The Buffalo Sabres have signed a new deal with forward Tage Thompson. The young skater was injury for much of the 2019-20 campaign but hopes to help the team move ahead in the upcoming season. The deal is for three years and will carry an annual cap hit of $1.4 million. The team announced the contract late Monday afternoon.
We have signed Tage Thompson to three-year contract with an AAV of $1.4 million.
Welcome back, @TThompson_97! 👊
Details: https://t.co/RUHrxPKeD5 pic.twitter.com/MhYXgn7qHa
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) October 5, 2020
Sabres Re-Sign Tage Thompson
Thompson spent most of his healthy time with Buffalo’s AHL affiliate in Rochester. The 22-year-old skated in 16 games with six goals and 12 points. The Sabres called him up for just one game in November but he spent the rest of the season on the organization’s injured list.
The St. Louis Blues originally selected Thompson in the first round of the 2016 Draft and he debuted shortly after in 2017-18. That was the season in which he scored three goals and nine points in 41 games. The Blues then sent Thompson, Vladimir Sobotka, Patrik Berglund, and two picks to Buffalo in exchange for Ryan O’Reilly. That haul has not produced much value yet. Berglund spent 2019-20 in Sweden while Sobotka was used in only 16 games. However, there is still time as Thompson is still very young and the Blues pick from the 2019 Draft, Ryan Johnson, just completed his freshman year at the University of Minnesota.
What This Means for the Future
Thompson may never be a star as a late first-round selection but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a solid contributor for the Sabres. He is a huge body listed at 6’5″, 205-pounds with reasonable skating ability. He looks like a serious contender for a regular middle-six role as Buffalo moves into the next phase of its competive cycle.
The team still has plenty of decisions to make as the offseason continues. They have multiple pending free agents and over $32 million in cap space. That means Buffalo can seriously remake its roster into a better product before the 2020-21 season begins if the right decisions are made.
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