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Tage Thompson: what’s his future?


dudacek

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33 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

No that's what he's been used for not what he is. 

Weird considering when he played with skinner, skinner generated more chances I believe. 

He did.

Also to further Your Point on Cozens, he was the WHL Eastern Conference Player of the Year and finished as the runner up for WHL Player of the Year to Adam Beckman, who was not on the World Juniors Team. 
 

Cozens, personal trainer has also opened the Gym for the two of them to have 1 on 1 sessions during the pandemic. 
What’s also interesting is that during the summer last year even with his thumb injury he put on 9 pounds of lean muscle between Development and Training Camp. 

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Just now, Brawndo said:

He did.

Also to further Your Point on Cozens, he was the WHL Eastern Conference Player of the Year and finished as the runner up for WHL Player of the Year to Adam Beckman, who was not on the World Juniors Team. 
 

Cozens, personal trainer has also opened the Gym for the two of them to have 1 on 1 sessions during the pandemic. 
What’s also interesting is that during the summer last year even with his thumb injury he put on 9 pounds of lean muscle between Development and Training Camp. 

Ughhhh you're getting my hopes up!

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  • 2 months later...

John Vogl’s mailbag in the Athletic opens with his take on the Sabre he expects to take the biggest jump: Tage

“It’s not just that he put up points in Rochester, pouring in 14 goals and 23 points in 27 games. He dominated games. The winger averaged more than four shots a night last season, including a pair of eight-shot barrages.“

I’m comfortable saying Tage makes the team this year and might surprise us. I like the growth I saw from him this year. He’s not the failed prospect he’s perceived to be, and won’t be the gangly kid we remember any more.
 

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14 minutes ago, dudacek said:

John Vogl’s mailbag in the Athletic opens with his take on the Sabre he expects to take the biggest jump: Tage

“It’s not just that he put up points in Rochester, pouring in 14 goals and 23 points in 27 games. He dominated games. The winger averaged more than four shots a night last season, including a pair of eight-shot barrages.“

I’m comfortable saying Tage makes the team this year and might surprise us. I like the growth I saw from him this year. He’s not the failed prospect he’s perceived to be, and won’t be the gangly kid we remember any more.
 

You mean we’ll be able to stop talking about The Trade?

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TT is definitely making the Sabres roster and is the type of player that likely determines how we decide to protect players in the expansion draft.  If he plays well I think we choose the 7-3-1 route and he may be one of the 7 forwards.  

In saying that part of his lack of development fell on the Sabres roster itself.  There just wasn't a proper line for him to play on that would foster developing a young player that could make mistakes.  This has to change because players like TT should be future answers.

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1 hour ago, dudacek said:

John Vogl’s mailbag in the Athletic opens with his take on the Sabre he expects to take the biggest jump: Tage

“It’s not just that he put up points in Rochester, pouring in 14 goals and 23 points in 27 games. He dominated games. The winger averaged more than four shots a night last season, including a pair of eight-shot barrages.“

I’m comfortable saying Tage makes the team this year and might surprise us. I like the growth I saw from him this year. He’s not the failed prospect he’s perceived to be, and won’t be the gangly kid we remember any more.
 

Let's hope he does become what Botterill expected him to become.

Let's also hope that now that he's been playing hockey for 20+ years that he finally figures out that you brace for a hit by putting your shoulder near the boards, not raising your arm up.  

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2 hours ago, 7+6=13 said:

TT is definitely making the Sabres roster and is the type of player that likely determines how we decide to protect players in the expansion draft.  If he plays well I think we choose the 7-3-1 route and he may be one of the 7 forwards.  

In saying that part of his lack of development fell on the Sabres roster itself.  There just wasn't a proper line for him to play on that would foster developing a young player that could make mistakes.  This has to change because players like TT should be future answers.

I'm just curious, but what part of his game makes you think he is a part of the future (or should be)? Other than a fairly accurate but telegraphed wrist shot where he takes advantage of his reach I saw very little in his game or style that made me think he was anything but a potentially decent AHL player.

Regarding some of the comments above, Cozens and Thompson have absolutely nothing in common imo. 

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No matter how he develops and progresses, you’ll still get a few fans attempting to be funny with the tired, old, stale and inaccurate giraffe joke. You know who they are. The whole five of them ? 
I think TT can be a solid 3rd liner and possibly a top six guy in the NHL. Like every player before him, he just needs development time. He’ll figure it out. He has too much talent, not to.

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6 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I'm just curious, but what part of his game makes you think he is a part of the future (or should be)? Other than a fairly accurate but telegraphed wrist shot where he takes advantage of his reach I saw very little in his game or style that made me think he was anything but a potentially decent AHL player.

Regarding some of the comments above, Cozens and Thompson have absolutely nothing in common imo. 

Should be part of the future.  If our young players continue not to be assets than we're more screwed than most realize.

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2 hours ago, Zamboni said:

No matter how he develops and progresses, you’ll still get a few fans attempting to be funny with the tired, old, stale and inaccurate giraffe joke. You know who they are. The whole five of them ? 
I think TT can be a solid 3rd liner and possibly a top six guy in the NHL. Like every player before him, he just needs development time. He’ll figure it out. He has too much talent, not to.

