The Buffalo Sabres botched the offseason. That's conventional wisdom surrounding a team that traded one of its best point producers for two solid but unspectacular players who lack starpower.
It's why Sean McIndoe of The Athletic (subscription required) had six brutal words to describe the Blue and Gold's offseason. In his season preview of all 32 teams, McIndoe said of the Sabres, "Traded Peterka, didn’t do much else."
That's brutal honesty, and it drives home the point that general manager Kevyn Adams did nothing notable to replace Peterka with any outside talent. The acquisitions he got in return for Peterka, defenseman Michael Kesselring, and winger Josh Doan, are middle-pairing and middle-six players, respectively. Neither will come close to Peterka's output from last season, when he ended the year with 27 goals and 68 points.
All hope lost with the Sabres before the regular season takes off?
It sure seems like it. Without Peterka, the Sabres are projected to have Zach Benson, Josh Norris, Tage Thompson, Jason Zucker, Ryan McLeod, and Alex Tuch on the top six. Tage, Tuch, Zucker, and McLeod are all proven players who would slot into most top-six units in the league, but Benson and Norris are still unknown commodities.
Over the past two seasons, Benson has put up middle-six minutes and less-than-stellar points productivity, clocking in with 58 career points in 146 games. Norris showed potential in 2021-22 when he ended the year with 55 points in 66 games, but he has yet to reach even 60 games in a season since, given all his injuries, including a torn oblique he sustained after appearing in just three contests for the Sabres after the trade deadline.
With all the uncertainty facing the Sabres' projected top six, you can see why McIndoe summed up the Sabres offseason in such a straightforward way, and that he put the team in "the bottom-feeder division" in his preview. But the upside is that, with Benson and Norris projected on the first line alongside Tage, the latter can easily elevate their game.
Tage is one of the NHL's premier scorers with at least 29 goals in each of the past four seasons, and he's one of the last players in the league you want getting behind your defense on a breakaway or even gearing up for a one-timer, thanks to his length and the sheer force he puts behind every shot. That means Tage can lure in opponents, leaving youngsters like Benson and Norris open for finishing sequences.
Tage Thompson can save the Sabres projected first line
Even if he's known as more of a scorer than a playmaker, don't underestimate Tage's ability at finding the open linemate who can drill the puck home for a score. He knows where his linemates are going and can find ways to place the puck in spots where it will only land on their stick.
Knowing that Zach Benson is good at setting up shop in front of the net, and that Norris is a pure finisher, Tage doesn't have to find ways to take the puck near the net himself every other time the Sabres are in the offensive zone. If he spreads the puck around more this season and plays to his projected linemates' strengths, the Sabres will fare way better than what they currently look like on paper.
With seasoned veterans like Zucker, McLeod, and Tuch on the second line, you don't need to worry about them. They will rack up the points and a lot of them, so the buck stops with Tage if the Sabres aren't going to spend the season missing Peterka and proving McIndoe's brutal six-word quip correct.