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Joe Thornton Discussion Thread

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hobarth said:
I often felt that Spezza should've been elevated to one of the top 2 lines last year.
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Honestly I wouldn't mind it.

Thornton - Matthews - Marner
Nylander - Tavares - Spezza
Mikheyev - Kerfoot - Hyman
Barabanov - Engvall - Anderson

(That 4th line is a pet project of mine i think it would be a sweeeet 4th line with lots of grit and speed and defense and some legit offensive skill as well).

That bottom 6 would be hellafast with plenty of grit and great defense.

And then next year replace Thornton and Spezza with Robertson and Amirov!
 
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zeke said:
Honestly I wouldn't mind it.

Thornton - Matthews - Marner
Nylander - Tavares - Spezza
Mikheyev - Kerfoot - Hyman
Barabanov - Engvall - Anderson

(That 4th line is a pet project of mine i think it would be a sweeeet 4th line with lots of grit and speed and defense and some legit offensive skill as well).

That bottom 6 would be hellafast with plenty of grit and great defense.

And then next year replace Thornton and Spezza with Robertson and Amirov!
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Simmonds might be a better candidate to play with JT and Willie.
 
ToneDog said:
Simmonds might be a better candidate to play with JT and Willie.
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Hopefully he has a miracle health comeback because he's been unplayable the past couple of years.

But if he does have a health bounceback then sure, yeah, give him a shot.
 
zeke said:
Hopefully he has a miracle health comeback because he's been unplayable the past couple of years.

But if he does have a health bounceback then sure, yeah, give him a shot.
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$1.5m for an unplayable player when good players were/are going close to the minimum is not a good look for Kyle and Shanny. He was supposed to provide the grit we lost in Cliffy and Kappy and more.
 
ToneDog said:
$1.5m for an unplayable player when good players were/are going close to the minimum is not a good look for Kyle and Shanny. He was supposed to provide the grit we lost in Cliffy and Kappy and more.
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Well they don't seem to have any problem demoting Engvall's $1.2m.

But yeah its not a great signing if he doesn't improve significantly. But not a big deal either way. It's only $1.5m.
 
zeke said:
Well they don't seem to have any problem demoting Engvall's $1.2m.

But yeah its not a great signing if he doesn't improve significantly. But not a big deal either way. It's only $1.5m.
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Sure the Leafs can eat $1.5M but Simmonds was part of Dubas' plan to address the need for grit. Without him, somebody needs to step up or the media will be sure to give Kyle some heat if they get pushed around.
 
ToneDog said:
Sure the Leafs can eat $1.5M but Simmonds was part of Dubas' plan to address the need for grit. Without him, somebody needs to step up or the media will be sure to give Kyle some heat if they get pushed around.
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If Kyle is worried about media heat then we're screwed.
 
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If Thornton is playing top 6, I feel him and Marner need to be split up. Swap Marner with Nylander.

I also think Soup will end up swapping with Vesey, and reuniting with Kerfoot.
 
zeke said:
Well they don't seem to have any problem demoting Engvall's $1.2m.

But yeah its not a great signing if he doesn't improve significantly. But not a big deal either way. It's only $1.5m.
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IIRC, Engvall was re-signed prior to Covid. He also doesn't require waivers. The objective for this season might be to acquire as much depth as possible. I'm hoping Engvall isn't fully on the outs yet considering the pending UFAs added.
 
ToneDog said:
$1.5m for an unplayable player when good players were/are going close to the minimum is not a good look for Kyle and Shanny. He was supposed to provide the grit we lost in Cliffy and Kappy and more.
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Thornton is there to be the father figure Dubas and Keene cannot be. All season the headlines will be ‘Thrnton disappointed’ ‘Thornton working with kids’ ‘Thornton showing them discipline’

Toronto Leafs media needs a father figure to tell the story of these spoiled athletes who don’t win despite being giving everything a hockey payer would want - Babcock was that guy and Dubas was his whiz son who wouldn’t listen to grumpy old dad. Now it’s Thornton’s turn with these kids, let’s see if he can get them in line to the satisfaction of the Toronto media
 
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Tuna99 said:
Thornton is there to be the father figure Dubas and Keene cannot be. All season the headlines will be ‘Thrnton disappointed’ ‘Thornton working with kids’ ‘Thornton showing them discipline’

Toronto Leafs media needs a father figure to tell the story of these spoiled athletes who don’t win despite being giving everything a hockey payer would want - Babcock was that guy and Dubas was his whiz son who wouldn’t listen to grumpy old dad. Now it’s Thornton’s turn with these kids, let’s see if he can get them in line to the satisfaction of the Toronto media
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I thought Patrick Marleau was the father figure for Matthews and Marner with the way they talk about him and spending time with his family.

