He has never NOT said the right things at these press scrums, even when the answers are not going to be flattering toward himself. He took his assignment to the AHL like a pro and everyone down there at the time talked about how hard he worked and yet at the same time did so without complaint. He worked through the shoulder injury in much the same way - saying and more importantly DOING the right things to come back better.
I have no doubt in my mind that he will be working doggedly to improve over the summer. I can only guess at what that could mean next year, but hearing him say he's going to go all in on improving his faceoff conversions should make a big difference.
He has the ability to be dominant as a 2-way force in my opinion. With his reach, he should truly be able to start being an all-around beast. If there was ever a late bloomer, Tage is the perfect example.
What I'm hoping for next year is to see him start breaking through against the better/more structured teams in the league. I understand that these teams shut down good players, but in looking closely at his game log, you'll see that he struggled to put up counting stats against some of the better opponents (Boston, Florida, Washington, Edmonton, LA which are all big/talented teams). This may be perfectly normal and there were other examples where he performed admirably (Carolina, Tampa, Colorado), but he seems to have really done most of his damage against the less structured teams (i.e. Flyers, Leafs, Blue Jackets, Canadiens, Devils).
Also, his splits at Home/Away are a very stark difference ... Over a point-per-game at home and +1, while he's ~0.7 points per game on the road and -18. This led me to check a few other Centers in and around his point total and he's not that far off from guys like Larkin, Suzuki, Stephenson, Hertl, and even Bergeron, but Tage had the most eye-popping differential in terms of ES production. I know +/- is frowned upon as a measure, but do think it's relevant here in that he's clearly being matched up against on the road and is not faring nearly as well offensively or defensively. A decent improvement here could go a long way, and closing that gap is likely just part of the growing process at the position.
A few examples of teams he struggled against (namely Boston/FL have the big-time shutdown #1 Center and d-man):
Boston - 4 GP 0G 2A Minus-2 - Only 1 ES point, no primary points.
Florida - 4 GP 1G 1A Minus-7
Washington - 3 GP 0G 1A Minus-1
I'd like to think that Tage will take his second-half performance and grow from that point. He was over a point-per-game basically from the time that Tuch game into the lineup. I think Tage needs Tuch on his line, especially if Skinner is on the other flank. I don't think he's necessarily going to be a consistent 35-40 goal guy, but should be able to sniff 30 for the next several years, especially getting the top-line minutes. I see no reason he can't sniff 70-80 points. Winning more key offensive zone/PP draws should only help his point totals. When a guy like Bergeron can come in and basically beat him every time, it's going to be tough to put up ES points against that line. He's already putting up low-end #1 Center numbers, the question is whether he can round out his 2-way game and keep up his second-half production rates. He could then enter the conversation of a top-15ish center. Having a rock-solid defense (and better goalie) behind him should only aid in that as well.
All in all, just glad we can even have this conversation. Imagine a Sabres team this year without Tage and we're probably below Montreal in all likelihood.
