In 2018, Ryan O’Reilly was traded to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Buffalo’s Vladamir Sobotka, Patrik Berglund, Tage Thompson, and several draft picks. There was a lot of buzz about this trade. Ryan O’Reilly went on to win the Stanely Cup in 2019 with the Blues and Buffalo continued to struggle.
Elliott Freidman recently revealed that after Thompson’s 14-point season in 2020-21, he was offered to several other clubs for very little in return. He said that one club outright refused to take Thompson for a 5th-round pick. If I were that GM, I’d be kicking myself right now.
This season, however, Tage Thompson has come out of the woodwork this season has a star center. He has proven himself worthy of more than just an extra stick on the fourth line. In 46 games played, he has 63 points (32G, 31A). He racked up 6 points in one game against Detroit back in December. On January 3rd, he scored his third hat trick of the season. He has five points in his last 5 games. This kid is just not slowing down. He’s on track for a 60+ goal season. At 6-foot-6, he has skating speed and puck-handling skills that most monsters of his size don’t possess. He has established himself alongside Victor Olofsson as a go-to guy on Buffalo’s top lines.
There are very few trades that turn out as well as this one. This is turning out to be exactly what each franchise needed. St. Louis doesn’t have a Cup without this trade and Buffalo doesn’t have a promising young lineup.
Some might say that Buffalo ended up with the short end of the stick and maybe Thompson is just another one-season wonder. But maybe this is just a reminder to all of us that not all NHL prospects come into the league guns blazing like Trevor Zegras or Kirill Kaprizoz. More often than not, you’re going to have Tage Thompson’s and Cole Caufield’s, and Jack Hughes’s’ where it takes a season or so for them to get comfortable and grow into the league.
