Sabres Sign Tage Thompson to a 7 year 50 Million Dollar Contract Extension

[Digger]

Glad they locked him up to a long contract.  I'm hoping that all the boys stay healthy this year so that we will see the best team that we can ice.

[LGR4GM]

 

[Weave]

We get a better sense of KAs risk tolerance with this deal. Obviously, he’s made a decision that Tage’s game is repeatable.

It doesn’t signal we won the ROR trade, but it sure makes it easier to swallow since we are now pretty much certain that one asset in the trade stuck and is worth keeping.  Signing a certain defenseman and him panning out WOULD signal that we just might have one the trade.

*if you ignore that StL brought home a cup on the back of that trade*

[Eleven]

7 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

 

I think we'd all be fine with the Sabres paying the guys at 2, 3, 5, and 6 similarly.

[Huckleberry]

Its a gamble this team usually does not make with young players.  But i like it.

[Curt]

17 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

 

I’m not always a big fan of citing goals above expected, because it’s usually presented as a list of who was “lucky”.  However, the goals above expected leaderboard is generally made up almost exclusively of guys among the most skilled goal scorers in the league.

Thompson might not score 38 next season, but guys who score more goals than expected are generally guys who are just really good at putting the puck in the net.

[bunomatic]

Happy wife,happy life. Good for you Tage. You worked for it now go do it again. 

[French Collection]

I think it is a fair deal for both sides. The Sabres get a discount if the comparable players were Josh Norris and Robert Thomas. TT gains a secure future for him and his family after one breakout season.

He wants to be a Sabre and got rewarded for it. With the cap going up in a few years this deal won’t handcuff the team. Even if he ends up as 2C in a few years, he will still be worth it if he can produce 30G. He will provide tremendous value again this year. He is still $2M less than Skinner.

Now I want to see who is the next core forward to emerge from the pack.

[That Aud Smell]

30 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

 

I generally like that account. It gives me a sad that they’re calling this a wild gamble.

[PromoTheRobot]

1 hour ago, Cascade Youth said:

Have to give them credit for developing him and staying patient.  There were moments along the way where it didn’t look like he was ever gonna figure it out.

Krueger never did.

[sabremike]

My prayers have been answered!!!

[Thorny]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

We get a better sense of KAs risk tolerance with this deal. Obviously, he’s made a decision that Tage’s game is repeatable.

It doesn’t signal we won the ROR trade, but it sure makes it easier to swallow since we are now pretty much certain that one asset in the trade stuck and is worth keeping.  Signing a certain defenseman and him panning out WOULD signal that we just might have one the trade.

*if you ignore that StL brought home a cup on the back of that trade*

And that we torpedoed the team during Jack’s prime. Can’t get that back. Short of Tage becoming a bonafide MVP candidate don’t think it’ll ever be a “good” trade. By the parameters of what Botterill was looking to do, it failed. We finished right near the bottom the following year when it was time to take the next step, instead, with Jack’s 10 mil deal about to kick in. And then Botterill ended up getting fired shortly after that. If you deal Cozens for a 7th round pick and the pick randomly becomes Datsyuk, it’s still not a good trade. And that’s not saying Tage isn’t a good player or that he can’t even become a great one.

Edited August 31, 2022 by Thorny

[Brawndo]

 

[Buffalonill]

2 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Waited for what?  A second good year so the price goes up?  

 

 

You honestly think the price  would change that much ?

I dont 

[Thorny]

9 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

And the 40th ranked C last year had 58 points. So if we’re giving him 2C money, 55-60 points would be good 2C production, so even a slight dip from 68 points is fine.

[Buffalonill]

3 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

If he puts up 40+ goals this season you don’t think the contract would change? That is delusional.

Hes had 1 good year .

Did people forget his last 4 where he looked like absolute  Garbage .

 

[Taro T]

11 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

 

And, as mentioned before, it doesn't even kick in until next year so it will literally be 2C money by the time it kicks in. 

Would be nice if Mittelstadt & Cozens both pan out & this deal helps set their value.  Might be able to afford those "big 3" D & Levi down the road.

[Thorny]

1 minute ago, Buffalonill said:

Hes had 1 good year .

Did people forget his last 4 where he looked like absolute  Garbage .

