Speculation: Joe Thornton

[Sota Popinski]

I think Tavares signs with San Jose this offseason, if Jumbo plays another year he will be the 3C

 

[Nolan11]

What?! You think SJ without Thorton is better then the CBJ? Do we get to be healthy? We were the #4 team in the league last year and have only fallen this year because we had Murray/Dubi/Atkinson/Wennberg out 2 monthes each and Werenski/Nuti were out a couple weeks. That's majority of last year's offense plus 3 top 4 D. Now we are our Anderson likely until the playoffs which will be about 6 weeks for him.

With Thorton next year
Panarin PLD Anderson
Foligno Thorton Atkinson
Milano Wennberg Bjorkstrand
Calvert Dubi Jenner

Z Jones
Murray Nutivaara
Cole Savard

Bob

That's a ****ing team right there

Would be a scary team. One question, who is Thorton? This is a Joe THORNton thread

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

He was fairly close to signing in L.A this off-season. Maybe he reconsiders?

No. He only had sj on his radar. You're probably thinking of Marleau

 

[Reaper45]

No. He only had sj on his radar. You're probably thinking of Marleau

Kings are communicating with pending UFA Joe Thornton - LA Kings Insider

The rumor was he was considering L.A. and Wilson gave him that big contract.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Kings are communicating with pending UFA Joe Thornton - LA Kings Insider

The rumor was he was considering L.A. and Wilson gave him that big contract.

He communicated with almost every team in the league lol. He had Bergevin fly him out to Montreal and wine and dine him with no intent of signing there. He was just enjoying the attention since he'd never actually been a fa before.

 

[GoldenSeal]

They'll be burying his bones at the Shark Tank. He's going nowhere.

 

[Arkantoss]

He will sign with Ottawa

 

[LeafChief]

Toronto can sign him at a large dollar value on a 1 year deal.

I wouldn't mind seeing that.

 

[Juxtaposer]

What?! You think SJ without Thorton is better then the CBJ? Do we get to be healthy? We were the #4 team in the league last year and have only fallen this year because we had Murray/Dubi/Atkinson/Wennberg out 2 monthes each and Werenski/Nuti were out a couple weeks. That's majority of last year's offense plus 3 top 4 D. Now we are our Anderson likely until the playoffs which will be about 6 weeks for him.

With Thorton next year
Panarin PLD Anderson
Foligno Thorton Atkinson
Milano Wennberg Bjorkstrand
Calvert Dubi Jenner

Z Jones
Murray Nutivaara
Cole Savard

Bob

That's a ****ing team right there

Yeah, the Sharks without Thornton are still better than the CBJ. You might have more man-games lost but we’ve had a solid month and a half where Martin Jones was either injured or playing like a beer-leaguer because he was still injured. Single-handedly lost us a half dozen games that we would have won with league-average goaltending. Never mind our fair share of injuries to key guys like Couture, Hertl, and Donskoi.

Never mind that I’m having a hard time seeing a team with Ryan Murray and Marcus Nutivaara on their second pairing as “a f***ing team”.

 

[firstemperor]

It will be SJ, LA, Anaheim, or retirement. The Leafs are not happening, I know the man personally and he has zero interest in leaving California.

It will be for a year, or two at most. Doubt it's as much of a foregone conclusion as you suggest. The guy will retire in Sunny California for the rest of his existence.

As for this thread. I expect the Leafs will be interested. Lou went after him hard last year.

 

[Gecklund]

One thing that I’m really hoping is that the Sharks get Thornton in some sort of coaching role after he retires. Also Clowe. I want Clowe as assistant coach. Love that guy.

 

[mikeyp24]

Never mind that I’m having a hard time seeing a team with Ryan Murray and Marcus Nutivaara on their second pairing as “a ****ing team”.

You should have started there. Just say you don't know anything about players you are talking about so you don't look silly. Nuti is a relatively unknown being a 7th round pick so I get that and literally no one outside Columbus seems to understand Murray still and you still have like 4 fans on this site that claim the cbj as their team though nothing they have ever said supports that but I digress they don't think he's good either but before he got hurt we topped the metro and after he went down we dropped out of the top 3 and have been in a struggling WC spot and since he's been back miraculously 7 game win streak. If you want to see MVP numbers look up the record of the CBJ with Murray healthy vs hurt since the start of the 2016 season. Most underrated NHL player on this site. When he is healthy the team wins and wins A LOT. Our most consistent pair all year has been Murray and Nuti when either are healthy.

 

[Stephen]

I would prefer CBJ to the Sharks also. I think San Jose is basically where the Canucks and Wings were a couple of years ago, just on the cusp of falling into full on rebuild mode. CBJ is loaded with defense and they have a lot of depth and quality up front.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

If Thornton wants to win, he's going to have to take lesser money.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I would prefer CBJ to the Sharks also. I think San Jose is basically where the Canucks and Wings were a couple of years ago, just on the cusp of falling into full on rebuild mode. CBJ is loaded with defense and they have a lot of depth and quality up front.

