Joe Thornton To The Rangers? Not Right Now
Now, San Jose beat writer David Pollack concedes that we can "never say never" to a trade involving Thornton, but also says we need a "reality check" on the situation. From the article:
"While [Sharks GM] Doug Wilson has a stock line of being open to whatever will improve his team, it’s not likely that the Rangers are going to offer Henrik Lundqvist, Ryan Callahan and Marc Staal to pry away the Sharks captain. Sure, that’s an overstatement, but you get the point."
Pollack then cites Thornton's No-Trade Clause. There are no indications either way whether Thornton would be willing to waive his No-Trade Clause to move to the Rangers (or anywhere). But until we hear otherwise we have to assume it is a roadblock in Thornton going anywhere.
The Sharks were not an elite team in the Western Conference like they once were and Thornton himself has slowed down slightly. But the Sharks are still a team who could do some damage in the playoffs and Thornton is still a very good player. To reiterate Pollack's point, the Sharks are not going to give us arguably their best forward without getting one of our key guys back. At least, not right now. The 33 year old Thornton is not getting any younger and only has two years left on his contract. And with Marleau, Boyle, Havlat, and Murray all in their 30's it's do or die time for the Sharks. Should the Sharks be falling out of the playoff picture next February then maybe Thornton to the Rangers is a discussion worth having. But as Pollack puts it, right now this is not even a rumor but more of a situation that "could happen. Or - far more likely - not"
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NO WAY...no thanks we need to stand firm with our farm system. We are reaching out for help from other teams again. I'd rather see JT Miller play....
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Not now, not ever. His best days are behind him (for whatever they're worth), he's not a goal scorer, and for a big guy he's really not all that physical. A $7M cap hit for a 33-year old playmaker, plus whatever prospects/players San Jose would demand, is a definite no go. If there were ever any truth to this ridiculousness, Sather would be much better off calling Calgary about the availability of their captain.
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Ahem, to quote our illustrious coach "Joe's never won a damn thing in this league." I share those sentiments.
Realistically, you can't bring in Joe Thornton's $7 mill per year contract without shipping Gaborik or Richards out in the deal. And he's been part of too many failures in San Jose for them not to be related to his leadership abilities.
I'll pass.
@TheWrage I'm not necessarily defending Joe, but every time I read that quote I want to tell Torts to zip it too. Torts was fortunate to be along for the ride once, as a coach, and has gotten his a team of his anywhere close since. On top of it all this is the same John Tortorella who BLASTED Ken Hitchcock for being "gutless" in '04?
Hoping at some point THIS SEASON we can FINALLY talk about Torts offense, or Torts out coaching someone to win a series, or how Torts got the PP to click, instead of going dealing with more of his self proclaimed "gutless" behavior - bickering with Jumbo Joe, Konopka, or whoever else will give him the opportunity.
@gravey94 @TheWrage Point wasn't so much that Torts shouldn't tell Hitchcock to zip, more that Torts should take his own advice. Atleast with the Sharks, the game was over. In Ottawa, Torts yapped his jaw off pregame, with a short lineup, leaving none other then Sean Avery to be put in the position of picking up the checks Tort's jaw wrote, knowing his ass would never have to cash.
Honestly, I'm just sick of the crap with guy. Get it done already. You don't see Bylsma and Babcock getting into these sideshows... you also never really hear them talking about anything other then hockey, the one thing Torts insists on "keeping in the room".
@BuckarooClub @TheWrage Yea really, how dare Torts defend one of his players like that. He should just let it slide when the other team's coach yaps at one of his players knowing he will never face retribution. BTW, very few of his comments initiating trash talk, they are mostly in response to other idiot's trash talking. He was wrong though about Hitchcock, last I checked he had a pretty substantial gut!!
@TheWrage Well if the Rangers needed an expert on how to make toast in the kitchen; then Thornton is da bomb.
One day (hopefully in my lifetime) I will get to see hockey media first take the time to see how Glen Sather trades before coming up with these foolish rumors.
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Torts and the Rangers would have to swallow a lot of pride to bring Thornton in after the soft quote last year.
@KevinDeLury Another great example of the hockey media not paying attention to the world around them.
One of my least favorite players in the league. After he insulted us last year he should never have the honor of putting on a Rangers sweater. #hater
@Ranger Dave His comments were definitely stupid and I lost some respect for him. But ultimately, if the deal is right and he can help the Rangers win a Stanley Cup... I'm not going to let petty post-game comments from last season undermine that.
