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Confirmed with Link: Joe Thornton to Leafs [1yr/700k]

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LostToAZamboniDriver said:
I'd call playing in the playoffs with an ACL and MCL injury pretty tough.

Having a guy who has high IQ and elite passing ability against 4th line pluggers that most teams ice should be beneficial.

Our depth has gone missing in the playoffs in the past years where if we don't get goals from guys like Matthews/Tavares etc, we don't get them at all. Really feel like Thornton would help guys like Robertson come along and get attention when on the ice to free up those wingers.
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Having him replace the pacifist Goat is going to be good. He is not much slower TBH...and he can at least play a good cycle game. The only issue I have is that it might be redundant to have him AND Spezza. The reality is though...if we play next year it will be 4 games in 6 nights..so they will rotate in and out of the lineup. That I can live with. I just wish we got him instead of Patty Cakes 3yrs ago...He would have been telling the kids to think of winning cups instead of stats and bank accounts.
 
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willmma said:
I heard Friedman this morning say that thta the leafs pushed hard to get Joe. Calls from management, coaches and players to persuade him to come and play in Toronto.
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didnt they do the same with marleau? matthews, marner, nylander, rielly all sent video messages to him
 
I live on the west coast, caught a decent number of Sharks games, Joe still has some gas in the tank IMO. I think he’s currently a bit better than Spezza, who has worked out well for us. Big, reasonably physical, competes hard, doesn’t make many mistakes, still has that elite hockey IQ. Slow, but that’s OK.

Personally, I like him as our 3C, moving Kerfoot to the wing. I can see something like this working:

Hyman - Matthews - Marner
Mikheyev - JT - Nylander
Kerfoot - Thornton - Barbanov
Robertson - Spezza - Simmonds
Vesey
 
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lovemyleafs said:
Him and Spezza on the fourth line is amazing. I wonder who's the lucky cat that gets to play with them. Whoever it is, they should feel honored. I think it'll be Robertson. It'll feel like a dream to him.
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Robertson will win ROY playing wing with those two who are both great passers. I'm kidding, or am I? I dunno, but in terms of name recognition our team definitely leads the league in that. Wondering if it's Engvall or Kerfoot being the odd man out, so many fights going on for jobs come training camp
 
Not to stir anything up... I am just a little confused why so many people here are so excited for Joe's leadership or Joe in general ? I mean we are talking about the same Joe that could never get very talented Shark teams over the hump, the same Joe that was the leader of a Sharks team that had one of the worst regular seasons collapses in recent years ... if Tampa provided any kind of blue print on how to win its very clear you have to be fast and skilled (including your bigger guys) and young from top to bottom and your GMs answer to that is Spezza (hes never been fast or a good skater) and 41 year old Joe ?

You guys have a very skilled young core but also one that is filled with some questionable character it seems and until one of the core younger guys starts being "that guy" ; the guy that brings it consistently on and off the ice for the whole season management can bring in 30 vets for "leadership" and nothing will change. You really think someone with Matthews ego can be influenced by a guy like Joe. Tavares comes to mind as a candidate but hes had plenty of opportunities without much to show for it and giving him the C over Morgan Rielly to me still doesn't make sense.
 
So whats the line up looking like?

Forwards:
Hyman-Matthews-Marner
Mikheyev-Tavares-Nylander
Kerfoot-Jumbo-Simmonds
Robertson-Engvall-Spezza

Defense
Rielly Brodie
Muzzin Holl
Dermott/Lehtonen Bagosian

Goalies
Andersen
Campbell

Extra Forward(s)
Barbanov/Vasey/Anderson

Extra D-Men
Marincin/Sandin/Liljegren

Is this under the cap?
 
phillipmike said:
And Kadri was better than Spezza. I dont think Kerfoot is better than Thornton at centre but if he is, doesnt mean the Leafs dont want to reallocate Kerfoot's 3.5M.
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Suppose Leafs deal kerfoot; after next season there is going to be a hole on the 3rd line at center unless the plan is to run the following at center after next season

Matthews
Tavares
Nylander
 
butchersmilk said:
Not to stir anything up... I am just a little confused why so many people here are so excited for Joe's leadership or Joe in general ? I mean we are talking about the same Joe that could never get very talented Shark teams over the hump, the same Joe that was the leader of a Sharks team that had one of the worst regular seasons collapses in recent years ... if Tampa provided any kind of blue print on how to win its very clear you have to be fast and skilled (including your bigger guys) and young from top to bottom and your GMs answer to that is Spezza (hes never been fast or a good skater) and 41 year old Joe ?

You guys have a very skilled young core but also one that is filled with some questionable character it seems and until one of the core younger guys starts being "that guy" ; the guy that brings it consistently on and off the ice for the whole season management can bring in 30 vets for "leadership" and nothing will change. You really think someone with Matthews ego can be influenced by a guy like Joe. Tavares comes to mind as a candidate but hes had plenty of opportunities without much to show for it and giving him the C over Morgan Rielly to me still doesn't make sense.
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Yeah, Thornton isn't a classic playoff hero in the pure sense either. I think a Justin Williams would have been more impactful if we were looking for natural big game players with tons of championship experience. But, maybe the young core sees Thornton and realize how rare of an opportunity it is to win in this league and how time passes you by. And hopefully whatever experience he does have rubs off somehow. And we cap it off with a Ray Bourque style cup win for Thornton and Spezza.

So weird to think we have Thornton and Spezza now. This decade's Joe Nieuwendyk or Eric Lindros.
 
Schenn said:
I'll admit I'm still unsure on his spot in the lineup but having Joe around just to rub off a bit on Matthews could be incredibly beneficial. Not so much skill wise, but Joe is a guy who got grittier and much more of a leader as he got older. I think this will be huge for Matthews development into his final form.
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Would love it if Matthews went all cave man look like Jumbo Joe, he'd look hilarious. But even if Joe could bring out 1/10 more physicality outta matthews he would be scary as hell. He's seemed to engage more physically as the year went on and if he just finished the body on one unsuspecting Dman per game, it would definitely get the teams jazzed up, as well as the crowd.

Wendel had the ability to get the team going with a big hit, especially if they were struggling. I think Matthews could do that too, not to hit to injure, but to make your presence felt and separate your opponent from the puck.

Hopefully Matthews and him hit it off. Thornton is kinda OG and Matthews is more of a GQ millennial so who knows? In terms of hockey, I can see a 2nd PP when Matthews is double shifting and Joe and Spezza are saucering passes around the O-zone it's gonna be must-see tv
 
Credit to Dubas, he followed through that the bottom 6 needed to be reshaped. Now we have
Simmonds
Thornton
Barabanov
Vesey

Adding to guys like Spezza, Engvall, Kerfoot, if these 2 later guys aren't traded.

I still don't think Dubas is done yet.

Mike Johnston is big on Barabanov and I trust him a lot on analysis. He says he can PK and whiz around the ice.
 
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stickty111 said:
Credit to Dubas, he followed through that the bottom 6 needed to be reshaped. Now we have
Simmonds
Thornton
Barabanov
Vesey

Adding to guys like Spezza, Engvall, Kerfoot, if these 2 later guys aren't traded.

I still don't think Dubas is done yet.

Mike Johnston is big on Barabanov and I trust him a lot on analysis. He says he can PK and whiz around the ice.
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Dubas has pretty much done what everyone here has wanted.

He looked at the top ranked offense (when Keefe took over) and said we could sacrifice some of it, and there needed to be more veteran leadership, physicality, and defensive responsibility surrounding the young core.

I’d say he did that.
 
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