Tage Thompson has spent eight years in the NHL and has yet to experience playoff hockey.
So when a reporter asked him whether the league should open up the post-season to an additional two or more teams, the Buffalo Sabres center had an obvious response.
“To be honest with you, I just want to make the playoffs,” he told The Hockey News and others at the NHL/NHLPA player media tour earlier this month. “Selfishly, I would like them to add a couple of more teams.”
In terms of off-season finger-pointing, this wasn’t Jack Eichel saying he was “fed up and I’m frustrated” with the direction of the Sabres, or Sam Reinhart complaining about yet another “reset” for the perennial rebuilding team. Nor was it Ryan O’Reilly saying “I felt I lost” the joy of showing up at the rink.
But give Thompson time. He’ll eventually get there if the Sabres miss out again.
The fact that he isn’t there already shows how patient he’s been. After all, Eichel only spent the first six years of his career out of the playoffs, while Reinhart went seven years before qualifying for the playoffs.
Thompson, who also missed the playoffs as a rookie in St. Louis, is entering his eighth year in Buffalo without even as much as a sniff.
The lack of playoff experience could explain why Thompson, who led all American-born players with 44 goals last season, was left off Team USA’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. Say what you want about his individual stats, but it’s difficult to show you belong on the big stage when the biggest game you’ve played in is essentially a regular-season game in October.
Sabres Have Only Two Players Ranked In Athletic’s Top-150
The Buffalo Sabres face the challenge of snapping a NHL-record 14-year playoff drought this season and after a summer in which the club traded away their second-leading scorer in JJ Peterka in exchange for winger Josh Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring and made only depth additions in Justin Danforth, Conor Timmins, and Alex Lyon, the onus will be on internal development and their core players playing up to expectations.
Whether that trend continues and Thompson is left off the upcoming Olympic team is yet to be seen. But the 27-year-old understands the easiest way to show he deserves to be playing at the Olympics is to first show he can get the Sabres into a playoff spot.
“It’s kind of like you hit the nail on the head there,” Thompson said. “It’s definitely in the mind going into the season. Obviously, your priority is your in-season team and that would be the Sabres and helping them make the playoffs. But at the same time, I feel like I should have been on the 4 Nations team, and I think I gained a bit of a chip on my shoulder in the second-half of the season. It just kind of adds one more thing to your plate that you’re playing for.”
If Thompson was motivated by being snubbed, it showed.
While he had 26 goals in his first 48 games, he reached another level after the 4 Nations Face-Off ended, scoring 18 goals in the final 28 games of the season.
In the grand scheme of things, it didn’t change much. The Sabres once again failed to qualify for the post-season, finishing 14th in the Eastern Conference and stretching their playoff drought to an NHL-high 14 years. As a result, the team made some significant personnel changes, trading Dylan Cozens to Ottawa at the deadline for Josh Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker, and then moving JJ Peterka to Utah in exchange for Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan.
“That’s the business of hockey,” said Thompson. “We haven’t made the playoffs, and we haven’t won. Unfortunately, things needed to shake up, and that was something where we got rid of a good player but got two really good players back.
“I think that’s a trade that’s going to benefit both teams. JJ’s got a ton of skill and can score, and I think he’s going to help their offense in Utah. But we got two rock-solid, 200-foot players… that can tighten the ship defensively and still play an offensive game.
“I think Doaner’s a good young player who doesn’t have a ton of experience, but the fact that he can play a bottom-six role and do it well and has a very good stick and an extreme work ethic.”
What Doan and Kesselring lack — at least, for now — is playoff experience. However, Thompson and the city of Buffalo hope that changes.
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