Tage Thompson was one of the key pieces that came back to the Buffalo Sabres in the trade for Ryan O’Reilly last summer. The 20-year-old came to the Sabres with potential but was a raw prospect that needed some time to develop.
He made the team out of training camp, but it got off to a rough start for the former first-round pick. Thompson struggled with turnovers early and wasn’t providing the scoring to offset his defensive issues.
The slow start resulted in a three-week stretch in which he was a healthy scratch in every game except two.