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Prospect Info: Tage Thompson (2016 Draft - 26 Overall)

Frenzy31

Registered User
May 21, 2003
7,199
2,011
Majorityof1 said:
If the questions were directed at me, I have not yet gotten to watch any of the games in great detail. I have had 2 of them on when airing but wasn't able to give my full attention. I have 3 on DVR I plan to watch. I probably won't get a chance to sit down and watch seriously til the end of the week though.

If I have anything to add after those viewings, I will probably stick to the positives (lest I spark another pointless argument). I want to get a feel for his speed. It seems better than anticipated but it could be who he is racing against. So I want to see if I can get a comparison against guys I know are fast. I want to watch his defensive instinct. I saw a couple nice plays where he anticipated a pass/move. Were those anomalies, or does he read the play that well most of the time? I also want to watch his strength on the boards and in traffic as well as his stickhandling (not the defenders reaction, but how smoothly he makes the moves). That is what I will focus on, because those are the surprises/concerns I have based on what I have seen so far.
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I personally would like to hear what you really think. Not just positive fluff. I don't think you will spark an argument, by stating what you feel he needs to work on. Most fans will likely be in agreement.
 

9ofHearts

Registered User
Jan 11, 2014
11
0
ESPN.com's Cory Pronman:

"When I walked around the rinks after a U.S. game, there was one name on every NHL scout's tongue: Tage Thompson. I was not a huge Thompson fan heading into the draft based on what I've seen from him in the past two seasons. Credit where credit is due, though; The Blues carefully scouted him through the second half of the 2015-16 season, and the player who showed up in Plymouth looked far removed from the one I'd seen previously. Thompson was dominant, showing the rare combination of high-end skill in a giant frame that teams covet. Known as a goal scorer this season in college -- and he showed he can certainly do that -- Thompson was also very good at creating chance and was solid defensively as well. He'll be in my next update of the top 100 overall prospects."
 
Overkamp

Overkamp

Registered User
Feb 22, 2007
3,670
5
9ofHearts said:
ESPN.com's Cory Pronman:

"When I walked around the rinks after a U.S. game, there was one name on every NHL scout's tongue: Tage Thompson. I was not a huge Thompson fan heading into the draft based on what I've seen from him in the past two seasons. Credit where credit is due, though; The Blues carefully scouted him through the second half of the 2015-16 season, and the player who showed up in Plymouth looked far removed from the one I'd seen previously. Thompson was dominant, showing the rare combination of high-end skill in a giant frame that teams covet. Known as a goal scorer this season in college -- and he showed he can certainly do that -- Thompson was also very good at creating chance and was solid defensively as well. He'll be in my next update of the top 100 overall prospects."
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I hope the Blues hit a massive homerun with this one. Heard he was overly physical as well.

Good to hear.
 
Dbrownss

Dbrownss

Registered User
Jan 5, 2014
31,359
8,734
He had much better hands then I ever expected, that's the major aspect of his game that stood at to me. His skating looks like it can take bug strides. He was a little awkward at times but the raw talent seems to be there
 
LetsGoBooze

LetsGoBooze

Buium or bust
Jan 16, 2012
2,307
1,390
This Kid has got me pumped up. If we can get 1 or hopefully 2 good prospects from moving Shatty, the future is looking bright.

Fabbri, Thompson, Kyrou... all under 21.

Tara, Schwartz, Pie, Parayko, and Allen all 26 or younger.
 
STL fan in MN

STL fan in MN

Registered User
Aug 16, 2007
7,125
3,992
Tage has definitely progressed since his time with the U18 team. I didn't see much of Tage at UConn but saw him a good amount for the U18 team the year before and he was absolutely forgettable. For example, here are the stats for that team (the 97 births) as well as this past season's team (the 98s). Tage was the 12th highest scoring forward on that team...yet he's now caught up to and passed a lot of those guys that were noticibly better than him a year and a half ago. I don't know if it was some sort of confidence boost, him being a late bloomer or something else but whatever it is, he appears to be a legit prospect now.

http://www.eliteprospects.com/team.php?team=1864&year0=2015&status=stats

http://www.eliteprospects.com/team.php?team=1864&year0=2016&status=stats
 
542365

542365

2018-19 Cup Champs!
Mar 22, 2012
22,327
8,702
STL fan in IA said:
Tage has definitely progressed since his time with the U18 team. I didn't see much of Tage at UConn but saw him a good amount for the U18 team the year before and he was absolutely forgettable. For example, here are the stats for that team (the 97 births) as well as this past season's team (the 98s). Tage was the 12th highest scoring forward on that team...yet he's now caught up to and passed a lot of those guys that were noticibly better than him a year and a half ago. I don't know if it was some sort of confidence boost, him being a late bloomer or something else but whatever it is, he appears to be a legit prospect now.

http://www.eliteprospects.com/team.php?team=1864&year0=2015&status=stats

http://www.eliteprospects.com/team.php?team=1864&year0=2016&status=stats
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Craig Button told a similar story during one of the Summer Evaluation games. He was talking about how the coach on that U18 team(I believe it was the U18 team) said he had the most untapped potential of anyone on the team, but he had a lot of work to do. Button said several times "that's not a play he could make even last year, he wasn't quick enough". It seems he's progressed quickly either through being a late bloomer or possibly finally dedicating himself to hockey entirely.
 

