Meet Tage Thompson

[WildCard]

March 2018- Tage Thompson sits in an interesting position in his first season as a pro. That being incredibly effective in the AHL(18 points in 30 games) while not so much at the NHL level just yet. Having put up eight points in 34 games for the Blues, Thompson is just now starting to use his bigger frame to bring results. Being 6’5″ and over 200 pounds the 2016 first round pick will be a force once he realizes how simplify his game a bit. Thompson can control the puck with ease, his only struggle is finishing on opportunities in those prime scoring areas. Thompson is up with the Blues a tad too soon which could

 

https://dobberprospects.com/player/tage-thompson/

 

Anyone have anything else on him? Couldn't really find anything recent 

Edited July 2, 2018 by WildCard

[Randall Flagg]

Hi Tage, sorry that you are automatically my least favorite Sabre I've ever had because of situations outside of your control. Please don't suck, but you probably will. 

[TrueBlueGED]

Trouble finishing on opportunities in prime areas? He'll fit right in! :lol:

[Robviously]

LOUD NOISES!!!!!!

[GASabresIUFAN]

Trouble finishing on opportunities in prime areas? He'll fit right in! :lol:

I feel bad for his girlfriend.

[Sabel79]

LOUD NOISES!!!!!!

Was legitimately coming here to post this very thing...

[Randall Flagg]

WC your link didn't work for me. Anyone got youtube vids?

[Iron Crotch]

Tage when he learned he was being traded to Buffalo...

 

[WildCard]

WC your link didn't work for me. Anyone got youtube vids?

Try again

 

And no, there really isn't any. He is remarkably unremarkable to the point where there is barely any information or video highlights of him

[Robviously]

WC your link didn't work for me. Anyone got youtube vids?

I'll save you the time -- he's terrible.  We got NOTHING in return for ROR.  Tage Thompson can't skate, can't shoot, holds his stick by the blade instead of the shaft for some reason, doesn't even like hockey, owns a cat, and will probably try to undo his contract so that he can go back to college.  I also think he's illiterate but I can't prove that.  (Yet.)  

 

He's the worst person that has ever lived.

[GASabresIUFAN]

A couple of notes on Thompson.

1) Last year was his first full pro season (he played 16 AHL games and playoffs after leaving UConn)

2) He is only 20 years old.

3) He was drafted 18 picks after Nylander and played 41 games in the NHL in his first pro season.

4) Dad played in the NHL

5) Huge shot, good stickhandler and has decent wheels

6) Drafted as a center.

[Randall Flagg]

Do we think he's ready for a full NHL season this year? This is the piece with potential to make the deal a good one.

[WildCard]

I'll save you the time -- he's terrible.  We got NOTHING in return for ROR.  Tage Thompson can't skate, can't shoot, holds his stick by the blade instead of the shaft for some reason, doesn't even like hockey, owns a cat, and will probably try to undo his contract so that he can go back to college.  I also think he's illiterate but I can't prove that.  (Yet.)  

 

He's the worst person that has ever lived.

Hey now, nothing wrong with that...

[Robviously]

Do we think he's ready for a full NHL season this year? This is the piece with potential to make the deal a good one.

Well, he played 41 games last year on a team that finished with 94 points.  We're the first team in NHL history to finish 31st so I'll go ahead and say he's a Buffalo Sabre this year unless there's an injury or he completely drops off.

 

Also just really weird to hear there's potential this could be a good deal after hearing that literally everything we received in return for ROR was trash.

[Iron Crotch]

Do we think he's ready for a full NHL season this year? This is the piece with potential to make the deal a good one.

 

My thought is we must be slotting him in on one of the wings. Either that or he starts the year at center in Rochester.

[Randall Flagg]

Well, he played 41 games last year on a team that finished with 94 points.  We're the first team in NHL history to finish 31st so I'll go ahead and say he's a Buffalo Sabre this year unless there's an injury or he completely drops off.

 

Also just really weird to hear there's potential this could be a good deal after hearing that literally everything we received in return for ROR was trash.

If our offensive winger prospect came up and paced for 18 points on a full season, like, if Nylander did it, there isn't a single poster on this board that wouldn't suggest sending him back down. Especially if it was despite him coming to a good team. It's a valid question even if you think you've backed me into some corner because I'm pissed about a trade that was bad value. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

Well, he played 41 games last year on a team that finished with 94 points.  We're the first team in NHL history to finish 31st so I'll go ahead and say he's a Buffalo Sabre this year unless there's an injury or he completely drops off.

 

Also just really weird to hear there's potential this could be a good deal after hearing that literally everything we received in return for ROR was trash.

Some people write first, think and research later.

[Randall Flagg]

Some people write first, think and research later.

Oh yah, that Flagg is really un-cognizant of researching his hockey takes 

[GASabresIUFAN]

If our offensive winger prospect came up and paced for 18 points on a full season, like, if Nylander did it, there isn't a single poster on this board that wouldn't suggest sending him back down. Especially if it was despite him coming to a good team. It's a valid question even if you think you've backed me into some corner because I'm pissed about a trade that was bad value.

 

You don’t know what role he played or who he played with. My guess is he played a bottom role.

