On Tuesday evening, the Buffalo Sabres announced that they have signed forward Tage Thompson to a massive seven-year, $50 million deal that will carry an average annual value of $7.143 million.
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At first glance, this would appear to be a reasonable deal given that Thompson is coming off of a season in which he scored 38 goals and 68 points in 78 outings. However, those numbers were not only just career highs, but career highs by a very significant margin. Prior to the 2021-22 campaign, his best goal total in a season was eight while his best point total was 14.
There is plenty to like about Thompson’s game. Even prior to this past season, he had always shown an ability to create chances for himself off the rush. He has also always possessed a shot-first mentality, and on top of all that brings tremendous size to the Sabres lineup with his six-foot-seven frame. While there are certainly some positives in his game, however, there is some major concern this contract may not work out as panned by Sabres management.
Prior to his breakout 2021-22 campaign, Thompson was one of the leagues worst finishers, as mentioned in the chart above by JFreshHockey. He had never been productive in the NHL prior to this past season, and didn’t post jaw dropping stats during his time in the American Hockey League as well.
All this to say that, the Sabres are taking a serious risk here in hoping that he doesn’t regress in 2022-23. Who knows, perhaps he improves even further and it turns out they were able to get him at a bit of a discount. That is certainly what they are hoping for in getting this extension done as early as they have. If he struggles in 2021-22, however, this contract will become a major cause of concern for an organization that has dealt with their fair share of ugly deals in recent years. Time will tell, but as of now, the general consensus is that this is a huge gamble on a player that is still relatively unproven.
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MICHAEL C ZACK
August 31, 2022 at 11:23 am
SEEMS GOOD TO ME.
NOTHING LIKE THE SECURITY OF A LONG TERM DEAL
TO BRING OUT THE BEST OF YOUR GAME
SINCERELY
MILAN LUCIC
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