Is Tage Thompson a winger?

[dudacek]

Not sure exactly when Lindy moved Tage over.

It was after he returned from his injury in late November, in order to shelter him in his recovery, and he has played some games at centre again since the switch.

But he's been filling the net like an elite goal scorer — he's got 11 goals in his past 13 and is now tied with Ovie for 4th in the league — playing mostly as a winger.

Now I'm not saying the move to the wing is responsible for his surge — he's produced this way as a centre as well — but I'm curious what people think about the switch.

Where do you want him playing moving forward?

[Weave]

I really think it depends on Kulich.  If the kid is ready for 2C next season, Tage is a winger.  If he’s not ready, Tage moves to center.

[Sidc3000]

5 minutes ago, Weave said:

I really think it depends on Kulich.  If the kid is ready for 2C next season, Tage is a winger.  If he’s not ready, Tage moves to center.

Who would be the 1c then? 

[Weave]

1 minute ago, Sidc3000 said:

Who would be the 1c then? 

Norris?

[Sidc3000]

1 minute ago, Weave said:

Norris?

Way too early to think he could be that. That’s also if he stays healthy

[LTS]

Tage is whatever they put him at... but he sucks at face-offs, that much is certain.

He's proving he can score on the wing and he scored while playing center.  Thompson is a forward who can score.

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

35 minutes ago, Weave said:

I really think it depends on Kulich.  If the kid is ready for 2C next season, Tage is a winger.  If he’s not ready, Tage moves to center.

I agree. 

[dudacek]

40 minutes ago, Weave said:

I really think it depends on Kulich.  If the kid is ready for 2C next season, Tage is a winger.  If he’s not ready, Tage moves to center.

I sorta hope it’s this, but instead of Kulich, plug in “off-season acquisition”.

Flexibility with Tage allows the team to focus on best forward available, rather than a specific position.

Also, pencilling Kulich (or Benson or Quinn) into the top six in September would just be repeating last summer’s mistake.

In my ideal world, Zucker is the training camp F6 (after Tage, Tuch, Peterka, Norris and a player TBD ) and the only way one of those guys is in the top 6 is by beating him out.

Edited 12 hours ago by dudacek

[GASabresIUFAN]

28 minutes ago, Sidc3000 said:

That’s also if he stays healthy

Doesn't that apply to Tage (and most other NHLers)?  

Tage played all of 17 games in 2019/20 and spent the rest of the year on IR

He was injured some in 2020-21

He missed 11 games last season to injury and missed games this season as well.  

Norris is on pace to play 74 games this season.  Hopefully this is the beginning of a healthy trend for him.

[Weave]

16 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I sorta hope it’s this, but instead of Kulich, plug in “off-season acquisition”.

Flexibility with Tage allows the team to focus on best forward available, rather than a specific position.

Also, pencilling Kulich (or Benson or Quinn) into the top six in September would just be repeating last summer’s mistake.

In my ideal world, Zucker is the training camp F6 (after Tage, Tuch, Peterka, Norris and a player TBD ) and the only way one of those guys is in the top 6 is by beating him out.

Yeah, I don’t agree with planning on Kulich to be the determining factor, but that’s how I see it panning out.

[DarthEbriate]

He's more machine winger now than center, twisted and evil toe-dragging and sniping.

As long as TNT is a 40-goal scorer and his linemates are two-way players, the team is better off than if he's a center and Jeff Skinner (for example is his winger.

[mjd1001]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Not sure exactly when Lindy moved Tage over.

It was after he returned from his injury in late November, in order to shelter him in his recovery, and he has played some games at centre again since the switch.

But he's been filling the net like an elite goal scorer — he's got 11 goals in his past 13 and is now tied with Ovie for 4th in the league — playing mostly as a winger.

Now I'm not saying the move to the wing is responsible for his surge — he's produced this way as a centre as well — but I'm curious what people think about the switch.

Where do you want him playing moving forward?

At times I don't even know if he is playing wing or center.

To me he is equally effective at both.  His play and mistakes/lack of mistakes in the neutral zone and defensive zone seem the same to me...and his goal production when healthy is about the same.

I think the issue is what is around him, play Tage either center or wing, depending on who you want on his line and where those guys are best suited to play. I think you are getting the same production and play out of Tage regardless.

[Mr. Allen]

1 hour ago, Sidc3000 said:

Who would be the 1c then? 

Misa. 

[SABRES 0311]

2 hours ago, Sidc3000 said:

Who would be the 1c then? 

Nobody. We have two, second lines, a third, and fourth line.

[PerreaultForever]

Thompson is a goal scorer and a true sniper. With a lack of centers Granato tried him there and when he utilizes his size for puck possession he can play center but he's better paired with a playmaking center. He's Hull, he needs Oates. 

Ideally, the top line could be dominant with Thompson on it if he had a playmaking center and a power forward on the other side. Ideally he needs a Tkachuk type on the other wing or even just a Tom Wilson type but we don't have that guy. Tuch is a power forward but a B level not an A level player. 

I am however interested to see if Norris-Thompson can work. Skill wise I see the possibility. I just wish they had that other guy to go with them and to open up more space for them since Thimpson, for all his skill, will likely never use his physicality fully. It's just not who he is. 

The problem with this team isn't the amount of talent. There's lots of talent, as there has been in the past. It's the make up of the roster and the pieces around the talent that on other teams help the talent be talent. We just have a bunch of kids.  

[xzy89c1]

Thompson is a below average center. Gets lost in own zone, bad at faceoffs, does not use his body correctly as a big center etc....  He was never a center. He can be a very good winger, top ten even if he has good linemates, but he is bad at center.

Cozens proved to be a winger as well. Ottawa will learn the hard way on that.