 

Here he has an opportunity to earn PT with guys like Casey, Jack and Samson who can pass the puck so that we can benefit from his cannon of a shot.

Oh yah, that Flagg is really un-cognizant of researching his hockey takes

 

Did I say Flagg?

[Randall Flagg]

You don’t know what role he played or who he played with. My guess is he played a bottom role.

 

Here he has an opportunity to earn PT with guys like Casey, Jack and Samson who can pass the puck so that we can benefit from his cannon of a shot.

 

Did I say Flagg?

I'm not arguing that he's not ready, but I'm pointing out that 41 games on a missed-playoff team by no means settles the question of whether the kid is NHL-ready or not.

[Brawndo]

Here is a write up from a Blues Blogger

 

https://bluesrants.com/2018/03/08/ranking-the-big-four-st-louis-blues-prospects/

[Hoss]

He had me up until his parents named him Tage.

[Randall Flagg]

While I have the tabs open - Tage Thompson is classified as a top-6 two-way forward leaning towards struggling in that role based on the dubious usage site commonly referenced - dead-neutral in usage on both axes, and bad team-relative possession stats. He played with Sobotka on the other wing the most, and then split centers between Berglund and Stastny. 

 

Tage had 500 minutes of ES ice time this season. Some stats like I've been using in recent posts: 
P/60: 0.96*

Primary P/60: 0.68

49.8 CF%

31.0 GF% (Disgusting)

42% xGF% (the most important stat here, not as bad considering the line before but when you readjust expectations it's tank-bad)(comparables: Sven Baertschi, Jason Chimera, Brendan Perlini) 

 

I fully understand that numbers are only a piece of the puzzle, as a disclaimer. I'd love to see game tape. 

In general, if you were only allowed to see one hockey stat of a player without any other context, regression analyses show that xGF is the stat you want over all others (that aren't goals or points because I'm a purist and simplistic person at heart). Those pretty Hockey Viz charts I don't feel like saving suggest that he doesn't improve or make his teammates worse when he joins them, but there's a clear slant towards more events all around (good and bad). It's actually comical how parallel the lines are, and how perpendicular they are to a good-bad axis. This suggests he'd be an interesting match with Zemgus, who tends to suppress all events by himself. I'm not sure we want him with Jack based on that information alone, as you either want a pure sniper with sublime spatial awareness and timing, or a Palat-style defensive winger to maximize him. 

 

*P/60 Sabres comparables: Okposo had 1.29, Girgensons 0.94, Rodrigues 2.06 (yes, EROD is an ES machine and that's why sheltering him with Mitts is our best bet next year given what we have), Eichel 2.04

*Primary P/60 Sabres comparables: Okposo had 0.98, Girgensons 0.65, Rodrigues 1.37, Eichel 1.67

 

In Tage's rookie year his scoring rates mirror what Zemgus did last season at ES. That is the best comparable. Noting that, as clarified to me several times, St. Louis was a good team and he played with Stastny and two players we're supposed to believe are still good, that is, as a humanities professor might put it, problematic if your expectations are a top 6 forward prospect being actually ready despite playing x games. 

Just looking at P/60, and other random players around the league: Jay Beagle 1.35, Deslauriers 1.29, Torrey Mitchell 1.03, Dominic Moore 1.34, Roussell 1.24

 

Same stat for prospects who are ready for full time action supposedly or actually: Mittelstadt: 3.61 (sample size!), Cirelli 2.88, Eriksson Ek 0.92, Lias Andersson 1.51, Chytil 1.57

 

I'm doubling down on my question of if Tage is ready yet. He got the games and got results which suggest he might not be, and it's an important question because I'm damn tired of us mishandling development. 

Edited July 2, 2018 by Randall Flagg

[GASabresIUFAN]

I'm not arguing that he's not ready, but I'm pointing out that 41 games on a missed-playoff team by no means settles the question of whether the kid is NHL-ready or not.

I don’t know of he is ready or not either, but he is closer then fellow 2016 draftee Nylander. He earned 41 games from a decent team as a first year pro. That’s a pretty good sign that he is close to ready or ready. Maybe not fully developed, but likely ready especially given his weak competition here.

 

Thanks for the stats, I hope that playing up the lineup might help him blossom. Maybe we also try the 2005 Sabres approach and try to create a dynamic and talented but young 3rd line. Erod, Casey and Tage?

Edited July 2, 2018 by GASabresIUFAN

[TrueBlueGED]

I don’t know of he is ready or not either, but he is closer then fellow 2016 draftee Nylander. He earned 41 games from a decent team as a first year pro. That’s a pretty good sign that he is close to ready or ready. Maybe not fully developed, but likely ready especially given his weak competition here.

 

Thanks for the stats, I hope that playing up the lineup might help him blossom. Maybe we also try the 2005 Sabres approach and try to create a dynamic and talented but young 3rd line. Erod, Casey and Tage?

 

I think our best bet is to have Berglund play ROR's minutes with a couple of our numerous throw-away wingers (and get crushed while doing so) and allow Mittelstadt and Eichel to get oodles of offensives usage. 

 

Girgensons-Berglund-Sobotka: Go and get creamed against the best in the world so our other players can put up fun offensive numbers. 

 

We'll be bad, but might be entertainingly bad.