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

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I was high on signing him and suggested he played #2 centre or at least a top 6 role. I didn't think he'd be on the 1st line but I didn't think he was a 4th liner like some suggested. Even though he's old you don't become a franchise player like he was without oozing skill with high hockey IQ. I didn't imagine he'd be this good of a fit though

I'm hoping he plays another year for us to give prospects like Amirov some extra time to develop. You can't beat his impact at that price tag unless his play falls off dramatically. Its just more motivation for the guys to end the Leafs Cup curse and Thorntons cup drought.
 
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I like many things Thornton brings to this team. What I don’t like is him on PP1, specifically sharing the ice with Marner and Mo, who are the set up guys. Joe has never been a shooter, especially not at this point in his career & isn’t cut out for playing in front of the net at this point in his career. This leaves him without a real role on the PP.

I’d love to see him on PP2, away from the big guns, where he can distribute the puck a bit more in a role he’s better suited for.
 
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axman15 said:
I like many things Thornton brings to this team. What I don’t like is him on PP1, specifically sharing the ice with Marner and Mo, who are the set up guys. Joe has never been a shooter, especially not at this point in his career & isn’t cut out for playing in front of the net at this point in his career. This leaves him without a real role on the PP.

I’d love to see him on PP2, away from the big guns, where he can distribute the puck a bit more in a role he’s better suited for.
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why would we change anything up?

we have the #1 PP in the entire NHL

don't try to fix what ain't broke
 
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I would rest him more and consider putting him on more of a Jason Spezza type workload. He was great in a burst of energy coming back from injury but he can't play first line minutes at a high level over a long period of time.
 
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Call up Robertson, play Thornton every other game.
Let him split games with Robertson, if one is clearly better than the other, than that's who you go with going into playoffs.
 
Hey i have an idea. Look at what his linemates Marner 5pts last 8 and Matthews 4 pts last 7 have done. Yeah. He has more pts than Marner in his last 8 games. Rattle off all you Leafers want about him. His line is bad and not because of him being old
 
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If we want to rest him, we could just rotate him with Simmonds once he comes back. I am sure Simmonds can handle the odd shift on the top line at ES when Thornton needs a breather.

Thornton is playing 15 minutes a night right now, Simmonds is playing 11. Put them both at 13 and I think we are fine.

We can also give him the odd game off or put him in the Spezza role when Spezza takes a game off.
 
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Guy Boucher said:
There is a real possibility that his play vs Ottawa and in the beginning of the year (before teams tightened up defensively) isn't going to translate into the playoffs.
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Yeah. This was my concern...Thornton's play tailing off where he almost begins dragging down Matthews and Marner. It has worked out to start this far along, and much better than I expected, but I'm still not convinced it will end up that way as the season progresses into the deeper, more intense parts.
 
AllDay28 said:
feb 28th = hes amazing
mar 9 = he needs to play less

:laugh: :laugh::laugh: this fan base..
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I think what you need to realize is we’ve seen what a fresh Thornton can do coming off injury on the big line but we’ve also seen his energy levels lag behind with heavier utilization. So the key here is to experiment with his ice time to see how we can keep him fresh like Jason Spezza so he can do those good things for us.
 
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TheTotalPackage said:
Yeah. This was my concern...Thornton's play tailing off where he almost begins dragging down Matthews and Marner. It has worked out to start this far along, and much better than I expected, but I'm still not convinced it will end up that way as the season progresses into the deeper, more intense parts.
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You can see it watching past few games but Matty has been off too .. for whatever reason his play has slowed down too likely because of injury ... i blame Jumbo because i see he is not getting to forecheck on time at all
 
JT AM da real deal said:
You can see it watching past few games but Matty has been off too .. for whatever reason his play has slowed down too likely because of injury ... i blame Jumbo because i see he is not getting to forecheck on time at all
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The spacing on that line has been subpar since the Vancouver series. One of the hallmarks of the Perfection Line in Boston is they have a great way of pulling defenders apart and exploiting seams which you can always picture Pastrnak tapping a puck into an empty net.

We like to model ourselves on having that big unit like them but lately I see the forwards on that line sort of tripping over each other, converging to the same spot on the ice or crowding the net frantically. Not making those crisp clean plays and picking apart the opposing defense.

Thornton has been slow and out of sync. Matthews looks like he’s still recovering and his energy level up until yesterday was pretty inconsistent. Marner’s puck management has been wildly off and has been resorting to spamming low percentage shots. And that’s not his strength.
 
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Stephen said:
The spacing on that line has been subpar since the Vancouver series. One of the hallmarks of the Perfection Line in Boston is they have a great way of pulling defenders apart and exploiting seams which you can always picture Pastrnak tapping a puck into an empty net.

We like to model ourselves on having that big unit like them but lately I see the forwards on that line sort of tripping over each other, converging to the same spot on the ice or crowding the net frantically. Not making those crisp clean plays and picking apart the opposing defense.

Thornton has been slow and out of sync. Matthews looks like he’s still recovering and his energy level up until yesterday was pretty inconsistent. Marner’s puck management has been wildly off and has been resorting to spamming low percentage shots. And that’s not his strength.
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Likely when Matty back at full speed again it may go back to before ... he is just so good when he is dominating ice both ends and in transition ... but he has looked OFF past couple weeks ... yes he is scoring but that is not it ... his speed has changed and he looks slower again since injury
 
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