Sabres Sign Tage Thompson to a 7 year 50 Million Dollar Contract Extension

[Drag0nDan]

1 hour ago, Curt said:

I’m not always a big fan of citing goals above expected, because it’s usually presented as a list of who was “lucky”.  However, the goals above expected leaderboard is generally made up almost exclusively of guys among the most skilled goal scorers in the league.

Thompson might not score 38 next season, but guys who score more goals than expected are generally guys who are just really good at putting the puck in the net.

I always felt that way about babip in baseball too. It can be used to indicate if someone is luckier or not... But good hitters just have good babip because they hit it where people are not.

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, Huckleberry said:

Its a gamble this team usually does not make with young players.  But i like it.

He's not really that young though.  If he's still on the upward slope of his career this will be a steal.  If last season was a flash in the pan then you try to trade him to a team that thinks he "needs a change of scenery."  I frankly don't expect a huge drop off.

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

I generally like that account. It gives me a sad that they’re calling this a wild gamble.

I've noticed he tends to label his "takes" in extreme terms.

[dudacek]

14 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Hes had 1 good year .

Did people forget his last 4 where he looked like absolute  Garbage .

 

He looked way overmatched three years ago playing 65 games at 21 when he should have been in Rochester.

I’ve watched one garbage year, not 4.

*****

Chris Drury had his 1st 60-point season at 23, had just 44 NHL points before that.

Danny Briere had his 1st 60-point season at 24, had just 40 NHL points before that

Jason Pominville had his first 60-point season at 24, had just 30 NHL points before that

Tage Thompson had his first 60-point season at 24, had just 35 NHL points before that.

You act like a player emerging out of nowhere at Tage’s age has never happened before, or that it never gets sustained.

[Doohicksie]

38 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Hes had 1 good year .

Did people forget his last 4 where he looked like absolute  Garbage .

All that means is that he's garbage on the wing and comfortable at center.

[Drag0nDan]

33 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Hes had 1 good year .

Did people forget his last 4 where he looked like absolute  Garbage .

 

He was the line driver for the only scoring line. Skinner. Touch. Olof. They all benefited from playing with him, not vice versa. 

Played multiple spots on power play. Played PK when asked. 

He is our best forward and I'm not sure it's super close at this point. 

[Doohicksie]

17 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Cozens would be my ideal take a chance on for a long-term type deal he's showed  Glimpses of excellency 

Tage has already demonstrated season-long excellency.

[MattPie]

52 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

 

40 minutes ago, Thorny said:

And the 40th ranked C last year had 58 points. So if we’re giving him 2C money, 55-60 points would be good 2C production, so even a slight dip from 68 points is fine.

This is the data that makes the contract look solid. I think I'm on record here questioning if this is a career year, but even sliding back to 25/35/60 still puts this in a decent place compared to his peers; it's a good deal.

[dudacek]

14 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Ok i understand you need to to take a risk but with 1 year and 4 consecutive ***** ones is my concern. 

 

Cozens would be my ideal take a chance on for a long-term type deal he's showed  Glimpses of excellency 

 

Dude, you watched Thompson play 65 garbage games when he was 21 under Phil Housley and wasn’t ready for the NHL.

Then you watched him play 100ish games under Donnie when he was 23 and 24 and put up 80ish points.

Readjust your glasses man. The 4 versus 1 thing ain’t real.

[Buffalonill]

29 minutes ago, dudacek said:

He looked way overmatched three years ago playing 65 games at 21 when he should have been in Rochester.

I’ve watched one garbage year, not 4.

*****

Chris Drury had his 1st 60-point season at 23, had just 44 NHL points before that.

Danny Briere had his 1st 60-point season at 24, had just 40 NHL points before that

Jason Pominville had his first 60-point season at 24, had just 30 NHL points before that

Tage Thompson had his first 60-point season at 24, had just 35 NHL points before that.

You act like a player emerging out of nowhere at Tage’s age has never happened before, or that it never gets sustained.

Really? drury out of college( his rookie year NHL) hit 44 points.  Thats impressive and has  a outstanding sophomore season with 60 + points 

You keep saying age when tage had a total of 35 points  in 145 nhl games before last season 

Thats my concern 

[Zamboni]

18 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Dude, you watched Thompson play 65 garbage games when he was 21 under Phil Housley and wasn’t ready for the NHL.

Then you watched him play 100ish games under Donnie when he was 23 and 24 and put up 80ish points.

Readjust your glasses man. The 4 versus 1 thing ain’t real.

With all due respect… Why do you care what he thinks? Or is a better way to ask it… Is it that important that you try to convince him of your point of view? It just seems you’re putting unnecessary effort in trying to convince someone who will not be convinced to see it your way.
By the way I completely agree with your point of view regarding TNT. 

[Buffalonill]

23 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Dude, you watched Thompson play 65 garbage games when he was 21 under Phil Housley and wasn’t ready for the NHL.

Then you watched him play 100ish games under Donnie when he was 23 and 24 and put up 80ish points.

Readjust your glasses man. The 4 versus 1 thing ain’t real.

So you're going to forget that everyone wanted tage thrown into the moon.

And it wasn't the coaches he was just horrible. 

 

 

[Doohicksie]

2 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

And it wasn't the coaches he was just horrible. 

