The Buffalo Sabres’ contract with Tage Thompson is by pretty much every measure a bargain.
Thompson is one of the NHL’s best goal scorers, and while he’s paid well, he isn’t paid the rate that he would be if he signed a new deal right now.
Timing is everything, though, and a fascinating new article in The Athletic by Mark Lazerus points out Thompson’s pay scale relative to other players in the league.
Tage Thompson Contract
Thompson is currently playing on a seven-year contract with a total value of $50 million.
He signed the deal before the 2022-23 season, coming off a campaign in which he had just scored 38 goals.
But the NHL salary world has kept ballooning, as has Thompson’s value.
Lazerus writes: “In the four years since he signed that extension, only five players in the NHL have scored more goals than Thompson’s 162. This season, 141 players are making more money than he is.”
The Athletic article goes on to point out that Zach Benson, Thompson’s young teammate, is making half a million more dollars per season than Thompson.
The salary cap is going way up, which showed itself this offseason when the Ducks’ Leo Carlsson was given a massive $18 million per year offer sheet by the Flyers — and then Anaheim matched it.
“It’s not just superstars, either,” Lazerus writes. “Anaheim Ducks defenseman Tristan Luneau just got a six-year deal worth $7.2 million a year after only 14 NHL games. The Toronto Maple Leafs just traded for and signed Kirill Marchenko, who’s never had a point-per-game season, to a deal worth $12.5 million a year. Luke Evangelista (career high: 16 goals) is getting $7.25 million from the New Jersey Devils. Young players who have proven very little are getting paid the way borderline stars were just a handful of years ago — Chicago signed Frank Nazar ($6.6 million) and Oliver Moore ($4.25 million) almost preemptively. Buffalo just signed defenseman Louis Crevier for $4 million before he even played a shift for the Sabres. Teams are giving out gobs of money now in the hopes it’ll save them gobs more down the road.”
Thompson’s contract made sense at the time. It has a similar feel to deals that sometimes get signed in MLB that promise long-term security but risk leaving value on the table down the road. The Atlanta Braves, for example, still have their star second baseman Ozzie Albies on a seven-year, $35 million contract that pays him insanely below his market value.
It doesn’t always work out negatively for the player, but the fact that it does means that the player — in this case Thompson — has made the most of his career.
Tage Thompson’s Thoughts
Lazerus also provided a really thoughtful quote from Thompson about this.
“It’s tough to gauge where the cap’s going to go, and honestly, where your career’s going to go, right?” Thompson said. “It’s unpredictable. And when you’re staring that much money in the face — you’re talking life-changing money. So what’s another million, 2 million a year? It’s a lot, obviously. But you’re not going to turn down something that locks you in for not only financial stability, but stability with your family, being in one place… Yeah, I think there are guys that wish they would have held out a little bit. Am I one of those guys? Yeah, obviously you would have liked to sign a big ticket and get as much money as humanly possible. But you’re still talking about (a lot of money).”
Buffalo has become home for Thompson, and he won’t have regrets about this contract. It may not be all the money in the world, but it’s a heck of a lot.
Sabres Pay Tage Thompson Less Than 141 NHL Players