PerryTurnbullfan

Registered User
Sep 30, 2006
4,771
1,031
Penalty Box
STL fan in IA said:
Tage has definitely progressed since his time with the U18 team. I didn't see much of Tage at UConn but saw him a good amount for the U18 team the year before and he was absolutely forgettable. For example, here are the stats for that team (the 97 births) as well as this past season's team (the 98s). Tage was the 12th highest scoring forward on that team...yet he's now caught up to and passed a lot of those guys that were noticibly better than him a year and a half ago. I don't know if it was some sort of confidence boost, him being a late bloomer or something else but whatever it is, he appears to be a legit prospect now.

http://www.eliteprospects.com/team.php?team=1864&year0=2015&status=stats

http://www.eliteprospects.com/team.php?team=1864&year0=2016&status=stats
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When did he hit his growth spurt? He grew a bunch late...I know that.
 
DatDude44

DatDude44

Hmmmm?
Feb 23, 2012
6,151
2,907
I watched the U.S. Canada game and WOW Thompson impressed me. He was wayyyy better than i thought he'd be. We all knew he had size and can shoot but he had vision, hands, was smart with the puck and finished his checks. I am way to excited to see what this guy does over the next year or two as he works his way up into a Blues uni.
 

medkit

Registered User
Mar 22, 2014
845
17
9ofHearts said:
ESPN.com's Cory Pronman:

"When I walked around the rinks after a U.S. game, there was one name on every NHL scout's tongue: Tage Thompson. I was not a huge Thompson fan heading into the draft based on what I've seen from him in the past two seasons. Credit where credit is due, though; The Blues carefully scouted him through the second half of the 2015-16 season, and the player who showed up in Plymouth looked far removed from the one I'd seen previously. Thompson was dominant, showing the rare combination of high-end skill in a giant frame that teams covet. Known as a goal scorer this season in college -- and he showed he can certainly do that -- Thompson was also very good at creating chance and was solid defensively as well. He'll be in my next update of the top 100 overall prospects."
Click to expand...

Love it!
 
bleedblue1223

bleedblue1223

Registered User
Jan 21, 2011
51,907
14,882
Really like what I've heard so far. Looking forward to watching him more closely this season.
 
rumrokh

rumrokh

THORBS
Mar 10, 2006
10,108
3,285
JoshFromMO said:
Did they really compare his penalty minutes in UConn to Backes in the NHL? That's just silly lol. Seriously though, I hope this kid becomes a legit 1C in a couple years.
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Backes had a ton of penalty minutes in college, too. It's not that silly.
 
KirkOut

KirkOut

EveryoneOut
Nov 23, 2012
14,548
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USA
JoshFromMO said:
Well I take it back then lol. I had the impression that penalties didn't happen as often in college, but Backes has been known to be a hothead so I can see that.
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In those days he'd actually start fights with prospies there visiting the school for the weekend
 
abel17

abel17

Registered User
May 28, 2009
242
36
Majorityof1 said:
I doubt Easton will remember you or care to call you out in a few years. This post offers nothing memorable and I for one can't recall anything valuable or interesting you have ever posted.

Why do people come on a message board just to ***** when people give their opinions? Isn't that the point of a message board? If some of you had your way, it would just be a cult dedicated solely to praising the Blues front-office. They can do no wrong in some eyes because that's their job so they are inherently better than us. Well professionals screw up all the time. And its interesting to discuss moves to predict if that was a mistake or not. As fans who don't have as much time, and maybe knowledge, to spend scouting, we may not be right when we call them wrong often. But that's not the point. The point is to enjoy the discussion about it, or vent when we think things go wrong, or to gain a different perspective from another fan.

Even if Easton is wrong in every post in this thread, his posts are articulate, well-thought out and insightful. He has a fully-formed opinion that he gives sound reasoning to back. Even if the conclusion is ultimately wrong, that is infinitely more valuable to a discussion than the people who bash him and appeal to authority. Yes, we know the Blues scouts liked these guys and picked them. Yes, they are experts who get paid to do so. But tell us why they made the right choices. When it comes to the draft the experts are wrong more often than they are right. So what if a guy Easton liked fell to the 3rd round? If someone liked Pavelski, his falling to the 7th round would not diminish their acumen. Just pointing out what the experts thought adds nothing interesting. I can look at the draft order to see that, and the post is nothing more than the squawking of a parrot.
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I try not to post unless I have something meaningful to add. Most of ya'll are spot on in your analysis but the hating on Thompson when he was drafted was ridiculous. Sorry I haven't added anything meaningful to the board, maybe that's why I don't post much.. I know this is an old post bump but I was trying to find what I had posted before on Thompson now that he's blowing up. Easton, I didn't mean to disrespect your opinion I just thought you were wrong at the time and I still do.

Edit after reading the whole thread again: It was never about agreeing with the Blues agenda, if you scout and watch the players on a day to day basis Thompson was always the right pick.
 
Last edited:
EastonBlues22

EastonBlues22

Registered User
Nov 25, 2003
14,807
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RIP Fugu ϶(°o°)ϵ
abel17 said:
I try not to post unless I have something meaningful to add. Most of ya'll are spot on in your analysis but the hating on Thompson when he was drafted was ridiculous. Sorry I haven't added anything meaningful to the board, maybe that's why I don't post much.. I know this is an old post bump but I was trying to find what I had posted before on Thompson now that he's blowing up. Easton, I didn't mean to disrespect your opinion I just thought you were wrong at the time and I still do.

Edit after reading the whole thread again: It was never about agreeing with the Blues agenda, if you scout and watch the players on a day to day basis Thompson was always the right pick.
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That's quite the argument.

To Armstrong and company, clearly he was at the time.

To a lot of other professionals who "scout and watch players on a day to day basis," including any team that passed on Thompson (some of whom probably regret that decision now) and Washington who traded us the pick, he clearly wasn't at the time.

There certainly wasn't a consensus among the professionals about Thompson at the time of the draft. It's rare to find a consensus projection for any 18 year old among professionals, much less one that's drafted late in the 1st round. Acting like this was a no-brainer decision at the time for any professional talent evaluator seems...unlikely.
 
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