If a year and a half ago you would've given me the option of what was more likely, people seriously comparing Thompson to Mario Lemieux while he's a mid-season Hart trophy candidate VS. the earth getting hit by an asteroid, I probably would've taken the apocalypse.
I'm not sure the NHL has seen anything like this, at least not for a long time in a forward. It's not like there was some linear progression or really any progression at all. He was barely an NHL player and looked ready to flame out, heck on a team with any sort of depth he would've been out of the league already -- most of us were annoyed they gave him a one way contract over $1M. Then to one of the best players in the league basically overnight. Maybe unprecedented?
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