Meet Tage Thompson

[Doohicksie]

Whatever you say.  Apparently, you've done significant research and are a true expert.

 

Well he played college hockey, so there's that....

Edited July 3, 2018 by Doohickie

[GASabresIUFAN]

Lets say he develops into Taylor Pyatt and like Taylor, he plays 850+ games for us and scores 30-40 pts a year over the next 15 years. I’ll take that.

[IKnowPhysics]

And like Pyatt, he'll take all the fan and media beatings. That's worth at least a 3rd round pick.

[ubkev]

9 points in 41 games doesn't make me think he's a lock for the top 6.

 

But he is among the top 6 most attractive looking, hockey aside.

Sobotka and Berglund are better looking.

 

Just sayin...

[Iron Crotch]

9 points in 41 games doesn't make me think he's a lock for the top 6.  

 

But he is among the top 6 most attractive looking, hockey aside.

 

 

So.... he's Taylor Pyatt.

 

;) 

[dudacek]

The Athletic continues to be money well spent.

Baker on our new prospect:

 

Is he a track star with world class acceleration? No.

Could he afford to work on becoming more fluid with his stride? Yes.

Can his young legs get to an ideal top speed to keep up with the play? Most definitely.

Thompson is not super explosive out of the blocks, but he is not considered slow either. His speed is more than adequate, and he’s proven that he can play fast.

“From our standpoint, we think certainly in flight he has very good speed,” Botterill added when asked about Thompson’s feet.

 

Lots of other good stuff in the article as well. Based on what I’m reading, his upside looks like James Van Reimsdyk, and the downside is Luke Adam.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Agreed. Just trying to figure out where "big plans" & "plenty of points" come from in Buffalo this year. Absolutely am NOT advocating for that lineup. (The "hello Hughes" should've been a give away. ;))

 

That bottom 6 absolutely is better than last season. But by enough to offset the top 6 being worse?

I’m not sure it’s going to be worse. ROR is a 50-60 pt player who gets 40% of his pts on the pp. He gave us all of 9 goals last year at even strength. ROR also isn’t exactly fast or an uptempo player.

 

I think Casey at the very least replaces 80% of ROR’s production as a rookie and has a much higher ceiling. Sheary isn’t Kane goal wise, but is a better all around player. Kane had 54 pts this past season while Sheary had 53 the year before last. Reinhart is also improving and should continue to grow with either Eichel or Casey. My hope is that an improved D group and bottom 6 take some of the goal burden off the top two lines and help make us harder to defend. It maybe a stretch this coming season, but that looks like the plan and I approve.

[WildCard]

I’m not sure it’s going to be worse. ROR is a 50-60 pt player who gets 40% of his pts on the pp. He gave us all of 9 goals last year at even strength. ROR also isn’t exactly fast or an uptempo player.

He had 34 ES points last year, and 61pts. So it's the exact opposite actually. He got 56% of his points at even strength 

 

https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/o/oreilry01.html

Edited July 3, 2018 by WildCard

[Hoss]

Sobotka and Berglund are better looking.

 

Just sayin...

Sobotka? Maybe. Berglund? No way.

He had 34 ES points last year, and 61pts. So it's the exact opposite actually. He got 56% of his points at even strength

 

https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/o/oreilry01.html

44% isn’t exactly the opposite of 40%

[WildCard]

Sobotka? Maybe. Berglund? No way.

 

44% isn’t exactly the opposite of 40%

Edit: Never mind, misread GA's post

Edited July 3, 2018 by WildCard

[ubkev]

Sobotka? Maybe. Berglund? No way.

 

Berglund is a victim of poor facial hair decisions and sometimes bad hairdos.

[SDS]

Huh? He had 34 ES points, 61 total. so 34/61 = .557, or 56%. He goes from the minority to the majority, the exact opposite

 

Edit: Never mind, misread GA's post

The OP said he got 40% of his points in the PP, not ES.

[WildCard]

The OP said he got 40% of his points in the PP, not ES.

Hence the edit

Berglund is a victim of poor facial hair decisions and sometimes bad hairdos.

Aren't we all

[inkman]

Aren't we all

You don't even know

[pi2000]

The Athletic continues to be money well spent.

Baker on our new prospect:

 

Is he a track star with world class acceleration? No.

Could he afford to work on becoming more fluid with his stride? Yes.

