Tage Thompson: what's the deal?

[nfreeman]

OK, so TT is at this point a regular healthy scratch.  Pretty much everyone here, plus conventional wisdom, favors sending him down to Rochester, since he wouldn't need to clear waivers and it seems like it would be better for his development to play a lot of minutes in the AHL as opposed to zero minutes in the NHL.

And yet here he remains, with no real explanation from the organ-eye-zation.  When asked about it recently, Howie gave some kind of vague non-answer.

So what is going here?

Possible explanations that occur to me:

- The Sabres really do think that staying with the team, practicing with them, attending the meetings, etc. is better for TT's development than going to Rochester, notwithstanding the healthy scratches.

- The Sabres think having a good young forward staying up with the team and getting healthy-scratched is a good motivator for the other forwards, on the thinking that each of them realizes that if he doesn't play well, someone is right there to take his spot.

- The Sabres think that TT will have an emotional meltdown if he's sent to the AHL and quit the team or some other similar extreme reaction.

- There is some weird CBA nuance that none of us knows about that would expose TT to waivers, or have a strange salary cap consequence, or some other significant negative outcome that the Sabres want to avoid.

- One of the forwards has an injury that the Sabres think is likely to cause him to miss games, although that forward has been able to gut it out and play so far.

I don't find any of the above particularly compelling, but I suppose it could also be a combination of some of the above and/or something else.  If I had to guess, I would say it's a combination of the first 2 factors.

Discuss.

[Hoss]

I have a feeling the team guaranteed him some good time with the big club when the trade happened. The way Botterill and Housley talked about him having a big chance then Thompson said he was looking forward to a top-six role that fit his playing style more.

I think he should be sent down. I don’t think anyone needs to come up immediately to “replace” him since he’s just sitting.

[TrueBlueGED]

Freeman, you forgot a possibility: Botterill has a blind spot and thinks Thompson is better (see also: more ready) than he actually is. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

Why would the Sabres brass have made any NHL guarantees to a prospect under contract who they acquired in trade?  

I don’t understand that arguement. 

Another possible reason he hasn’t been sent down is chemistry in Rochester. Since they don’t plan to bring anyone up, they aren’t sending anyone down.

Edited November 5, 2018 by GASabresIUFAN

[Eleven]

It really has to be the first of freeman's options, doesn't it?  Everything else is unlikely.

[inkman]

3 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Why would the Sabres brass have made any NHL guarantees to a prospect under contract who they acquired in trade?  

People do dumb things 

[Eleven]

1 minute ago, inkman said:

People do dumb things 

Yeah, well people do YOU.

[Taro T]

My guess is that 1 is the primary correct answer, though Housley being a Bowman protege gives 2 credence as well.

4 is not correct.

If 3 is true, they should have flat out held off on the deal for a top 3 prospect or relented & taken the 5th.

5 isn't realistic, as Elie can be that emergency guy & Elie effectively cannot be sent to Ra-cha-cha as he'd be on Dallas' farm assuming he clears and Dallas still has any interest in him.

GA's guess is plausible as well.

In any regard, this would seem to be retarding his development but it is helping his bank account.  (1/187th (or so) of an NHL salary vs an AHL salary will be roughly 1 order of magnitude larger.)

[nfreeman]

42 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

Freeman, you forgot a possibility: Botterill has a blind spot and thinks Thompson is better (see also: more ready) than he actually is. 

In this scenario, JBott and Howie would be disagreeing over TT, innit?  So JBott wants to keep him up and presumably wants him to play, but Howie doesn’t want to play him?

Possible but seems unlikely.

[Doohicksie]

43 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Yeah, well people do YOU.

Brutal.

[Hoss]

59 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Why would the Sabres brass have made any NHL guarantees to a prospect under contract who they acquired in trade?  

I don’t understand that arguement. 

Nobody was making an argument, just pointing out a possibility.

[matter2003]

1 hour ago, nfreeman said:

OK, so TT is at this point a regular healthy scratch.  Pretty much everyone here, plus conventional wisdom, favors sending him down to Rochester, since he wouldn't need to clear waivers and it seems like it would be better for his development to play a lot of minutes in the AHL as opposed to zero minutes in the NHL.

And yet here he remains, with no real explanation from the organ-eye-zation.  When asked about it recently, Howie gave some kind of vague non-answer.

So what is going here?

Possible explanations that occur to me:

- The Sabres really do think that staying with the team, practicing with them, attending the meetings, etc. is better for TT's development than going to Rochester, notwithstanding the healthy scratches.

- The Sabres think having a good young forward staying up with the team and getting healthy-scratched is a good motivator for the other forwards, on the thinking that each of them realizes that if he doesn't play well, someone is right there to take his spot.

- The Sabres think that TT will have an emotional meltdown if he's sent to the AHL and quit the team or some other similar extreme reaction.

- There is some weird CBA nuance that none of us knows about that would expose TT to waivers, or have a strange salary cap consequence, or some other significant negative outcome that the Sabres want to avoid.

- One of the forwards has an injury that the Sabres think is likely to cause him to miss games, although that forward has been able to gut it out and play so far.

