Should Joe Thornton pull a Ray Bourque in an attempt to win the Stanley Cup?

[Alwalys]

Chocky chocker the Rooster Tamer can't pull a Bourque unless he's on bottom scraping team now like the Bruins.

 

[Mikeshane]

No.

I was thoroughly enjoying seeing Bourque without a cup and then I was robbed of that joy, don't take my no cup Thornton joy away.

 

[KeninsFan]

The one intriguing possibility I could think of would be Nashville. They have $6.6M in cap space available, so they could acquire him essentially entirely for futures. It's hard to say whether or not Nashville+Thornton would be better than San Jose is currently, but you could definitely make a case for that line-up being one of the top 2 or 3 contenders for the Cup.

An often understated part of SJ's contending window is the lack of competition in the Pacific.

In the Central Jumbo Joe would have to go through Chicago/St. Louis/Dallas which are all teams in their primes.

In the Pacific there's a declining ANA/LA and...not much else.

 

[iamjs]

You see, where Ray Bourque was a winner stuck on teams that couldn't go the distance, Joe Thornton is a loser who time and time again actively fails to carry his team when they need him to. So even if he pulls a Ray Bourque, the team that gets him will instantly regret it when he pulls a tin man in the playoffs.

Nobody ever seems to mention that Bourque had two chances at the Cup in 1988 and 1990 with Boston.

 

[Oates2Neely]

Name one single team that can fit Thornton in AND is more of a contender than the Sharks currently are.

Nashville

 

[JaegerDice]

If the Sharks aren't in a playoff spot at the TDL, would they consider moving Thornton and or Marleau in a Vermette-style scenario?

 

[CupfortheSharks]

If the Sharks aren't in a playoff spot at the TDL, would they consider moving Thornton and or Marleau in a Vermette-style scenario?

If the Sharks aren't in a playoff spot at the TDL and Thornton and/or Marleau asked DW to be traded to a contender, DW would certainly do it while getting the best return he could for the Sharks.

Note: the players would have to ask to be traded. They are both pending UFAs with NMC.

That said, I think this is very unrealistic that the Sharks miss the playoffs this year.

 

[Jeti]

It's unlikely he demands a trade, or a contender has cap space for him, or that a contender wouldn't lose some other major piece of their roster to acquire him. What's interesting is if he signs for some crazy low amount in Chicago/Tampa as a UFA. $2M or something.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Nashville

Would be a hell of an add. SJ likely needs to take back Ribiero or something to help make the money work but...

Johansen
Thornton
Fisher

That makes for strong 3 centres

 

[Alwalys]

Nobody ever seems to mention that Bourque had two chances at the Cup in 1988 and 1990 with Boston.

Bourque pulled a Borque 10-12 years after that though when Boston was clearly dead in the water.

If Bourque had left boston in 89, that would be closer to what this thread is suggesting, at least as far as team prospects.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Nashville

Nashville is not more of a contender than the Sharks. They are equal at best.

 

[kook10]

Not a cup favorite but id love to see joe on the red wings as a wings fan

 

[Puckstop40]

He can get traded to the Avalanche and win the cup here and we can retire the #19 in honor of super Joe