If he becomes a solid third line forward then it is a useful role. One of the glaring deficiencies for this team has been the lack of scoring beyond the first line. So he can help in that area. And as you noted there is a possibility that he can develop into a second line winger. (I'm less confident of that higher role.)

The ROR deal and calculations are in the past. Too many people use that boondoggle deal to color their perception of TT. It takes time for tall and lanky prospects to physically fill out and be able to play against NHL men. It sure would be nice for him to be ready to make the adjustment. 

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Talked to some connections with Jr Sabres that saw him workout.  He is turning into a physical beast.  Added weight and strength plus his shot, reach, and skating.  He still needs to play with a mean attitude and hopefully that will come. 
 

Looking for Rochester to develop a player -  he is ahead of Mitts. 

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48 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

If Tage works that is like found money. Hoping he does. 

What's your assessment on Kahun. I thought when he was on a line with Johansson and Olofsson that he demonstrated that he could skate and create opportunities. For the short time that they were together at the end of the season I thought they fit well together. Getting a few young players such as Kahun and Tage to show that they can play as good third line players and shake up the roster mix for the lower lines.  

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1 hour ago, JohnC said:

What's your assessment on Kahun. I thought when he was on a line with Johansson and Olofsson that he demonstrated that he could skate and create opportunities. For the short time that they were together at the end of the season I thought they fit well together. Getting a few young players such as Kahun and Tage to show that they can play as good third line players and shake up the roster mix for the lower lines.  

Kahun's situation is an interesting under-the-radar item for KA, IMHO.  He just turned 25 and is an RFA, but has played less than 2 full NHL seasons, which followed 4 pretty productive years in the German league and 2 fairly productive years in Canadian juniors. 

Kahun has 68 pts in 138 NHL games, which is very good for an unheralded forward in his 1st 2 NHL seasons -- especially since he only averages about 13 min per game.  He also would've been 4th in scoring among Sabres forwards this past season had he been here the entire year.

Hockeydb and Hockeyreference both list him as a center, shooting left, but he's only taken 70 faceoffs in 138 NHL games, so he probably has played most of his time at LW.  A 3rd scoring line with him, Cozens and TT, against lower-tier opposing lines, sounds like it could be pretty interesting.

Kahun showed some nice skills during his 6 games with the Sabres.  I'm assuming most here want to keep him.  The interesting question is what kind of contract should the Sabres give him?  If it's a 2-year bridge deal, he'll be UFA at the end of it (not sure if he'd also be UFA after a 1-year deal).  But has he shown enough for the Sabres to give him, say, a 4-year deal? 

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17 hours ago, dudacek said:

John Vogl’s mailbag in the Athletic opens with his take on the Sabre he expects to take the biggest jump: Tage

“It’s not just that he put up points in Rochester, pouring in 14 goals and 23 points in 27 games. He dominated games. The winger averaged more than four shots a night last season, including a pair of eight-shot barrages.“

I’m comfortable saying Tage makes the team this year and might surprise us. I like the growth I saw from him this year. He’s not the failed prospect he’s perceived to be, and won’t be the gangly kid we remember any more.
 

Not paying attention to Rochester, I’ll admit this is exactly how I perceive Tage. I’m excited to see if he can show us something in the big league this coming season. 

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2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Keep in mind Kahun is 25 so idk how young he really is. I think he is a solid forward that might be a 2nd line guy. 

If Kahun becomes a 2nd line player then the trade that Botts made was a gem. Even if he becomes a third line player it will be an upgrade on a lower and more contributing line. As I said in a prior post I was intrigued with the Johansson/Kahun/Olofsson line with Johansson and Kahun being interchangeable between center and winger. 

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8 minutes ago, JohnC said:

If Kahun becomes a 2nd line player then the trade that Botts made was a gem. Even if he becomes a third line player it will be an upgrade on a lower and more contributing line. As I said in a prior post I was intrigued with the Johansson/Kahun/Olofsson line with Johansson and Kahun being interchangeable between center and winger. 

Just wish there was a right shot there. 

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7 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Just wish there was a right shot there. 

I’m not a fan of the all-left-shot set up either, soviets be damned. I’m fine with a left shot on the RW but then for me ideally the C shoots right. 

Unless Thompson surprises (or our big addition is a RW) we’ll likely have a left shot at 2RW this coming season, so I’m kinda hoping the C we add to play on line 2 is a right shot. But I realize that’s really picky. I’m more than happy with a left shooting C if he’s true top 6 quality. 

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10 hours ago, Zamboni said:

No matter how he develops and progresses, you’ll still get a few fans attempting to be funny with the tired, old, stale and inaccurate giraffe joke. You know who they are. The whole five of them ? 
I think TT can be a solid 3rd liner and possibly a top six guy in the NHL. Like every player before him, he just needs development time. He’ll figure it out. He has too much talent, not to.

^^^ This   ?

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