mistake (to their credit) and let him figure out the game more in Rochester. He was beginning to dominate in AHL

 

[toddkaz]

The things Tage does with the puck even when 3 defenders are on him he will still stick handle around them 2 feet from the goal, deke out the goalie and score.

I mean who does that?

 

[threeVo]

guys scoring is up around the league, I am still not sure this is a good deal. Lets wait until next season to see if he hits 150 points before making a decision

 

[Sabresruletheschool]

I give a lot of credit to Donnie Granato.

When Tage was on wing.. he would basically be stationary waiting on a one timer. Granato switched him to Center and he got to utilize his skating and movement

From what I see his speed has improved by a lot. He's always had good edges, but it would take him five strides and a nap before he got up to speed. Now he's up to speed in about three.

 

[Ace]

What makes it so fun is that there isn’t really a full answer to how this happened. All these things combine, right? Move to center. More minutes. More pp time. late bloomer. Hard work. Chemistry with Skinner and Tuch. It’s all of it…

But.

Adding up all of those things in their best case scenario still shouldn’t get the unbelievable leap we’ve seen from fringe middle six winger to elite #1 center.

it will never make complete sense because it doesn’t happen. The jump he made last year rarely happens. Taking another massive one is just nuts

 

[bert]

Honestly it was an extremely risky deal at the time considering his career before last year, but it absolutely looks like it will be a huge, huge steal for the Sabres going forward. Honestly the kind of massive discount that you can build a Cup winning roster out of.


Happy to be wrong about him tbh. He's so fun to watch, easily one of my favorite players in the league. He defies the standard laws of what a player should be capable of given his size and stature.

Na. Watching the games you saw the elite talent.

 

[Asymmetric Solution]

He's got it all. Size, Skating, Shot, Strength, and he's got decent vision/play making.

An Anomaly! Massive break out season at age 24 when he was meh from 20-23.

Let me ask you this folks. Do the Sabres deserve development credit or is this all Thompson working hard at addressing his flaws? I bet you some fans will think a team can change KK into a Thompson now with "better development".

Is there a factor of talent playing with talent to this? Seems to me he is breaking out at a time when the Sabres talent is filtering in.

Decent vision/play-making? He might have the best in the NHL right now.