Confirmed with Link: Thomas Traded to Islanders

[Kalus]

I don't think anyone can say for sure what was going through Chiarelli's mind regarding Thomas and his contract, or what was (is) going through Thomas's mind regarding his "sabbatical." All we have to go on is second-hand reports, conjecture, and our own mind-sets.

I dont think anyone is claiming to know for sure what was going through Chia or Thomas' minds. If someone did, I missed it anyway. Just a fun sports discussion on an internet message board. Relax.

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

This thread has turned into a recursive loop.

 

[ThomasJ13]

Chia wanted to trade Thomas a half of season into his new 4 year deal with a full NTC. After that, all bets were off... Chia had no intention of honoring the contract in it's original form...

Not to mention that PC panicked to get the deal done in a hurry because he didn't understand the 35+ contract rules. It's really strange that Thomas is hung out to dry as being disloyal to the organization, but they tried to pressure him multiple times to drop his NTC. Where was the loyalty there?

I can see the 'disloyalty' on both sides - however, it seems to me that a team requesting that somebody drop their NMC, or exploring trade possibilities is a relatively more common occurrence than retiring in the manner Thomas did. You see the former every year in the NHL, whereas we've rarely seen the latter. I guess I just don't see attempting to trade somebody with a NMC as an 'all bets are off / horribly disloyal' kind of thing...but perhaps others (and maybe Thomas, at least at the time?) view that differently.

 

[robert terwilliger]

thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire.

i swear to god, people here should have a month's stay at the overlook with nothing but a typewriter.

 

[ThomasJ13]

thomas didn't retire. ....thomas didn't retire.

i swear to god, people here should have a month's stay at the overlook with nothing but a typewriter.

I know he didn't 'retire' in the sense of ceasing his professional career as a hockey player. I was using the term in the sense of withdrawing from service with the Bruins. Sorry for any misunderstanding. I should have used a different term.

 

[robert terwilliger]

the only reason i jumped on you was because if thomas had really wanted to put the screws to the bruins, he would have retired. untradeable 5 million dollar cap hit: done.

he went home, wasn't getting paid and decided that his career was over...but he certainly didn't **** the bruins like he could have.

 

[Number8]

This thread has turned into a recursive loop.

I know what you mean.....

I keep seeing it show up and mistakenly think that something has happened on the Island or that DiPietro's waiver means we might get the second pick somehow. I know it's highly highly unlikely to happen but every time this thread gets new posts I can't help but wonder. It's getting to be like the Soderberg thing.

 

[Number8]

thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomasretire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomasretire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomasretire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomasretire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomasretire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomasretire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomasretire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomasretire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomasretire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomasretire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomasretire. thomas didn't retire. thomas didn't retire. thomas

i swear to god, people here should have a month's stay at the overlook with nothing but a typewriter.

Wait....... now I'm confused.....

 

[Artemis]

I dont think anyone is claiming to know for sure what was going through Chia or Thomas' minds. If someone did, I missed it anyway. Just a fun sports discussion on an internet message board. Relax.

I'm perfectly relaxed. Just pointing out that anyone stating "Chiarelli thought this" or "Thomas thought that" - and there are plenty of people who have done so - is just guessing. Nobody but the parties involved knows what they were thinking.

 

[ThomasJ13]

the only reason i jumped on you was because if thomas had really wanted to put the screws to the bruins, he would have retired. untradeable 5 million dollar cap hit: done.

he went home, wasn't getting paid and decided that his career was over...but he certainly didn't **** the bruins like he could have.

To be sure he could have completely effed them with the $5M hit, but as it was he only partially (and as it turns out, temporarily) effed them. IMO his departure still strikes me as somewhat unfulfilling of the original contractual agreement, whereas team requests to waive an NMC don't rise to that level. Just the way I see it. In any event, all's well that ends well.