 

I mean, he only had played 145 nhl matches before last season. This sounds a lot like the, “Eichel didn’t score point a game his first 3 years!” stuff. Why should we forget young players take time to develop? 

It’s not a true outlier year, there wasn’t that big of a sample size to begin with. It’s development when development is expected still and after *noticeable* changes to his deployment. When there are hard variables that can be identified, generally we can see an equation for WHY he was good as opposed to the success being random and more likely the result of luck. 

[Taro T]

3 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Hes had 1 good year .

Did people forget his last 4 where he looked like absolute  Garbage .

 

No.  But are you forgetting that he also had a position change back to his natural spot?  He looked like a completely different player and not just on the scoresheet.  Expect he'll be a lot closer to last year's mondo giraffe we saw than the baby & adolescent giraffe we got when he was at wing.  He was a legit top 6 C last season.  Flat out did not see that coming, but expect he'll be a top 6 C again this year.

And don't expect teams to play him appreciably different this year than they did last.  But we shall see whether that holds true.

[Buffalonill]

3 hours ago, dudacek said:

I remember way back 2017 when a kid jumped to 34 goals and 70 points out of nowhere after putting up just 26 points the year before.

David Pastrnak’s $6.67 million AAV over 6 years has looked pretty nice since.

Smart teams give contracts like this to the right players and profit for years.

Pastrnak’s showed signs of a  quality NHL player when he made the team at age 18 .

Tage was a horrible nhl player for 4 years and all of a sudden 1 good year.

How some aren't worred is mind blowing 

 

 

8 minutes ago, Taro T said:

No.  But are you forgetting that he also had a position change back to his natural spot?  He looked like a completely different player and not just on the scoresheet.  Expect he'll be a lot closer to last year's mondo giraffe we saw than the baby & adolescent giraffe we got when he was at wing.  He was a legit top 6 C last season.  Flat out did not see that coming, but expect he'll be a top 6 C again this year.

And don't expect teams to play him appreciably different this year than they did last.  But we shall see whether that holds true.

And what happens if he goes back to the old tage ? 

Buffalo should have Waited at least 2 months into the season to see whats up first .

 

 

[Zamboni]

Every team pays a premium for youth, talent, and future potential. Sabres are no different. Good grief.

[Buffalonill]

1 hour ago, Huckleberry said:

Its a gamble this team usually does not make with young players.  But i like it.

They did it with myers , stafford,jack, 

That worked out 

[Thorny]

2 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Pastrnak’s showed signs of a  quality NHL player when he made the team at age 18 .

Tage was a horrible nhl player for 4 years and all of a sudden 1 good year.

How some aren't worred is mind blowing 

 

 

There’s definitely a chance it ends up being a career year. And that he doesn’t reach those heights again and even that the contract ends up being a bad one. But two things:

- he’s not being paid SO much that the deal’s value can’t withstand a reasonable drop off. There’s an argument that if he were to replicate the production he’s actually UNDERPAID, and,

- You *have* to bet on someone. A few guys. You need to find value deals and there are indicators, considering you SHOULD and need to gamble as a GM, that Tage is a favourable bet to make.

[Thorny]

1 minute ago, Buffalonill said:

They did it with myers , stafford,jack, 

That worked out 

Contract value was well down the list of issues with the Jack / Sabres relationship, come on now. No one was sitting here saying he was vastly overpaid when he finished top 10 in mvp voting a mere two years ago. Even Botterill knew you had to take swings at value deals.

[Buffalonill]

32 minutes ago, Thorny said:

There’s definitely a chance it ends up being a career year. And that he doesn’t reach those heights again and even that the contract ends up being a bad one. But two things:

- he’s not being paid SO much that the deal’s value can’t withstand a reasonable drop off. There’s an argument that if he were to replicate the production he’s actually UNDERPAID, and,

- You *have* to bet on someone. A few guys. You need to find value deals and there are indicators, considering you SHOULD and need to gamble as a GM, that Tage is a favourable bet to make.

Ok i understand you need to  take a risk but with 1 year and 4 consecutive ***** ones is my concern. 

 

Cozens would be my ideal take a chance on for a long-term type deal he's showed  Glimpses of excellency 

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by Buffalonill