Is Trading Star Winger Thompson The Right Thing To Do For Sabres?

The Buffalo Sabres are currently enjoying a two-game win streak, so calls for massive change are on the backburner. However, if Buffalo slumps again, those calls are going to ramp up again.

But while there should be, as a general rule, no untouchables on an underachieving roster, anyone who wants the Sabres to trade star winger Tage Thompson needs to think again. Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams may decide to blow it all up, but if it gets to that point, Adams may no longer be GM, and his replacement could try to completely turn the page on this Sabres team and trade most, if not all of his stars.

From this writer's perspective, that would be a huge mistake. Buffalo only has so many difference-makers, and Thompson is one of them. Now, Thompson hasn't got off to a blazing start to this season, but he still has three assists and four points in five games, putting himself on a 49-assist, 66-point pace.

And while that total would be a drop-off from the 72 points Thompson posted last season, he would be close to a new personal-best in assists; his current high of 47 assists was set in 2022-23, so he's on track to be in that range this year.

The problem, of course, is that Thompson has only one goal this season. That puts him on pace for only 16 goals.  That would be nowhere close to the 47 goals he posted in '22-23, as well as his 44-goal performance this past season.

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But are people seriously thinking Thompson should be traded now? Does the concept of selling low mean anything to anyone? It sure does for us.

Thompson does have a modified no-trade clause, but it only allows him to veto a trade to five teams of his choosing. That leaves 26 teams he can be dealt to. But again, why would Adams deal Thompson when he's struggling to put up goals on a regular basis? It just doesn't make sense to us.

The Sabres hve plenty of players who should be moved before Thompson. He's signed to a terrific contract that pays him $7.14-million for the next five years, and Buffalo won't get back equal value when they're not dealing from a point of leverage.

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As we see it, unless Adams is overwhelmed by a trade offer, there's no good reason to send Thompson packing. At 27 years old, Thompson is in his prime, and the Sabres need to keep him as one their foundational pieces. Dealing him just to shake things up could prove to be a massive error, and one Buffalo couldn't easily recover from.

Thompson has been a fixture in Western New York for seven years now, and barring some unforseen amazing trade offer that knocks Adams' socks off, he should be keeping Thompson for the foreseeable future,