The Olympics are right around the corner, and the Buffalo Sabres are going to have a number of players heading to Milan to participate. One of those players is Tage Thompson, who will be playing in his first Olympics as a member of Team USA.
Thompson certainly put himself in a great position to earn a roster spot after he scored the winning goal in the IIHF Championship last summer to secure the gold medal for Team USA. Recently, Tage Thompson was on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast and was asked if there were two guys that he would love to play with.
The Sabres forward was quick to say he would be fired up to play with anyone, but did list two players with whom he has good chemistry, starting with Clayton Keller. "I feel like I've got good chemistry with Kels. We played together in World Juniors, this last worlds, and skate together in the summer."
"He is obviously looking at dishing all the time and I'm looking to shoot," Thompson said.
Last season, Clayton Keller finished in the Top 10 in assists with 60 for the Utah Mammoth, which was a career-best for the former first-round pick.
The other player is Auston Matthews, who he called a great two-way center. Any player would love to have Matthews on his line as he is one of the best in the NHL, even if he is having a down season this year.
Team USA would be smart to put these three together on a line for the Olympics
There is no question that the roster for Team USA is stacked with talent from top to bottom but Thompson certainly gave the coaches a great idea by naming those two players during the podcast. These three together on one line would complement each other really well and create some flexibility in the faceoff circle between Matthews and Thompson.
Keller is a great facilitator on the wing and having him with two great goal-scorers like Auston Matthews, who has led the league in goals on three separate occasions, and Thompson, who is on pace for his third career 40+ goal season, gives this line a ton of potential.
It will be interesting to see what Mike Sullivan decides on for the lines heading into the Olympics. While Mike Sullivan has an embarrassment of riches to choose from, the built-in chemistry between Keller and Thompson—combined with Matthews’ generational finishing—might be too lethal for the U.S. coaching staff to ignore.