End of an era: Thornton signs 1-year contract with Maple Leafs
Joe Thornton’s time with the San Jose Sharks has come to an end — at least for now.
Thornton on Friday ended any suspense as to where he might play next season, signing a one-year, $700,000 contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
There had been speculation in the last week that Thornton, who became an unrestricted free agent on Oct. 9, could leave San Jose for the Maple Leafs. In recent days, reports indicated that Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas and coach Sheldon Keefe had gotten in touch with Thornton, as had players Auston Matthews, Jake Muzzin and John Tavares.
T he f u l l- c ou r t pre s s worked, as Thornton, who helped the Sharks become one of the NHL’s most consistently successful teams over a 15-year stretch, is moving back to his southern Ontario roots.
In 1,636 career NHL regular season games between the Boston Bruins and Sharks, Thornton has 1,509 points, including 1089 assists. He
also has 133 points in 179 playoff games, as he helped the Sharks reach the Western Conference finals four times and the Stanley Cup Final once in 2016.
Thornton acquired by general manager Doug Wilson from the Bruins on Nov. 30, 2005 in arguably the biggest trade in the near 30-year history of the franchise. From Dec. 1, 2005 to the end of the 2019-2020 season, the Sharks had the most regular season points of any
NHL team with a record of 659-376-125.
The Sharks also had third-most amount of playoff wins in that time, 80, as they made the postseason in 13 of Thornton’s 15 seasons in San Jose. The Sharks could never win it all, though, and do not figure to be a Stanley Cup contender this season despite changes to their coaching staff and some personnel moves.
Thornton, in his first season in San Jose, won both the Art Ross Trophy and Hart Memorial Trophy in 2006, becoming the first and still lone Sharks player to win either award.