Mayb Kulich and Norris can finally get us real centers going forward. Norris must stay healthy, and Kulich must continue to improve.

50 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Thompson is a goal scorer and a true sniper. With a lack of centers Granato tried him there and when he utilizes his size for puck possession he can play center but he's better paired with a playmaking center. He's Hull, he needs Oates. 

Ideally, the top line could be dominant with Thompson on it if he had a playmaking center and a power forward on the other side. Ideally he needs a Tkachuk type on the other wing or even just a Tom Wilson type but we don't have that guy. Tuch is a power forward but a B level not an A level player. 

I am however interested to see if Norris-Thompson can work. Skill wise I see the possibility. I just wish they had that other guy to go with them and to open up more space for them since Thimpson, for all his skill, will likely never use his physicality fully. It's just not who he is. 

The problem with this team isn't the amount of talent. There's lots of talent, as there has been in the past. It's the make up of the roster and the pieces around the talent that on other teams help the talent be talent. We just have a bunch of kids.  

so all he needs is adam oates equivalent and a Tkachuk? 

[xzy89c1]

1 hour ago, SABRES 0311 said:

Nobody. We have two, second lines, a third, and fourth line.

agreed. MAckinon and Mcdavid are examples ofnumber one centers. 

[Carmel Corn]

3 hours ago, Weave said:

I really think it depends on Kulich.  If the kid is ready for 2C next season, Tage is a winger.  If he’s not ready, Tage moves to center.

If Kulich is the 2C next season, then once again TP and GMKA have failed to do their job.  The 2C is not in the organization today (it’s not McLeod either).

[PerreaultForever]

8 minutes ago, xzy89c1 said:

Thompson is a below average center. Gets lost in own zone, bad at faceoffs, does not use his body correctly as a big center etc....  He was never a center. He can be a very good winger, top ten even if he has good linemates, but he is bad at center.

Cozens proved to be a winger as well. Ottawa will learn the hard way on that.

Mayb Kulich and Norris can finally get us real centers going forward. Norris must stay healthy, and Kulich must continue to improve.

so all he needs is adam oates equivalent and a Tkachuk? 

Well obviously I used those names as elite guys on top lines who exemplify the TYPE of player best suited to the role. The issue for me is line composition. Roster composition. Complimentary players and guys who make a unit. Not a pile of guys who play the same way. Every team that succeeds sees the need for these guys. This is why a team with high end talent like Edmonton signed Hyman (as an example). 

Hockey has never changed in any era in this way. You want a great top line you need a sniper, a playmaker and a mucker, all with the speed and level of skill that let's them play together. Bossy-Trottier-Gillies as the perfect example. Team building requires a player mix. Adams has failed in this regard. 

[LGR4GM]

26 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

If Kulich is the 2C next season, then once again TP and GMKA have failed to do their job.  The 2C is not in the organization today (it’s not McLeod either).

Why isn't McLeod? His defensive metrics are good, his offense is decent. If they put him at 2c for a full season you might have a 50pt center thats good defensively which is exactly what you need. 

There's no chance in hell Adams is trading for a 2c this offseason. He doesn't have the guts because it would require him trading someone like Kulich or Peterka and then some to get that player. 

[Thorner]

3 hours ago, Sidc3000 said:

Who would be the 1c then? 

..

3 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Doesn't that apply to Tage (and most other NHLers)?  

Tage played all of 17 games in 2019/20 and spent the rest of the year on IR

He was injured some in 2020-21

He missed 11 games last season to injury and missed games this season as well.  

Norris is on pace to play 74 games this season.  Hopefully this is the beginning of a healthy trend for him.

No, because Norris has never played more than 60 odd. You have to ASSUME he misses 25% of the season.  Norris as the 1C (come ON. Yes, Ottawa just traded us their 1C. Teams do that.) and a fledgling Kulich as our top 6 Cs would be a farce. WORSE than KA’s normal 

Edited 9 hours ago by Thorner

[LGR4GM]

2 hours ago, Mr. Allen said:

Misa. 

Sadly as much as I love Misa, he wouldn't be ready to be a 1c for several years. If you got him though, you might be able to run 3 2nd lines for several years though.

[Pimlach]

Tage is a very good goal scoring forward that can play center or wing. 

His should play first line, unfortunately his two way game as a center is not very good, especially against opponents top lines and top D pairs. His scoring and overall play is better at home when Lindy gets the last change.   

His faceoffs skills are not good either.  The Granato theory was to put in at center to "give him room" but he does not need to play center to get room, he can create room on his own and they can design zone entries to give him room. 

Ruff sees the dilemma and his injury made it hard for him to take face-offs, so he moved him.  

If we had better centers Tage  would be a wing on the top line.  

[xzy89c1]

46 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Well obviously I used those names as elite guys on top lines who exemplify the TYPE of player best suited to the role. The issue for me is line composition. Roster composition. Complimentary players and guys who make a unit. Not a pile of guys who play the same way. Every team that succeeds sees the need for these guys. This is why a team with high end talent like Edmonton signed Hyman (as an example). 

Hockey has never changed in any era in this way. You want a great top line you need a sniper, a playmaker and a mucker, all with the speed and level of skill that let's them play together. Bossy-Trottier-Gillies as the perfect example. Team building requires a player mix. Adams has failed in this regard. 

the only player on this team who is an equivalent of a 1 type player is Dahlin as a first pair dman. We have no first line type players when compared to best players in the league. Thompson has a chance as a winger. Needs to improve consistency and 200 foot game. 

[Mr. Allen]

30 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Sadly as much as I love Misa, he wouldn't be ready to be a 1c for several years. If you got him though, you might be able to run 3 2nd lines for several years though.

I know.  I was mostly joking.  I don’t think we will have a shot at him.