The Buffalo Sabres are in a playoff drought, yes.
But they’ve got an even longer dry spell ongoing.
The Sabres haven’t had a 50-goal scorer since 1992-93. That’s the season that started 33 years ago, before current superstar Tage Thompson was even born.
Bleacher Report predicts that Thompson will end the drought this season.
“Thompson has been close to the 50-goal mark twice in his career, scoring 47 goals in 78 games in 2021-22 and then scoring 44 in 76 games this past season,” writes B/R’s Adam Gretz. “Given his powerful shot, shot volume and the way the Sabres’ offense runs entirely through him, it is not a stretch to think he could get the 50-goal mark at some point in his career. Why not this season?”
MORE: Connor McDavid has $45 million reason to look forward to contract negotiations
A Thompson 50-goal campaign could certainly go a long way toward trying to spark a Sabres turnaround.
Buffalo has had plenty to cheer for during NFL seasons with the Bills, but the ice hockey supporters have been forced to be muted for more than a decade.
Thompson is one of the greatest hopes to skate into Western New York in recent times, and now’s his chance to seize the headlines.
He’ll turn 28 in October, right in the heart of his prime. At 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, Thompson is impossible to miss.
He’s even harder to miss when he’s slotting goal after goal into the back of the net.
And this season, maybe he gets 50. That’d be quite the feat, and it’d be something the Sabres would desperately appreciate.
MORE: Jaromir Jagr may continue hockey career at age 53
