‘I was relearning how to function as a bigger guy’: Thompson on what changed before his breakout NHL season

Sometimes, all you need is time.

For Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson, he needed time to adjust to his large frame to become one of the NHL’s top offensive weapons. Once a touted prospect in the St. Louis Blues’ organization, the 6-foot-6 center had to find his balance and strength in his lower body in order to keep up with the high speeds of the NHL.

After being traded to the Sabres in July 2018, Thompson finally put it all together during the 2021-22 season, potting 38 goals. He continued to fill the net in the coming years, notching 40 goals in three of the past four seasons, including a career-best 47 goals during the 2022-23 campaign.

On this week’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Thompson joined Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton to discuss how he was able to alter his game to become one of the top players in the NHL.

Tage Thompson: Growing up, I’ve always been pretty gifted at scoring. I feel like that’s kind of been my best asset. When I came to St. Louis…being really tall, lanky and probably a little weaker. It just took me a few years to kind of still on my frame, get my footing under me, get the balance back.

I had a huge growth spurt when I was like 16 turning 17, grew like four inches in one year, put on like 20 pounds. So, from that I was kind of just relearning how to function as a bigger guy. I think once I got to Buffalo there, it took me a couple of years to just trying to find my my way in the league and find a role. Then, [Don Granato] came in as our coach, and, I played with him at the [USNTDP] and kind of knew what kind of player I was, and told me I was going to get a big opportunity. So, I just had to make sure I was ready for it, and ery grateful for that opportunity and just kind of ran with it

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…