Not even close to true regarding the Sharks.

 

[CanadienShark]

I would prefer CBJ to the Sharks also. I think San Jose is basically where the Canucks and Wings were a couple of years ago, just on the cusp of falling into full on rebuild mode. CBJ is loaded with defense and they have a lot of depth and quality up front.

That's what people have said for years. Meier, Hertl, etc. are keeping us afloat. We've got an interesting mix of players now.

 

[Gecklund]

That's what people have said for years. Meier, Hertl, etc. are keeping us afloat. We've got an interesting mix of players now.

I feel like we have a solid supporting cast of youth. In the future I could see our forwards being pretty good. I don’t know if we have any elite/game breaking talent but we are going to have solid players in Hertl, Meier, Labanc, Donskoi, Tierney, Gambrell, Norris, Balcers, etc. obviously none of those are going to be elite players but we’ve gotten by for years without the elite headlining players (Burns being the exception currently but even then I feel like he doesn’t get that much attention). Also we have goaltending locked up for years with Jones and Dell for two more years. After Dell leaves we can either sign a cheap backup or maybe we will have a prospect ready (Bibeau maybe?). The thing I’m worried about is our defense. After Ryan we have no players that are NHL ready or close to NHL ready that are young. Other than maybe DeMelo but that’s questionable. We have Ferrero who could end up being a solid top 4 but no one else really. I hope this draft we take a good D prospect or maybe sign someone in the off-season.

 

[CanadienShark]

I feel like we have a solid supporting cast of youth. In the future I could see our forwards being pretty good. I don’t know if we have any elite/game breaking talent but we are going to have solid players in Hertl, Meier, Labanc, Donskoi, Tierney, Gambrell, Norris, Balcers, etc. obviously none of those are going to be elite players but we’ve gotten by for years without the elite headlining players (Burns being the exception currently but even then I feel like he doesn’t get that much attention). Also we have goaltending locked up for years with Jones and Dell for two more years. After Dell leaves we can either sign a cheap backup or maybe we will have a prospect ready (Bibeau maybe?). The thing I’m worried about is our defense. After Ryan we have no players that are NHL ready or close to NHL ready that are young. Other than maybe DeMelo but that’s questionable. We have Ferrero who could end up being a solid top 4 but no one else really. I hope this draft we take a good D prospect or maybe sign someone in the off-season.

I feel better about the Sharks now and their future than I have in recent years. We're not top contenders, but not some team stuck in purgatory.

 

[mikeyp24]

The sharks are in the same boat as NYR last year. Then at the draft the traded Stepan then TDL McD and Nash. Thornton will be the Stepan leaving and by the TDL I see Pavelski going too.

 

[Flamesjustwin]

It will be for a year, or two at most. Doubt it's as much of a foregone conclusion as you suggest. The guy will retire in Sunny California for the rest of his existence.

As for this thread. I expect the Leafs will be interested. Lou went after him hard last year.

It is, I can tell you with 100% certainty that Joe Thornton will never play for the Leafs.

 

[supsens]

The sharks are in the same boat as NYR last year. Then at the draft the traded Stepan then TDL McD and Nash. Thornton will be the Stepan leaving and by the TDL I see Pavelski going too.

I think the rangers cleared money to go after a JT. Sneaky sneaky
And the sharks don’t tank or rebuild they just keep rolling on.
They will probably sign kane or jvr. They have had pevelski for a long time I have no idea why they would move him.

 

[Stephen]

That's what people have said for years. Meier, Hertl, etc. are keeping us afloat. We've got an interesting mix of players now.

Decline usually takes years to set in, first it goes slow then all of a sudden. The Sharks youth is not nearly acceptable without the veteran supporting cast. Contrast that with CBJ, where they have youth, size, upside everywhere up front, two franchise defensemen, etc. they basically look like the Jets before the Laine lottery pick and have major upside.

 

[Gecklund]

Decline usually takes years to set in, first it goes slow then all of a sudden. The Sharks youth is not nearly acceptable without the veteran supporting cast. Contrast that with CBJ, where they have youth, size, upside everywhere up front, two franchise defensemen, etc. they basically look like the Jets before the Laine lottery pick and have major upside.

The only player we are really worried about decline is Thornton. They don’t really have any other really old players.

 

[Wingsfan 4 life]

They'll be burying his bones at the Shark Tank. He's going nowhere.

Bury his bones, preserve the beard.

 

[firstemperor]

It is, I can tell you with 100% certainty that Joe Thornton will never play for the Leafs.

No one's betting against that notion, as the odds of that are already slim. Just don't think 1 year, near the end of Joe's career, playing outside of a state he's going to retire is some fantastical scenario.

But like you said, you know Jumbo Joe on a personal level.