Tage Thompson, the Sabres’ number one center (that still feels weird to write), played 18:53 last night against the Washington Capitals, with 1:31 coming on the powerplay and 1:07 coming shorthanded. He finished the game with an assist on Jeff Skinner’s first goal of the game on an inadvertent touch of his skate that was more of fluke than it was a good play.
That’s what happens when you’re all around the play, though. Points get credited to you when the line is rolling. He now has 15 points in 16 games, even as coach Don Granato has tinkered with taking Alex Tuch away from Thompson and Skinner. All of this is to say that he’s been really good, especially on the offensive side of things where he has 27 goals so far.
His .8 points per game (49 points in 61 games) is on par with Patrice Bergeron’s 45 points in 56 games, and Anze Kopitar (55 in 66) this year, despite having played wing for his entire NHL career until the start of the 2021-22 season. It’s been a complete surprise, as has his durability this year which had been a problem for him through the early part of his career. The fact that he’s doing this on a contract which pays him $1.4 million dollars this year and next year is even better.
It's not all gone perfectly for him, obviously. While his back checking and defensive zone stick work have improved dramatically, he’s still not a defensive wizard by any means, and his 40% faceoff win rate is fairly abysmal. The good news is that these are the kinds of skills that can be improved upon over time, as compared to offensive skill that is usually God given. In any case, his defensive zone play is definitely fine for a center making $1.4 million.
Under normal circumstances, Thompson’s low cap hit would be a huge benefit to the Sabres if the team were actively trying to acquire established NHLers to surround the young core of the team. That wasn’t the case this past off season, although it very well could be this coming summer. The Sabres will have just over $40m invested in next year’s roster (10 forwards, 4 defensemen, 0 goalies), compared to the estimated cap of $82.5m, meaning the Sabres could acquire some terrific pieces to give this team a real shot at being good if management so chooses.
Part of that flexibility is due to the terrific contract that the Sabres signed with Tage Thompson before the beginning of the 2020-21 season (3 years, $1.4 million per). The Sabres will be able add to that contract this summer if they so choose at the start of the new league year, at which time Thompson will officially have one season remaining on the deal. General Manager Kevyn Adams will have an opportunity to lock down Thompson for a relative value compared to open market prices for a top-6 center.
There is no doubt that extending Thompson this summer would be a risk for the Sabres. There’s no way of knowing for sure whether this season is a complete fluke due to his shooting percentage skyrocketing to 13% combined with a relatively healthy year and no one else to play center. All of that needs to be taken into account before extending him.
At the same time, if Thompson puts up a season like this next year, or if he puts up an even better season, the team could be looking at a truly massive payday. There simply aren’t many enormous 6’7” centers in the NHL who can score 30 goals, and you can bet that if he were to go to free agency at some point, more than a few teams would be interested in signing him to a long-term deal.
And this is where both sides may decide that it makes sense to reach an agreement now rather than wait and potentially have their end of the deal get worse. Thompson could cash out some of his performance this year while hedging against a potential down year next year, whether due to injury or a declining shooting percentage. The Sabres would be able to cost certainty and a potential discount on a likely top-6 center for them moving forward.
So what could an extension look like? Perhaps something in the neighborhood of 4 years at $5m per season. That figure would allow Thompson an opportunity to sign a very lucrative deal at 30-years-old if he continues to progress, and it also affords him a nice chunk of change should his game not continue to positively evolve. For the Sabres, the deal could turn into a steal if Thompson continues on his current trajectory, and even if he never hits these heights again, he’ll likely have at least a 20-goal season in there somewhere. It's a risk for both sides. An extension now would help mitigate some of that risk for both parties.
Buffalo Sabres Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»