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Allegiant · 03-16-2023, 08:06 PM

TOMMY THOMPSON: Not Quite a Bust

The name Tommy Thompson means many things to many different people. To most people, it means absolutely nothing. The former 13th overall draft pick of the Buffalo Stampede made only a mild impact on the league since being called up two seasons ago. Although his point totals, almost identical across two seasons with 13 goals and 26 assists for 39 points in his first season, and 12 goals with 28 assists for 40 points in his second season, look fairly respectable--that respect ends the moment you realize the points inflation that has resulted in the league in recent years. The league is more dynamic and offense-centric than ever, and those 40 points quickly pale in comparison to the production of actual star players.

Even so, Thompson can claim some sort of niche for the Stampede. He has played primarily as their third line center across his two years with the team, logging time on their penalty kill and generally playing a respectable defensive game. Scouts knew that he would always be a defense-first forward, so this comes as little surprise--however, most figured he would develop more of a two-way game by this point in his career, and few would have imagined him being only a second option on the penalty kill. For those that are aware of him outside of a couple mentions here and there in the boxscores, he appears to be one of a well-known archetype: someone who had a lot of momentum in juniors, and collapsed thereafter.

Well, that's exactly what he is.

"It isn't that I stopped playing hard," Thompson argued only a couple of weeks ago, upon learning he was rated as one of the worst draft picks of the S65 draft. "But sometimes, things don't work out the way you think they will. Time in practice doesn't have the same benefit as it used to, and the things you could do in juniors--well, it isn't so easy to do them anymore. It's not like I was lazing around. I'm still out there, grinding each and every game. But yeah, maybe I should have been a second round pick. Maybe I should have been a third round pick. But that's not really something we can change, and I just want to focus on doing what I can do to help us win."

While scouts have much reason to doubt as to whether Thompson's career trajectory will improve much given the past two seasons, internal reports from the Stampede suggest he has been putting in a little more effort than usual--and in an unlikely area. Rather than just hitting the gym for limited payoff like he had been in previous seasons, he has been attending video and development sessions with the coaching staff. By focusing not on how he plays the game, but rather on how the game is played around him, he seems to be hoping to make a perceptible difference in his presence on the ice. Whether this will amount to better performance on the penalty kill or on the scoresheet remains to be seen.

What is clear, however, is that Tommy Thompson isn't quite a bust. He isn't up to the quality of a 13th overall pick, and he isn't the player the Stampede were really hoping for when they made that selection--but, for the Stampede, he has proven to be a reliable hand on the third line. A player who is making slow and steady improvement, who fills a particular niche for the team, and who has made it clear that he wants to spend his entire career with the Stampede organization. Instead, Thompson is best described as a loyal disappointment. Is that much better? Probably not.

***WannabeFinn*** · 03-16-2023, 08:16 PM

Not a bust! Not a bust!

Evok · 03-17-2023, 03:05 PM

QCC Legend

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