Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) – Before the Buffalo Sabres broke their playoff drought of 14-consecutive seasons in April, many of the players had never been in the playoffs. Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson both just finished their eighth season with the Sabres, and neither had played a Stanley Cup Playoff game until April.
That covered 586 games for Dahlin and 529 games for Thompson.
Mattias Samuelsson and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen both have played six professional seasons in the Sabres organization, with Samulesson playing 290 games and Luukkonen 190 before entering the playoffs.
Thompson played 13 playoff games, and finished with five goals and 10 assists for 15 points. He was second in NHL playoff scoring when the Sabres were eliminated, and he's still currently fourth overall.
In 13 games, Dahlin had four goals and 10 assists for 14 points, and is just one point off the lead for defensemen. Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes and Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson both lead the NHL playoffs with 15 points.
Both Dahlin and Thompson signed long-term contracts with Buffalo, because both wanted to stick it out and be part of the solution.
“It's been an emotional year, especially for me and 'Ras'," said Thompson during his end-of-season press conference last week. "'Ras', for sure, with things that he's been dealing with, but it's something we've talked about for a long time being here as long as we have. Guys have come and gone and weren't able to do it, and one thing we talked a lot about is taking a lot of pride in being two big pieces, ending the drought and bring winning hockey back to Buffalo.
“It's a weird feeling, because it's a rewarding feeling; but at the same time, the way the season ended, it still stings and hurts. So it's a mixed bag of emotions. But I think when you take a step back and look at the progress we've made this year and the step we've taken, and a lot of the goals that we set out in the beginning of the season, we've surpassed them. So now that standard gets changed, and the bar gets set higher. It gets me excited.”
When asked during the playoffs if he was playing with an injury, Thompson was quite clear it was none of anyone's business. When speaking during his end-of-season press conference, he acknowledged he probably shouldn't have answered the question the way he did.
“Everyone is playing through something in playoffs," Thompson said. "But it was just a little heated. I had some [lower] back stuff going on for most of the playoffs, nothing ridiculous. But just stuff from a long season and not a lot of time to recover.”
When the team started winning back on Dec. 9, they were in last place in the Eastern Conference. It took a 10-game winning streak to get them out of the basement and on their way to a second place finish in the conference, and an Atlantic Division title.
"I remember after the third game [on Dec. 8], we had lost three in-a-row, and I think all you guys were all over us. I just remember thinking about that, and it's so true. It's such a long season, and it really doesn't matter what's happened the previous years," Thompson recalled. "I think we all just truly dug into that and leaned on each other, and said we can turn this thing around. We can't start thinking about the previous years and what's happened, and the way this season started. And we just have to keep looking to the next game, and keep that real short mindset, one day at a time. It was a rewarding season in that aspect, coming from where we did to now.”
Thompson knows just because they played two rounds of playoffs this season doesn't mean they're going to make it to the playoffs next year. Teams are no longer thinking that coming to Buffalo is an easy game and an easy win.
“It's going to get harder," Thompson acknowledged. "There's teams in the league that came into Buffalo taking us for granted, and I think we've earned the league's respect. I don't think it was a fluke, by any means. So I think every team is ready for us, and when that happens, it's just going to get harder, and you've got to be willing to embrace that.”
In one calendar year, starting in May of 2025, Thompson scored the Golden Goal to help Team USA win the World Championship in Sweden, helped the Sabres to their first playoff appearance in 15 years, and played in 13 games at the 2026 Winter Olympics to help the U.S. to an Olympic gold medal in February. He literally went from the White House in Washington, D.C. to Newark, N.J. and on the ice in time to help the Sabres beat the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 25.
I had wondered if, at any point, he hit a wall, and he said of course he did.
“It was a crazy, long year, starting back in Worlds," Thompson said. "As soon as Worlds ended, Brian Galivan (Sabres' new Director of Performance and also worked with Team USA) was over there with us, our strength coach and he was like, 'You're getting back in the gym Day 1.' So I've been going since right when Worlds ended."
Thompson does feel he needs some rest time now, but feels the adversity was good for him to test his limits both physically and mentally.
"When things get tough physically, it's a big test on your mental aspect as well. And I'd be lying if I didn't say there were times throughout this year where I hit a wall big time, but that's when you lean on each other in the room," Thompson said.
“I'm not going to have my best every game, and guys in the room aren't going to have their best. It's all about picking each other up, and that's what makes the group so tight, is how we knew when guys were truly going through things and when guys needed to be picked up. That's how I got through it, just leaning on guys.”
Instead of going back to Arizona for most of the offseason, Thompson and his family have a house in Clarence right across the street from Alex Tuch and they spend much of the offseason here. That gives Thompson a chance to work closely with Galivan down at the arena. I thought Thompson was noticeably stronger this season, and he and Tuch have become true power forwards to go with Josh Doan, Beck Malenstyn, Jordan Greenway and Josh Dunne.
