Confirmed with Link: Joe Thornton to Leafs [1yr/700k]

[Twine Tickler]

guys, Joe has been dealing with injuries all year, he is likely not 100%. He's 41 years old and has 11pts in 15 GP. as previous posters have said, that line has been absent in the last 4-5 games, not exclusively Joe. Take a deep breath, this guy is a first ballot HHOF, he will be ok

 

[ToneDog]

Likely when Matty back at full speed again it may go back to before ... he is just so good when he is dominating ice both ends and in transition ... but he has looked OFF past couple weeks ... yes he is scoring but that is not it ... his speed has changed and he looks slower again since injury

41 year old and a condensed schedule covering 3 time zones. Dubas is a fool if he did not expect Jumbo to regress as the season went on. The guy should be load managed if they want to maximize his output.

 

[Stephen]

guys, Joe has been dealing with injuries all year, he is likely not 100%. He's 41 years old and has 11pts in 15 GP. as previous posters have said, that line has been absent in the last 4-5 games, not exclusively Joe. Take a deep breath, this guy is a first ballot HHOF, he will be ok

No, for all the reasons you cited there’s an argument to be made that he needs to be used more carefully to get the most out of him. Health, endurance and high performance don’t just take care of themselves. He’s a unique asset that needs to be taken care of to get the most mileage.

 

[horner]

We need him for the playoffs .
Load management.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

But reflecting a little, clearly whole team is slumping as soon as Matty got hurt and he is not dominating games like he did to start ... we can all see it in Matty's speed up and down ice ... his play carrying puck has stopped ... he even tried to make some crazy foot block shot last game ... these are things we did not see until past 2 weeks ... we all need to realize da team rests largely on Matty's back ... da most important thing we can do is let him recover fully NOW ... who cares is he misses next 2 weeks ... he needs to be healthy is we have any chance

 

[hotpaws]

at 40 plus Jumbo is a passenger , he can chip in when M & M dominate but to expect him to step up at his age to help drive the line absurd

 

[Twine Tickler]

load management is laughable. Load management works in the NBA because their league is a complete joke. The Lakers can afford to rest Lebron against say the rockets because the rockets have lost 13 straight games and suck balls. There are no tap-in's in the NHL. Joe is playing because he 1. wants to play 2. helps our team win games... Joe is not unlike any player in the league, he can go on a slump. Similar to Matty. He will be fine

 

[The Iceman]

YUP...time to replace him on PP1 with Willy

 

[Twine Tickler]

at 40 plus Jumbo is a passenger , he can chip in when M & M dominate but to expect him to step up at his age to help drive the line absurd

of course, but what player making 700k is expecting to drive a line?

 

[Stephen]

But reflecting a little, clearly whole team is slumping as soon as Matty got hurt and he is not dominating games like he did to start ... we can all see it in Matty's speed up and down ice ... his play carrying puck has stopped ... he even tried to make some crazy foot block shot last game ... these are things we did not see until past 2 weeks ... we all need to realize da team rests largely on Matty's back ... da most important thing we can do is let him recover fully NOW ... who cares is he misses next 2 weeks ... he needs to be healthy is we have any chance

Actually the Leafs did quite well when Matthews was hurt. Reminds me of when the Leafs would step up whenever Sundin got hurt like during the 2002 run but their chemistry got scrambled a bit when the big dog gets back into the lineup.

 

[Stephen]

Thornton shouldn’t be expected to drive any line but we want to keep him as fresh and healthy as possible (like with Spezza) so he can make impactful contributions with limited ice.

The idea that “he’ll be fine” and “we can’t rest him” is a bit lazy because he’s clearly a unique and specialized tool and we need to understand how to get the most out of him.

 

[Sinkkunaattori]

I would rest him more and consider putting him on more of a Jason Spezza type workload. He was great in a burst of energy coming back from injury but he can't play first line minutes at a high level over a long period of time.

Yeah similar thing happened with Marleau's last season, he was dynamite for couple games after a couple weeks off then nothing rest of the way.
Hope we've learned from that, at least Jumbo doesn't have some dumb most consecutive games played streak going so he doesnt need to play every game like Marleau.

 

[Faltorvo]

Thornton shouldn’t be expected to drive any line but we want to keep him as fresh and healthy as possible (like with Spezza) so he can make impactful contributions with limited ice.

The idea that “he’ll be fine” and “we can’t rest him” is a bit lazy because he’s clearly a unique and specialized tool and we need to understand how to get the most out of him.

Jumbo knows himself

and they have a top notch training staff

they will rest him when they see fit

 

[Faltorvo]

YUP...time to replace him on PP1 with Willy

NOPE!!!

 

[Stephen]

Jumbo knows himself

and they have a top notch training staff

they will rest him when they see fit

I don’t know about that. Marleau was completely out of gas in 2019 but they kept playing him on 0% battery life.

 

[Stephen]

Yeah similar thing happened with Marleau's last season, he was dynamite for couple games after a couple weeks off then nothing rest of the way.
Hope we've learned from that, at least Jumbo doesn't have some dumb most consecutive games played streak going so he doesnt need to play every game like Marleau.

Agreed. Perfect example of diminishing returns if we don’t use these veteran assets more judiciously. Marleau was the worst case in 2019 when he was completely out of gas. And Spezza is a nice example of when they under utilize him which keeps him fresh and allows the occasional scoring outbursts.

 

[vpasla1]

I don’t know about that. Marleau was completely out of gas in 2019 but they kept playing him on 0% battery life.

That was on Marleau valuing his iron-man streak more than the team winning.