By Brandon J. Koch
Tage Thompson needs to be sent down to Rochester. The 21-year-old has been struggling all season and needs time down on the farm. Thompson has been a healthy scratch in seven of the seventeen games, when that time could’ve been used to play solid minutes on a good Amerks team.
Low ice time
Like previously stated, Thompson wasn’t going to get big minutes on this team, so why not send him down to the AHL and give him quality minutes?
In this chart by Hockeyviz.com, Thompson has one of the lowest ice times on the Sabres in all situations. This shouldn’t be happening if he’s ready at the NHL level, which he isn’t.
No production
There’s nothing that’s encouraging to say the least. Besides having one assist, Thompson is contributing nothing offensively. In this chart by Sean Tierney of Charting Hockey, Thompson is unproductive.
Shots rates are bad.
Rochester is the best place for Thompson. I’m not sure the exact reasoning for him to be up here when the GM and head coach preach about development and doing it the right way. This should be a no brainer, he needs more development and Rochester is the medicine that’s needed.
Leave a Reply