@Herman_NYRBlog @Ranger Dave I think the comments were ALOT more hyped up then they should have been. The Rangers were the only loss on the Sharks road trip, and they played some pretty stiff competition on that trip. The Isles would be the one team they played on that trip you could really really take some exception to him putting in front of us, but honestly, as much as they suck, they can't be a good team to play, especially in their rink. You've gotta go to Uniondale, play in front of empty seats, hope a ceiling tile doesn't fall on you before some soon to be minor league hack tries to take your head off. It's as close to "prison rules" there as you're gonna get ANYWHERE in the big 4 sports.
The Rangers are in San Jose for the second game of the season, and if guys took exception to those comments, there no better place then the second game of the season, on the road, to settle and old score without hurting your team. That's how hockey works, and it's a great system. You don't chirp like a school girl, you settle it like a man. If something happens it happens, but after that, both sides will move on... cause that's how hockey works, and it's a great system.
No sense making mountains out of molehills about stupid BS. A guy on a team too soft to win the cup last season, called another team who was too soft to win the cup last season softer then 5 other teams who were too soft to win the cup last based on how they played in October. I agree with you Adam, if Slats thinks Thornton makes us a better team, we should take him, not haggle over some post game comments that were blown out of proportion.
@Herman_NYRBlog @Ranger Dave If we need a center at the deadline and only have to return someone like Boyle and a low pick then maybe.
@KevinDeLury @GLENsatherVSglennDANZIG @Herman_NYRBlog @Ranger I like Boyle. I think he has more to offer the NYR. Richards is our playmaking center. Stepan is gonna be the same type of player and Boyle does the grunt work. If Boyle starts playing more physical he could be a solid player for us. Needs to gain that edge to his game.
@KevinDeLury @GLENsatherVSglennDANZIG @Herman_NYRBlog @Ranger Let me make it simple. I wouldn't give them any player that they would except for Thorton. He is past his prime, he is not a winner, he is not a class act or a team leader (like Doan). He is really good at winning when it doesn't matter. He had his shot for about three seasons with a really solid team around him and he never even made it to the finals. Why would he be any different on the Rangers? And don't say Torts cause Torts has an obvious dislike for the guy.
@Herman_NYRBlog @KevinDeLury @Ranger But throw out all the comment stuff about him out, and then what would we be comfortable sending to the sharks?
@GLENsatherVSglennDANZIG @KevinDeLury @Herman_NYRBlog @Ranger Depends on how far out the Sharks are, how many teams Thornton would be willing to waive his NTC for, and what those teams are offering.
@KevinDeLury @Herman_NYRBlog @Ranger Then I'd pass. I can't imagine us being that hard up. Who do you think hypothetically would we need to send?
@GLENsatherVSglennDANZIG @Herman_NYRBlog @Ranger I don't care how much of sellers the Sharks are at the deadline no way they are trading Thornton for Boyle & a low pick.
@Herman_NYRBlog @Ranger Dave He's a great player but not sure how bringing in someone who's never come up big in the big moment helps the Rangers. They already lost in the Conference Finals last year. Something Thornton is an expert at.
@KevinDeLury @Herman_NYRBlog @Ranger Dave Thornton did lose twice in the conference finals in the last 3 seasons... first to the eventual cup champion Blackhawks, and then to a Canucks team that was a game away from the cup.
Not saying that makes Jumbo a legend, but at the same time, if the Sharks are looking for a shakeup, and would be willing to take Gabby back, (I'm sure there would have to be some other pieces) that would be a no-brainer. In that case we'd be getting a guy who's had more playoff success and less injury history then Gabby, and be pocketing half a mil in cap on the deal.
One of my least favorite players in the league. After he insulted us last year he should never have the honor of putting on a Rangers sweater. #hater
i can only wish Staal was included in a trade. I hate how Marc plays. i believe he's our worst defensemen.
i know that really has nothing to do with the post, but...
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@JaredAnnibale Not sure I agree he's the worst defenseman on the team but I've always stated on this blog that I found him very overrated by Rangers fans.
@KevinDeLury @JaredAnnibale Ya why trade Staal when you can trade Bickle who is so much...better for a higher reward? Come on haha you can't believe he's our worst defender can you? If you can give 3 reason to back up what you say I maaaaay atleast consider your case haha
@JaredAnnibale @GLENsatherVSglennDANZIG @KevinDeLury Are you talking about last season? Because coming off a concussion and missing all of offseason training, training camp, and half of the season is not exactly a road to success. He'll be fine by training camp of this year.
@GLENsatherVSglennDANZIG @KevinDeLury @JaredAnnibale okay so maybe i was exaggerating, but i think mac, G, and del zotto are all noticeably stronger and more physical players. staal looks like he's out of sync to me a lot of the time, and i attribute many goals to his awful positioning or lack of interference.