It was the coaches.  THE WHOLE TEAM was horrible!  😄

[Buffalonill]

7 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

It was the coaches.  THE WHOLE TEAM was horrible!  😄

So coaches made him do the turn overs and ridiculous spinneramus  ?

Im happy he found success im just worred that buffalo just got Stafford 

 

[Doohicksie]

10 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

So coaches made him do the turn overs and ridiculous spinneramus  ?

Im happy he found success im just worred that buffalo just got Stafford

Yes.  There wasn't a coherent system in place so players did stupid sh!t.

[Buffalonill]

46 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Dude, you watched Thompson play 65 garbage games when he was 21 under Phil Housley and wasn’t ready for the NHL.

Then you watched him play 100ish games under Donnie when he was 23 and 24 and put up 80ish points.

Readjust your glasses man. The 4 versus 1 thing ain’t real.

Or this could be Karlsson 2.0

[ubkev]

1 hour ago, Buffalonill said:

You honestly think the price  would change that much ?

I dont 

[nfreeman]

46 minutes ago, Drag0nDan said:

He was the line driver for the only scoring line. Skinner. Touch. Olof. They all benefited from playing with him, not vice versa. 

Played multiple spots on power play. Played PK when asked. 

He is our best forward and I'm not sure it's super close at this point. 

Now that is an interesting observation.  It may not be true by the end of this year, but I think you are correct right now.

 

40 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Dude, you watched Thompson play 65 garbage games when he was 21 under Phil Housley and wasn’t ready for the NHL.

Then you watched him play 100ish games under Donnie when he was 23 and 24 and put up 80ish points.

Readjust your glasses man. The 4 versus 1 thing ain’t real.

 

12 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

So coaches made him do the turn overs and ridiculous spinneramus  ?

Im happy he found success im just worred that buffalo just got Stafford 

 

OK, but at least stop saying "4 seasons."  You and everyone else here knows that he missed over 75% of one of those seasons and over 50% of another.  It's just BS to keep saying it. 

In any case, he exploded as soon as he returned.

He can skate, he can shoot it like Auston freaking Mathews (I'll urge everyone to watch the video of all 24 of his ES goals last season that someone posted upthread), he can pass it, he turns 25 in October and he has a great attitude.

He could easily score 40 this year and then you're looking at 8 years x $8.5MM to keep him.

Speaking of which, I won't be at all surprised if he scores 40 a few times during that contract.

I like this extension.

[Buffalonill]

10 minutes ago, ubkev said:

His  Shooting percentage wouldn't have stayed the same and he probably have 25- 30 goals if he had the success like this year 

So in reality he could possibly get the contract he was  Awarded now or less 

[GASabresIUFAN]

I'm with @Buffalonill on this one.  I'm very concerned about regression with TnT for the coming season.  While the term and $ would be fine for a more proven player, but Tage literally has played one full NHL season.  His improvement as a player under DG is undeniable, but last year 15% shooting % is a major red flag.

Someone brought up Pastrnak as an example of how someone can suddenly emerge.  However David shot 10.8% and 13.9% in the year prior to his first 30 goal season.  In that season, at age 20, he actually only shot 13% and has sustained that or better since then.  Thompson is not Pastrnak.

Thompson's % prior to this past season were 5.5%, 6.5% and 8.3%.  

I would have liked to at least see how TnT played this coming season for the first 30-40 games before making this extension.  Now if Tage regresses, we have another albratros contract on our hand like Skinners.  

Pominville is an interesting comparison.  Pommers first (of 3) 30 goal seasons came with a 16% shooting %.  He never came close to that % again.  However, Pommers was also a good playmaker and could still drive offense even when the puck wasn't going in.  Pommers had 3 seasons with 40 to 50 assists.  Tage doesn't have that in his arsenal at this point if the puck isn't going in. 

I'll be happy to be proven wrong again on a TnT contract.  However the stakes are much higher now.  If the Sabres don't get legit value from this contract, it could really limit the upside of this rebuild.   

[PerreaultForever]

Well, imo it's a huge gamble and I wouldn't have done it (yet) so fingers crossed and here's hoping it works out. I'm personally not convinced he will live up to it consistently but, he could exceed it so again, here's hoping. 

[GoPuckYourself]

I liked the way Thompson played last season, he was dominant at times. I just don't understand why they couldn't wait and see as I doubt the price would have went up much higher for him but it matters not since he's a Buffalo Sabre now for 7 years, let's go..... I'm really looking forward to this season.

[Huckleberry]

I think if he had 20 goals by december, it would have been an 8 mill contract.

Its a gamble, and maybe he loves bufallo and wanted to sign anyway.  Just seems like a fair deal for now.

Edited August 31, 2022 by Huckleberry

[That Aud Smell]

Just about every move GMKA has made until now has been the sort of move that the peanut gallery can murmur in approval and politely golf clap. This is the first move that feels like it involves real risk (?). I’m hoping and praying that they got this right. They have way more information than I do. I want to trust them. And like Fox Mulder, I want to believe.

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by That Aud Smell

[triumph_communes]

People saying Tage was awful up until last year weren’t watching closely enough. He was a victim of bad coaching just as much as any. 
 

One of the lowest paid 1C in the league, almost scoring 40 goals. Can’t complain about that. 
 

He earned it. Some of this is makeup for the steal of a 3 yr contract he’s currently under.