Olympic Hockey 2026 - Which Sabres Make Olympic Teams?

[Mango]

4 hours ago, Pimlach said:

If Tage gets back to 40+ goals and 90+ points he is ahead of many in your list and then how do you not take him?  

It seems fairly clear to me that if the US team for 2026 were selected today Tage would not be on it. 

If it were selected a year or so ago I give him a maybe. If he had a better timeline of better play I would upgrade it to likely. 

That said, my spicy take last season was that the top line was better with Tage at the wing and Casey at C. I think there is a path for him outside of center. 

I think he will need to have a strong 24/25 and start to 25/26 in order to make the roster. So if we get 1.5 more years of 22/23 Tage he likely makes it fairly easily. Anything short is a soft maybe to probably not. It isn't just the Olympics, a lot of this Sabres roster is riding on the production, improvement, and consistency of a select few guys.

 

Edited August 15, 2024 by Mango

[LabattBlue]

How about which Sabres will see the playoffs(wearing blue & gold) before the next Olympics?😱

[PerreaultForever]

7 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The 30 somethings may lobby for inclusion because this will be “their last chance” to represent in the Olympics.  However, if you are Canada are you really including 36 year old Stamkos, 38 year old Marchand and 39 year old Crosby?  Is Sweden really going to field a team with 3 35 year old D in Hedman, Ekholm and Karlsson?  

Obviously it will depend on the continued quality of their play, but it’s a lot to ask these older players to still be at the top of their games 2 years from now.  

I personally don't disagree with you and if I was the guy making the decisions I'd lean younger, but I think the league and whoever is in charge will go with the big names and the veterans. Crosby is going to captain that team. 

[PerreaultForever]

6 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

I think Thompson makes it, simply because I'm 95% sure he is going to have a big time bounce-back year.  I think, if not injured, a 40-50+ goal Thompson is the norm.  a 60 point Thompson is the anomoly.

The sample size isn't large enough to say that's the "norm" but hopefully he will have a good year and will fit into whatever Lindy designs. 

I'd say there are no "norms" on the Sabres right now. Every guy is going to be asked to play real hockey now and how they adapt to that is unknown. I suspect some will shine but some may be unwilling to adapt or unable to. Or in the least struggle getting there in time. 

[mjd1001]

12 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

The sample size isn't large enough to say that's the "norm" but hopefully he will have a good year and will fit into whatever Lindy designs. 

I'd say there are no "norms" on the Sabres right now. Every guy is going to be asked to play real hockey now and how they adapt to that is unknown. I suspect some will shine but some may be unwilling to adapt or unable to. Or in the least struggle getting there in time. 

Well, maybe not the 'norm'. But I see Thompson as a guy that generates 250-300 shots on goal per year. The 2 years previous to last he shot 15-16%.  Last year playing with a hand/wrist injury, that went down below 11.  If he is fully healthy, I see him taking 'near' 300 shots, and his shooting percentage back to the 15-16% range.  The wildcard, as you mentioned, is how he is used under Lindy. He could adapt to the system and it might favor him even more...or it might be something where he is asked to do things a bit differently than he likes, and he could be worse. We don't know yet.