Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson enjoyed another amazing season in 2022-23. Can he keep the momentum rolling into the future?
Remember when Tage Thompson signed that huge contract extension with the Buffalo Sabres last summer and everyone thought it was a bad contract? Yeah, I bet those people feel foolish right now.
After signing that extension, would Tage build off from last season when he scored 38 goals and registered 30 assists in 78 games played? You bet he would. In the same amount of games played as last year, Tommy Dangles scored 47 goals and got 47 assists for 94 points this season.
At the beginning of the season, it took him a bit to get going. But once he scored his first goal of the season, it was go time. There were so many moments that Tage gave us but to me, his amazing performance against the Columbus Blue Jackets really stands out to me.
In the December 7th matchup at Columbus, Tage would score five goals and an assist in what would be a 9-4 victory for the Sabres. He would score a hat trick in the first period alone, and would add on as the game went along. It was absolutely amazing to see.
Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson enjoyed a sensational season
TAGE.
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 19, 2023
In the 2022-23 regular season…
🔹Set career-highs in goals (47), assists (47), & points (94)
🔹 Ranked 6th in the @NHL in goals & 15th in points
🔹Led the NHL with 4 hat tricks#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/UHhxcU9Uh0
When you’re being talked about with players such as Connor McDavid, David Pastrnak, Nathan MacKinnon, Alex Ovechkin and others, you must be doing something right. As you can see in the tweet above, Tage finished top ten in goals.
He also led the league in hat tricks which is not an easy thing to do. Tage got four of them, getting one is hard enough nowadays but when you’re an elite player like Thompson, anything is possible.
As for next season and for the future, he is just getting started. A 6 foot 6 forward should not be doing what Tage does in games. He will continue to get better and I cannot wait to see what he does going forward. Buffalo is in great hands with Tommer and it is definitely possible we can see him win an MVP.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)