Tage Thompson has already gone from afterthought to centerpiece for the Buffalo Sabres, but one NHL scout still sees another gear.
“Tage could absolutely dominate the league night in and night out if he wanted to,” the scout told The Athletic. “Some nights he's curl and drag - more nights than he's a straight-line player.”
That assessment came Wednesday in The Athletic’s annual “Player Tiers” ranking, where Thompson was placed in Tier 3, the category for All-Star caliber players. It’s a notable label for a 6-foot-6 forward whose career has taken one of the wildest turns in recent NHL memory.
Thompson managed only 35 points in his first 145 games, and his early underlying numbers were so poor that many wondered why Buffalo protected him in the 2021 expansion draft. Since then, he has turned into one of the league’s most dangerous scorers, piling up 371 points in 384 games over the past five seasons. His peak so far came in 2022-23, when he exploded for 47 goals and 94 points for the Sabres.
Even with that production, the scout’s comments pointed to something more specific: not Thompson’s skill, but how consistently he uses it. There were stretches in 2025-26, particularly late in the regular season, when his movement looked sluggish. It wasn’t clear whether that was tied to a packed schedule that included his work for Team USA at the Winter Olympics, a lingering injury, or some mix of the two.
Still, Thompson’s compete level has generally not been a major issue since he established himself as a first-line player in Buffalo.
He is set to remain a major part of the Sabres’ plans in 2026-27 as the club tries to build on finally ending a 14-year playoff drought and become a regular postseason team.
The biggest question around Thompson heading into training camp is where he starts: center or wing.
He has spent most of the last few seasons down the middle, largely because Buffalo has not had anyone seize the No. 1 center job. Josh Norris has battled injuries, and Jiri Kulich missed most of last season because of a blood clot.
That has opened the door for the Sabres to hope one of those players, or perhaps prospect Konsta Helenius, can claim the role and free Thompson to move to the wing full-time.
“Moving to wing makes sense, big-picture, because of how he wants to play,” an NHL executive told The Athletic.
A shift to the wing would give Thompson more room to attack offensively and could also reduce the damage from his defensive and faceoff shortcomings. At the same time, Buffalo’s lineup has fit better with him at center in recent years, and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen still hasn’t landed a true first-line pivot.
He did pursue Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues before last season’s trade deadline, but came up short.
For the Sabres, that top-line center remains the missing piece if they’re going to climb from playoff team to legitimate Stanley Cup contender. The problem is obvious: those players are hard to find, and even harder to pry away.
Buffalo will keep hoping one of its internal options, most likely Kulich or Helenius, can grow into that kind of center in the next few years. But there’s no certainty there.
So when the Sabres open 2026-27, Thompson could just as easily be back in the middle again.
In Other News...
Zach Benson Just Gave Sabres Fans A New Draft Debate
Zach Benson has already given Sabres fans plenty to think about, and the latest draft conversation only adds to it. A comparison with Flyers winger Matvei Michkov puts Buffalos 2023 first-rounder in a different kind of spotlight, one centered less on pure scoring and more on the sort of all-around game that can help a team win when the games tighten up in the spring. Bensons strong two-way play and track record in playoff settings have become part of the case for him, even if Michkovs offensive ceiling remains the louder calling card.
For Buffalo, the debate matters because it speaks to the broader shape of the rebuild and the kinds of prospects that could move the organization forward. The Sabres already have other young names drawing notice, including Rasmus Helenius after a strong recent run and David Kulich, whose return status has become part of the conversation after a difficult season. Benson sits at the center of it all now, and the real question for Sabres fans is whether his value ends up looking even better than the more explosive option taken after him. [Read more 🡒]
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Carolinas status only raises the bar, with the Hurricanes coming in as the defending champion and Buffalo having lost important pieces this summer. That makes the coming meetings more than just another set of regular-season games. They will be a test of whether the Sabres can close the gap, and for now, there is still plenty of room between admiration and actually turning the rivalry into something competitive. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Turn September Into A Full Fan Kickoff Before Hockey Returns
The Sabres are giving fans a full September runway into the 2026-27 season, starting with Hockey Day at the Ballpark on Sept. 5 and rolling into Hockeyfest at KeyBank Center on Sept. 12. From there, the calendar keeps building toward the preseason home opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sept. 22, with the team turning the month into a string of chances for fans to reconnect before the games start to count.
Sabretooths Preseason Bash on Sept. 26 is another marker that hockey is almost back, and the club says more details on Training Camp and other fan opportunities will come as the season gets closer. For a fan base that tends to treat the return of the Sabres like its own offseason holiday, the setup is clear enough. The bigger question is how much more the team will add to that slate before puck drop arrives. [Read more 🡒]