Is Thornton the most underrated generational talent?

[Nabrules]

He was a borderline franchise player imo, let alone generational

 

[McAsuno]

The word 'generational' gets tossed like nothing nowadays.
No, he's not even remotely generational.

 

[illpucks]

The word 'generational' gets tossed like nothing nowadays.
No, he's not even remotely generational.

why not?

 

[Sky04]

Not generational but he's an underrated talent, nobody from his era is even close to his production and he's matching guys from the totals from guys who played in the 80's.

He's never been overly reliant on physical attributes just his insane hockey IQ and vision.

 

[Jesus Take the Wheel]

why not?

Because actual generational players like McDavid earned more individual awards in their first their couple years in the league then Thornton earned throughout his career.

 

[Three On Zero]

Generational? No
A superstar/Extremely good player? Yes

 

[crowi]

Generational ROOSTER joke maybe. Generational player - please.

 

[93LEAFS]

Not generational but he's an underrated talent, nobody from his era is even close to his production and he's matching guys from the totals from guys who played in the 80's.

He's never been overly reliant on physical attributes just his insane hockey IQ and vision.

He's somewhat reliant on physical traits. His frame/strength allowed him to hold on to the puck much longer than the average player, which gave him more time on the puck to use his exceptional hockey-IQ and vision. Had time to draw guys to him and then have whoever his linemates were to find open space for him to get them the puck in. Being 6'5 and 230 combined with that exceptional IQ is why he is what he is. He'd still be a good player at 6'0 195, but he wouldn't have created the same passing windows with ease.

 

[Voight]

The only generational players in league history are Gretzky, Orr, Howe, Lemieux, Ovechkin, Crosby & McDavid. That's it.

 

[ole ole]

What does generational even mean anymore? Seems like it’s thrown around way too often. “Franchise” and “generational” aren’t the same thing IMO.

And Thornton was neither.

 

[NotAVacuumSalesman]

We don't have enough Thornton threads.

Can a player be underrated and generational in the same breath?

 

[Mulletman]

Joe Thornton is the player that suffers the most from the 2004-05 lockout when it comes to overall legacy. If that season was played Thornton most likely wins another Art Ross, has another 100+ point season and would be one of only 11 players to hit 1600 points and sitting 5th overall in assists with close to 1200 assists.

But it will be interesting how Thorton will hold up on my Leafs. With good enough numbers there's a good chance that Thorton will be back playing with Matthews and Marner next year as well, which gives him a good shot at hitting 1600 career points anyway,

 

[razor8]

Yes he is. He's generational at not winning.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Toronto fans and media- ignore West coast for 15 years.

Older Thornton plays 20 games for leafs- “hey this guy is generational!”

 

[daver]

OP needs to add "2-way" to get the trifecta of ambiguousness.

 

[Spirit of 67]

I remember when "Generational Talent" was a term that actually meant something more than just best player on the team I root for.

 

[AnInjuredJasonZucker]

Multi-generational, maybe. Dude is old AF.

 

[Habs10025]

The only generational players in league history are Gretzky, Orr, Howe, Lemieux, Ovechkin, Crosby & McDavid. That's it.

Jaromir Jagr .

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

I don't think he was better than Selänne and he wasn't generational.

 

[lawrence]

why not?

because he's not at Crosby's or Mcdavids level at any point in his career. At no point was Thornton even considered one of the best players in hockey.

 

[Griffin6612]

His backhand off of like 3 players into a flub. Ahhh illpucks thread i see.

 

[DannyGallivan]

As for generational talents we commonly hear Crosby Ovi Malkin McDavid maybe Drai

But Jumbo is 41 and is ppg and just became the oldest player in Leafs history to record a 3 point game.

Some people say he's playing with Marner and Matthews but this is the same dude that turned Cheechoo into a superstar. Rewind the clock and he's easily the best talent on that line.

He's a 41 year old and can still can do



There's a strong argument for him being generational in playmaking as Ovi in goal scoring (though Ovi is also great playmaker)

So is he the most underrated generational talent?

He's not at the level of "generational" talent. Let's not give that label away as easy as they give away spots in the HHOF. He deserved his hardware, he more than lived up to his billing when he was drafted first overall, he is a great player. And yes, he will be in the HHOF. But he was never a generational talent.

 

[ClydeLee]

How does a player who wasn't generational for any year of his career become generational because he's decent at the end of his career?

Generational longevity. .. which would really go to Jagr and then Chelios before. Not sure who else between them and Howe would get it.

 

[Auston Marlander]

I'd say Joe is accurately labeled, pretty much everyone sees him as one of the best setup men to play the game and hold him in very high regard.

Another dumb thread by illpucks, just par for the course.

 

[RealisticLeaf55]

He wasn't generational. Great player, first ballot HHOF. Unless you are calling guys like Yzerman, Sakic, etc generational and really expanding the term.

Yzerman scored 150+ points in a season and won multiple awards and cups. Yes he was generational.

Expanding the term would be calling Thornton, Drai, Malkin, and Sundin generational.

Sakic on the other hand, I honestly don't know.