Can his young legs get to an ideal top speed to keep up with the play? Most definitely.

Thompson is not super explosive out of the blocks, but he is not considered slow either. His speed is more than adequate, and he’s proven that he can play fast.

“From our standpoint, we think certainly in flight he has very good speed,” Botterill added when asked about Thompson’s feet.

 

Lots of other good stuff in the article as well. Based on what I’m reading, his upside looks like James Van Reimsdyk, and the downside is Luke Adam.

Baker with the positive spin... shocking.

[matter2003]

9 points in 41 games doesn't make me think he's a lock for the top 6.

 

But he is among the top 6 most attractive looking, hockey aside.

That doesn't say much tho. How many minutes did he get a game? Who was he playing with? What line? Did he get a lot of defensive zone starts?

 

I agree the point total isnt very good but a lot of that depends on the above too.

[Utica Club]

That doesn't say much tho. How many minutes did he get a game? Who was he playing with? What line? Did he get a lot of defensive zone starts?

 

I agree the point total isnt very good but a lot of that depends on the above too.

 

Well I think Tage Thompson has got a likable face.  In a Marchandian way, I might even say it was lickable, but the kid only had 18 points in 30 games in the AHL.  I'm hoping the Sabres send him back to the AHL until he can at least get his scoring up to a respectable level.  Then, if he gets close to PPG, maybe he can play top 6 on a respectable NHL team.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Hence the edit

Aren't we all

Thank you for fixing your error and proving my point.

Jack had 44 of his 64 pts at ES including 22 of his 25 goals. For his career 52 of his 73 goals have come at ES. Also 110 of his 177 pts have come at ES.

[nfreeman]

I’m envisioning a Foligno body type, but a bit less edge, substantially better offensive instincts and a bitchen one-timer.

[Randall Flagg]

Hopefully it wasn't posted (especially by me, that'd be embarrassing) but here's a thread from the St. Louis boards about Tage from before he was traded, it has 8 pages of discussion. I haven't read a single post yet, but I will at some point.

https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/tage-thompsons-ceiling.2478183/

[Hoss]

19 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Hopefully it wasn't posted (especially by me, that'd be embarrassing) but here's a thread from the St. Louis boards about Tage from before he was traded, it has 8 pages of discussion. I haven't read a single post yet, but I will at some point.

https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/tage-thompsons-ceiling.2478183/

I read through it. Some cliff notes...

- Most view him as a top-six type. Several said they see him being a second-line RW with 20-25 goals and 50-60 points in his prime.

- Don't want to trade him but several people say "you have to give to get" and would rather he go than Kyrou or Thomas. He was considered one of their "big four prospects."

- A few pointed out a lower ceiling (35-50 points) because he struggles to use his teammates and hasn't filled out.

- A decent consensus that he was rushed and should've spent last season in the AHL.

- A few Berglund comparisons early that later got vehemently shot down.

- A couple Alex Tuch comparisons as someone who has impressed every time they've watched him. Bigger body with a great shot.

 

If I was to compile everything I just read I would say the vibe is that he's viewed as an NHL player who will put up around 40-50 points with the potential to have a 30-goal outburst here or there. There were two posters in the entire thread that I saw say they don't see him panning out (one of which said they see him at 15-20-35 which isn't exactly not panning out).

Needs to improve footwork, physicality and defense. Some thought Yeo was trying to force him to be a defensive player based on his linemates instead of highlighting his offensive abilities.

Can't say there's a comparable here because Sabres fans either love or hate prospects. They like him way more than we like Nylander. Less than Mittelstadt.

[Randall Flagg]

Thanks Hoss, now I don't have to read through it. 

I think he fits right into a gap in between our prospect tiers, between Casey and Dahlin and guys like Nylander/Guhle/Asplund/Olofsson. 

Not to insinuate that Casey and Dahlin should be considered equal. 

Edited July 13, 2018 by Randall Flagg

[North Buffalo]

11 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

Thanks Hoss, now I don't have to read through it. 

I think he fits right into a gap in between our prospect tiers, between Casey and Dahlin and guys like Nylander/Guhle/Asplund/Olofsson. 

Not to insinuate that Casey and Dahlin should be considered equal. 

No Casey is still our Lord and Savior... I'll allow that Dahlin is his first disciple and as such should write the first book of the Word of Middlestadt.