MTPS: Some Tage Advice for Chris Drury To Rattle His Trade Sabres
Another Sabres star might be getting restless, and if history’s about to repeat itself, the Rangers might just be in position to write a better ending this time.
It has been almost four years to the day since Jack Eichel was traded to Las Vegas. Could another disgruntled Sabre soon be on the move?
If so, can Drury re-write history?
“I’m tired of talking about the past”
— 2 Goalies 1 Mic (@2Goalies1Mic) October 14, 2025
Tage Thompson, seemingly frustrated and annoyed with the reaction to their slow start, and wants to focus on what’s next rather than the last 14 years.#Sabrehood @BuiltInBuffalo_ pic.twitter.com/iDopxE71OB
First off, a question: You hear about "disgruntled" players all the time, but has anyone ever been described as gruntled? No, right? Weird. Anyways...
Thompson (and Rasmus Dahlin) were very clear with Sabres' management this offseason that they wanted to see the team improve. The front office responded by trading a top line scorer in JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth for third line winger Josh Doan and third pair defenseman Michael Kesselring. So, that's was a choice.
In addition to that, their ill-advised trade at last year's deadline that sent Dylan Cozens to the Ottawa Senators for Josh Norris has worked out just about exactly the way I thought it would:
Injuries have limited Josh Norris to 56, 66, 8, and 50 games in the last four seasons. I think the odds of Ottawa unlocking Dylan Cozens are a lot better than Buffalo getting an injury-plagued Norris to stop being injury-plagued, especially when you consider Buffalo’s sketchy history with medical treatment.
It's not just questionable personnel decisions that have bitten Buffalo in the ass this year as injuries have also devastated the Buffalo lineup. Thompson's two most frequent linemates are 20-year-old Zach Benson and 21-year-old Jiri Kulich, and while both may someday become really good NHL players, neither are likely to help the Sabres end their playoff drought which has now gone on so long it is eligible to become a bar mitzvah.
The Sabres did name a sandwich after Tage, so there's that. But this two-foot-long deli offering has shockingly done nothing to quell the notion that Thompson may be looking for a new home.
NHL Insider (and master in the art of saying something may or may not happen and making it sound like actual news) Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on their situation:
Elliotte Friedman: Re Sabres: We basically know that two of their franchise players, Dahlin and Thompson, have indicated that it has to get better this year; the Sabres don't have a long runway for this - 32 Thoughts (10/13)
— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) October 13, 2025
I don't know what that actually means. I don't think Friedman does either. But it sure sounds good and has people like me salivating that two talented players at premium positions could be hitting the trade market.
