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Thornton Watch

herman

herman

Well-known member
Might as well, since Mirtle, Johnston, LeBrun, and Friedman have all mentioned the possibility and mutual interest of Joe Thornton finally landing in Toronto.
https://twitter.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/1316400819676368896
https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1232733372813889544
https://twitter.com/Steve_Dangle/status/1316152194643759105

https://twitter.com/Sz1909_Szemberg/status/1316702870608240640
Meanwhile, he will be hitting the ice for Davos
 
https://twitter.com/zjlaing/status/1222609827601379328

I'm not sure the world is ready for what will happen when Thornton helps Nick Robertson put up a 4-goal game.
 
I'm very doubtful we see Thornton in any other NHL uniform but San Jose. He just seems to have entered into the Shane Doan territory of caring more about maintaining what he's got going on lifestyle wise than hockey pursuits.

 
Nik said:
I'm very doubtful we see Thornton in any other NHL uniform but San Jose. He just seems to have entered into the Shane Doan territory of caring more about maintaining what he's got going on lifestyle wise than hockey pursuits.
Click to expand...

I get where you're coming with this but San Jose and Arizona are also very, very different organizations. The Sharks have generally been contenders or contenders-ish during his entire time there. Even the season prior to this one they got to the 3rd round. I think Joe still very much wants to win, and the fact that he expressed how disappointed he was at the deadline when the Sharks couldn't/didn't move him shows that.

Doesn't mean I'd rule a return to the Sharks out there. Maybe he thinks they'll be able to rebound, there's still some good players there.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
I get where you're coming with this but San Jose and Arizona are also very, very different organizations. The Sharks have generally been contenders or contenders-ish during his entire time there. Even the season prior to this one they got to the 3rd round. I think Joe still very much wants to win, and the fact that he expressed how disappointed he was at the deadline when the Sharks couldn't/didn't move him shows that.
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I don't think for a second Shane Doan ever stopped wanting to win either, he just didn't want to enough to move for it.
 
Nik said:
I don't think for a second Shane Doan ever stopped wanting to win either, he just didn't want to enough to move for it.
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Sure, unlike Thornton who has already demonstrated that he is willing to move for it.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Sure, unlike Thornton who has already demonstrated that he is willing to move for it.
Click to expand...

Well, what Thornton has demonstrated is that he was willing to spend a couple months in a hotel for it.

edit: And, for what it's worth, only after the Sharks had conclusively established that they had no chance at the playoffs.
 
Yeah, I always thought the Boston trade thing was noteworthy because it basically came out of nowhere which is why just about everyone looked at it and thought that other teams would have given Boston a better deal if they'd had any notion he was on the market.
 
This would most likely be Thornton's last kick at the can, if he's realistic does he want to spend it in SJ spinning his wheels or at least go for it one last time with the Leafs. I get the lifestyle thing and maybe he loves living in SJ, but given that this is already a shortened season, he'll only really be away from SJ what, 5-6 months if that?  Doesn't seem like that big a commitment considering how much money he's already made and the fact he's never won. Sure the Leafs are a longshot too, but probably better chances than SJ.
 
Nik said:
CarltonTheBear said:
Sure, unlike Thornton who has already demonstrated that he is willing to move for it.
Click to expand...

Well, what Thornton has demonstrated is that he was willing to spend a couple months in a hotel for it.

edit: And, for what it's worth, only after the Sharks had conclusively established that they had no chance at the playoffs.
Click to expand...

He still keeps a place near St. Thomas for his summers.
 
Look, they're signing all his buddies:  Dell, now whoever this guy is for the Marlies:

https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2020/10/14/21515936/marlies-sign-rourke-chartier-to-an-ahl-contract
 
Nik said:
Yeah, I always thought the Boston trade thing was noteworthy because it basically came out of nowhere which is why just about everyone looked at it and thought that other teams would have given Boston a better deal if they'd had any notion he was on the market.
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Brian Burke swears that he did offer Boston a better deal.
 
Frank E said:
He still keeps a place near St. Thomas for his summers.
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Ok. I don't know that has a serious impact on the real effects of either moving by himself or moving his family to Toronto for a year but I'm glad he's got real estate in the portfolio.
 
https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1316740104371789825

Wouldn't be the first time a big centreman spent some time playing in Switzerland before coming back to play with the Leafs.
 
I don?t know how much Thornton could really contribute at this phase of his career but it certainly would be exciting seeing him in a Leaf uniform.

And if it did happen it proves Dubas isn?t affected by being jilted the first time around. (See TJ Brodie)
 
Just wanted to demonstrate how the Leafs could fit Thornton into our cap structure, this is currently what the roster would look like:

Hyman-Matthews-Marner
Kerfoot-Tavares-Nylander
______-______-Simmonds
Robertson-Spezza-Engvall

Rielly-Brodie
Muzzin-Holl
Lehtonen-Bogosian
_____

Andersen
Campbell

3 blank spaces for Thornton, Mikheyev, and Dermott with $3,588,967 in available cap space. If Engvall is sent down and replaced with Vesey then it's $3,763,967 in available cap space. I think you could split either of those 3 ways between those 3 players, unless Mikheyev gets a bigger than expected arbitration award like $2mil.

The other thing to keep in mind is that Thornton is eligible for performance bonuses in his contract because he's older than 35. I don't think this is something that Leafs would be too interested in doing since the bonuses might spill over to 21/22 but it's an option.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1316740104371789825

Wouldn't be the first time a big centreman spent some time playing in Switzerland before coming back to play with the Leafs.
Click to expand...

So leaving SJ to play somewhere else for an extended period of time doesn't seem to be an issue.
 
Thornton's wife is Swiss and he's got Swiss citizenship. So it's probably a case of them just living in a different one of their houses as opposed to moving.
 
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