Tage Thompson didn’t need much prompting to talk about Connor Hellebuyck.
With the Winnipeg Jets goalie publicly wanting out and his name already floating around the trade block, the Buffalo Sabres star said the same thing plenty of teams would say: Buffalo would happily make room for the best netminder in the world. Thompson also made clear that if a deal never happens, he still likes where the Sabres stand in goal.
“We would love to have him in Buffalo - I'm sure every team in the league would love to have him,” Thompson said of Hellebuyck. “He's the best in the world, I think.
There's things that are out of your control, and, you know, we'd love to have him, but if that doesn't happen, then we just move forward with the group we got. We have three talented goalies that all played great last year for us when we needed them, and we just need each guy to take another step.”
Thompson was speaking this week during the NHL’s media tour, and the conversation quickly turned from a hypothetical blockbuster to the reality of what Buffalo just lost. The Sabres head into the 2026-27 season with plenty of optimism after winning the Atlantic Division in the regular season and reaching the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but they’ll do it without Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram.
Tuch is now with the Washington Capitals after a sign-and-trade, while Byram landed with the Chicago Blackhawks. Thompson didn’t hold back when asked about what makes Tuch so hard to replace.
“(It’s) his ability to steal pucks and takeaways,” Thompson said of Tuch. “He's got such a good stick.
"And that’s something I think is a very underappreciated skill. I think a lot of it is natural ability, gifts, instincts, whatever you want to call it.
I think there's definitely a level of IQ that he just naturally has, to be able to do it. And I think a lot of it is work and practicing and being intentional on it when you're doing drills or in games.”
Byram drew even more praise. Thompson called him a No. 1 defenseman and pointed to the full toolkit he brought to Buffalo, even if he was stuck behind Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power on the depth chart.
“He is a No. 1 defenseman,” Thompson said of Byram. “Byram was one of those guys that, you know, brings it every single night.
He plays both sides of the puck, he's up in the rush, he's responsible defensively, he can (penalty-kill),, he can run a power play. He didn't get the opportunity to really do that with us, but…with the playoffs that he had, I thought he was at times our best player on the ice.
So, you know, we're going to miss him a lot. Chicago’s getting a great player.
I think he’s definitely worth every penny.”
Byram’s new extension will pay him $12.5-million per season starting in the 2027-28 campaign.
For Buffalo, the challenge now is obvious: keep climbing without two important pieces. Thompson said that’s exactly the sort of opening young players need, and he compared it to the chance he got after Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhardt moved on.
“We have a lot of skilled young players and a lot of talent in our lineup and, you know, that opens the door for someone to step up or multiple guys to step up,” Thompson said. “You know, I was in a situation like that when we had (former Sabres Jack) Eichel and (Sam) Reinhardt and those guys left, and the door opened up for me to take that step. And, you know, now it's going to be the same for some other young guys on our team to take that step.
“Every team in the (Atlantic) division has the potential to be a playoff team, so it’s just about consistency. It's a good lesson we learned making (the) playoffs last year and going the distance that we did, but realizing how far we have to go. So I think, you know, that leaves you with a big sense of hunger that there's more on the table.”
In Other News...
Former Sabres Piece Already Facing Heat In Washingtons Long-Term Debate
Alex Tuchs move out of Buffalo and into Washington has already become part of a much bigger conversation than a simple change of scenery. The former Sabres winger landed an eight-year, $84 million deal through a sign-and-trade, and his contract now sits alongside Boone Jenners four-year, $23 million free-agent pact and Pierre-Luc Dubois eight-year extension as the kind of long-term commitment that can define a roster for years. For a Capitals team trying to shape its next stretch under Spencer Carbery, the price tags are as much a storyline as the players themselves.
The debate is less about the ink on the contracts than what comes next, because each deal will be judged by whether the production matches the commitment. Tuch brings the kind of familiarity and versatility that made him attractive, but Washingtons long-term discussion is already turning toward whether these expensive bets will look smart in hindsight or become the contracts fans point to when the lineup starts to feel top-heavy. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Training Camp Could Reshape Two Overlooked Roster Battles
Training camp is about to give the Sabres a clearer picture of which of their less-heralded players can force their way into the conversation. With a roster built around young talent, new additions and established names, there are still a few spots where performance in September matters just as much as reputation, and that is where players like Tyson Kozak, Justin Danforth and Vsevolod Komarov come into focus. Each of them enters camp with something to prove, and each fits the kind of competition that can quietly shape a teams depth chart before the season even starts.
Kozak is in the mix because he has already shown he can be part of the discussion, while Danforth brings the kind of experience Buffalo can use if he is healthy and effective. Komarov, meanwhile, is one of those depth pieces whose value often shows up through opportunity rather than headlines. For a Sabres team trying to sort out the back end of the roster, these are the battles worth watching because the final decisions may come down to who can seize a narrow opening before it disappears. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Face One Big Blue Line Question After June Trades
The Sabres spent June reshaping their blue line, sending out Bowen Byram and Michael Kesselring while bringing in Olen Zellweger and Louis Crevier to keep the defense stocked. With Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson returning, the organization still has a familiar backbone in place, but the trades made it clear Buffalo wanted more options and a different mix on the back end heading into the new season.
Jarmo Keklinen has already pointed to the challenge of fitting the newcomers into roles that make sense, and Zellweger has talked about what he can bring to the group. The bigger question now is not whether the Sabres have enough defensemen, but how the pieces will settle once camp starts and which of the new arrivals can carve out the kind of job that actually sticks. [Read more 🡒]