I don't find any of the above particularly compelling, but I suppose it could also be a combination of some of the above and/or something else.  If I had to guess, I would say it's a combination of the first 2 factors.

Discuss.

He's 21.  Enough said. /Thread

[Randall Flagg]

2 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

He's 21.  Enough said. /Thread

That doesn't answer any of freeman's questions. 

He's being handled very strangely by the team, including being practiced as a defenseman. 

[Hoss]

10 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

That doesn't answer any of freeman's questions. 

He's being handled very strangely by the team, including being practiced as a defenseman. 

I don’t think he was really “being practiced as a defenseman.” I think he was just filling in a spot as a guy they knew would be scratched.

[matter2003]

19 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

That doesn't answer any of freeman's questions. 

He's being handled very strangely by the team, including being practiced as a defenseman. 

The dude is 21...he probably needs time in Rochester

[Hoss]

7 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

The dude is 21...he probably needs time in Rochester

Did you consider reading the post? The question isn’t “why isn’t TT 2.0 tearing up the NHL.”

[Randall Flagg]

11 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

The dude is 21...he probably needs time in Rochester

Right, but the thread isn't about his lack of production. It's entirely about why the team is keeping him up here as a healthy scratch rather than sending him down.

[nfreeman]

Yes, but he's 21!

[Tondas]

4 hours ago, nfreeman said:

OK, so TT is at this point a regular healthy scratch.  Pretty much everyone here, plus conventional wisdom, favors sending him down to Rochester, since he wouldn't need to clear waivers and it seems like it would be better for his development to play a lot of minutes in the AHL as opposed to zero minutes in the NHL.

And yet here he remains, with no real explanation from the organ-eye-zation.  When asked about it recently, Howie gave some kind of vague non-answer.

So what is going here?

Possible explanations that occur to me:

- The Sabres really do think that staying with the team, practicing with them, attending the meetings, etc. is better for TT's development than going to Rochester, notwithstanding the healthy scratches.

- The Sabres think having a good young forward staying up with the team and getting healthy-scratched is a good motivator for the other forwards, on the thinking that each of them realizes that if he doesn't play well, someone is right there to take his spot.

- The Sabres think that TT will have an emotional meltdown if he's sent to the AHL and quit the team or some other similar extreme reaction.

- There is some weird CBA nuance that none of us knows about that would expose TT to waivers, or have a strange salary cap consequence, or some other significant negative outcome that the Sabres want to avoid.

- One of the forwards has an injury that the Sabres think is likely to cause him to miss games, although that forward has been able to gut it out and play so far.

I don't find any of the above particularly compelling, but I suppose it could also be a combination of some of the above and/or something else.  If I had to guess, I would say it's a combination of the first 2 factors.

Discuss.

Maybe JBOTT told Tage that he'd give him a legitimate shot and NHL salary for a least 20 games (1/4 of the season).  JBOTT just keeping his word?

[erickompositör72]

I don't understand why it would even be plausible that TT was promised anything. JBott didn't negotiate the trade with TT himself, he negotiated it with the Blues' GM. I doubt the Blues GM cared where we played him, no?

[TheAud]

I think it's likely #1. Last year the Blues had him up and down and the Sabres must feel he's better served just staying with the big club, working to get into the lineup and trying to hold a place there. 

I'd prefer to see him playing on a top line in Rochester.  At 21 he needs to learn to be a scorer as a pro. Even when he gets into an NHL game every now and then he's playing more like 4th line duty. 

[Hoss]

7 hours ago, erickompositör72 said:

I don't understand why it would even be plausible that TT was promised anything. JBott didn't negotiate the trade with TT himself, he negotiated it with the Blues' GM. I doubt the Blues GM cared where we played him, no?

Crazier things have happened. He clearly talked like he was told big things were coming immediately for him. Maybe he wasn’t promised but told.

Players have also refused to play or made a fuss after trades or acquisitions before. See: Lemieux just a few years ago.

I don’t know that TT 2.0 is that type.

[That Aud Smell]

I thought @GASabresIUFAN had a potentially interesting suggestion -- that this may also be about what they want to build in Roch. I had an interesting conversation recently with a guy who has a kid who's made a fine career out of playing as a veteran in the AHL (and getting some sniffs in the big league along the way). He was explaining to me in some detail how AHL rosters are structured between vets, half-vets (?), and developmental players, or what have you. I guess I hadn't realized how express the requirement for balance is among the various kinds of players. It seems quite plausible to me that JBOT looks at the Americans roster and doesn't want to add another player of Thompson's vintage to that squad, given what they having going on in Roch.

Outside of that sort of consideration, I cannot understand why he's not there playing big minutes.

[LGR4GM]

Here's my issue with any of these theories, if any of them are true or what is going on, WHY THE F##K! DID WE TRADE FOR THOMPSON? For real, if he was promised time and isn't good enough, or they didn't have a Rochester spot, or they thought he would be better, or he has an attitude about playing in the AHL, if any of that is true why in hell was he the targeted prospect. I already didn't want him compared to other Blues prospects but it sounds like Botterill screwed up on this one. Until I see otherwise that is what I think. 

Edited November 5, 2018 by LGR4GM

[SwampD]

Might it be Tage who is nursing something and they don't want to put him on ir?