NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Tage Thompson

Get to Know Tage Thompson:

Date of Birth: 10/30/1997
Place of Birth: Oyster Bay, NY, USA
Ht: 6’5″ Wt: 194 lbs
Shoots: Right
Position: Center/Right Wing
Team (League): University of Connecticut (NCAA)

Statistics

What Scouts See

Last Word on Sports:

At 6’5″ tall Tage Thompson has the size, and uses it to his full advantage in playing a power forward’s game. He is often the first one in on the forecheck, pressuring defenders into mistakes. He works very well down low, below the hashmarks, cycling the puck and getting to the front of the net. Once there he can tip in pucks, pounce on rebounds, or fire in a pass from a teammate.

Thompson also has an excellent one timer, and a strong wrist shot with a good release, allowing him to score from further out. While his stickhandling is good, and Thompson protects the puck well using his body on the cycle, he is a straight ahead kind of player, going directly from point a to point b, and not one to try overly creative plays.

Future Considerations:

“Very grounded kid, with a good head on his shoulders. He has grown five inches in the past 18 months and that has delayed his development in the sense that it will now take him longer to fill out his frame. His hands are excellent, and his IQ is every bit as good. His feet are a bit slow right now, but his stride is okay. So once he builds the strength up, his skating should be just fine. Understands how to work on the power play, and uses a quick and accurate shot to score goals in bunches.”

What BSN Avalanche sees

Big-time shot. That’s what stands out right away when you watch him play. He looks like he’s still learning to play within the body after his ridiculous growth spurt turned him from an average sized player into a much larger specimen. He’s a great power play scorer right now and could be a dominant force down the road. He has great hockey sense as he reads the flow of play well and he consistently puts himself into the right spots.

That growth spurt made his skating a bit awkward. His stride doesn’t appear broken so it probably isn’t a long-term issue but as of today, he’s nowhere near the skater some of the players around his ranking already are. He’s playing catch up there and it’s his biggest question for me. Offensively, he’s pretty set-and-forget in how he succeeds. There’s almost no flash or creativity to his game as he goes to his desired spot, waits for the puck, and shoots it past whatever poor goaltender is tasked with getting in front of his howitzer.

Highlights

NHL Potential

The skating is a concern and the heavy emphasis on finishing ability makes you wonder how he will adjust when pro teams know how to attack him and can gameplan against him but that power play ability is never not a hot commodity in the NHL. He should be a guy that, at worst, makes the top 9 on an NHL roster.

Expected Draft Position

Thompson is widely viewed as a mid-late first round prospect except by ESPN’s Corey Pronman, who puts him at 93. Realistically, expect to see him come off the board somewhere in the 20’s or 30’s.

How Prospect Fits in Avalanche Organization

Thompson would have to be a second round pick in order for the Avs to get their hands on him so it’s possible but likely this ends up a draft day match. If it does, however, Thompson brings something the Avalanche have not developed themselves for a number of years – a true power play finisher. While Jarome Iginla has been great in that role the last couple of years, Thompson would be the heir apparent to set up shot in the “Ovechkin spot” and just bomb shots on goal.