The only difference was with Marleau's second year in Toronto during the 2018-19 season he wasn't as good compared to the 2017-18 season.

At least with Thonrton he doesn't care about playing the most career regular season games or his consecutive games played streak, because his main goal is winning a Stanley Cup.
 
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Tuna99 said:
Thornton is there to be the father figure Dubas and Keene cannot be. All season the headlines will be ‘Thrnton disappointed’ ‘Thornton working with kids’ ‘Thornton showing them discipline’

Toronto Leafs media needs a father figure to tell the story of these spoiled athletes who don’t win despite being giving everything a hockey payer would want - Babcock was that guy and Dubas was his whiz son who wouldn’t listen to grumpy old dad. Now it’s Thornton’s turn with these kids, let’s see if he can get them in line to the satisfaction of the Toronto media
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Dubas would've been stick boy for the Soo back when Jumbo played there. Kinda funny when you think about it.

Thornton should be good for some sound bites and hopefully some vet leadership.
 
LeafsNation75 said:
I thought Patrick Marleau was the father figure for Matthews and Marner with the way they talk about him and spending time with his family.

The only difference was with Marleau's second year in Toronto during the 2018-19 season he wasn't as good compared to the 2017-18 season.

At least with Thonrton he doesn't care about playing the most career regular season games or his consecutive games played streak, because his main goal is winning a Stanley Cup.
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I think his main goal is raising his profile before he retires and that’s why he’s in Toronto, he’s certainly not shy to be in front of a camera
 
LeafsNation75 said:
I thought Patrick Marleau was the father figure for Matthews and Marner with the way they talk about him and spending time with his family.

The only difference was with Marleau's second year in Toronto during the 2018-19 season he wasn't as good compared to the 2017-18 season.

At least with Thonrton he doesn't care about playing the most career regular season games or his consecutive games played streak, because his main goal is winning a Stanley Cup.
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In fairness, Thornton is the active NHLer that's behind Marleau in regular season GP. The abbreviated seasons aren't too helpful though in that regard. I thought it would be something for Marleau to attain that record in Leaf colours. I feel the same way about Thornton now. Doesn't seem likely, and I certainly wouldn't prioritize it ahead of a Cup win, but...
 
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Tuna99 said:
I think his main goal is raising his profile before he retires and that’s why he’s in Toronto, he’s certainly not shy to be in front of a camera
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Thornton was a previous 1st overall pick. He had also won the Hart Trophy and the Art Ross during the 2005-06 Season. I know he played the last 15 years in San Jose which is not the same media market compared to Toronto. However I don't think he needs to raise his profile just because he decided to come home and play for the Maple Leafs.
 
Buds17 said:
In fairness, Thornton is the active NHLer that's behind Marleau in regular season GP. The abbreviated seasons aren't too helpful though in that regard. I thought it would be something for Marleau to attain that record in Leaf colours. I feel the same way about Thornton now. Doesn't seem likely, and I certainly wouldn't prioritize it ahead of a Cup win, but...
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The last time Thornton played in 82 games was during the 2015-16 Season, which coincidently was the year San Jose made the 2016 Stanley Cup Final against Pittsburgh.

However since then he played 79 games in the 2016-17 Season, 47 games during the 2017-18 Season, and 73 games during the 2018-19 Season.

Although during the 2019-20 Season Thornton did play in all 70 Sharks games and baring a late season injury he would have played in all 82 games.

The last time Marleau missed a regular season game was during the 2008-09 Season. So those games he did not play for the Sharks last season when he was still an unsigned UFA did not count as any games missed, so his consecutive games played streak is still active.

Just like you I wouldn't prioritize the all time regular season games played record over the Leafs winning a Stanley Cup and I'm sure it's something Thornton does not care about.
 
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LeafsNation75 said:
Thornton was a previous 1st overall pick. He had also won the Hart Trophy and the Art Ross during the 2005-06 Season. I know he played the last 15 years in San Jose which is not the same media market compared to Toronto. However I don't think he needs to raise his profile just because he decided to come home and play for the Maple Leafs.
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You underestimate the ego of these guys, Joe Thornton is old news. Ever met a kinda famous hockey player 2-3 years after they retire - nobody cares, they are just middle aged guys with free athletic gear. Some need to fight against that
 
Tuna99 said:
You underestimate the ego of these guys, Joe Thornton is old news. Ever met a kinda famous hockey player 2-3 years after they retire - nobody cares, they are just middle aged guys with free athletic gear. Some need to fight against that
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Don't get me wrong I was happy when the Maple Leafs signed Thornton. However once he retires and let's say the Leafs wins the Stanley Cup this season, that's the only way people are going to remember his time in Toronto. So if that does not happen he will be more remembered as a San Jose Shark because he had more success with them.
 
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