Sabres’ Tage Thompson to return to lineup against Wild on Wednesday

One of the Buffalo Sabres’ top offensive weapons is ready to go.

Head coach Lindy Ruff told the media that forward Tage Thompson will be back in the lineup for the Sabres’ matchup with the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night.

Thompson has been out of the lineup for over two weeks since suffering a lower-body injury against the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 11, which led to the Sabres placing him on injured reserve.

At the time of his injury, the 27-year-old was tied for the league lead in goals, having scored 11 goals in his first 16 games this year. Currently, he is tied for 18th in the NHL in tallies. Thompson was riding a four-game point streak when he was hurt, having notched 18 points so far this season. He is still third on the Sabres in scoring.

The Phoenix native’s ailment has forced him to miss Buffalo’s last five games, in which the team has picked up some steam. The Sabres went 4-1-0 during that span, climbing into playoff contention with December just days away.

The injury bug has unfortunately followed Thompson around for the past couple of seasons. Upper-body injuries were part of the reason why the former UConn star played just 71 games during the 2023-24 season. Across his first seven seasons in the NHL, Thompson has never played a full 82-game schedule, appearing at most in 78 contests during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns.

Thompson is in the second season of a seven-year contract he signed with Buffalo in Aug. 2022. It carries a cap hit of $7,142,857 through the 2029-30 campaign.

In 388 games, the former St. Louis Blue has scored 143 goals and 128 assists for 271 points.

The Sabres (11-9-1) are fourth in the Atlantic Division in winning percentage (.548) and are sitting in the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.