» THORNTON WANTS AT LEAST ONE MORE YEAR
Joe Thornton isn’t thinking about retirement just yet, saying Tuesday he wants to play another year.
“Yeah, and longer,” Thornton told reporters with a laugh Tuesday at the NHL Awards’ media availability in Las Vegas.
“Probably play another 10 years. We’ll wait and see, but I’m thinking five to 10 right now. I got nothing else going on.”
Kidding aside, Thornton, slated to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, said he plans to meet with owner Hasso Plattner, general manager Doug Wilson and coach Pete DeBoer and “figure something out” for next year. Thornton said last month that if he did return for a 22nd NHL season, it would be with the Sharks.
Asked about Thornton on Monday after the Sharks signed defenseman Erik Karlsson to an eight-year, $92 million deal, Wilson said, “there will always be a place for Joe Thornton in this organization, on or off the ice.”
Wilson has praised Thornton, who will turn 40 on July 2, in the past for his flexibility in regards to his last two contracts, both one-year deals.Thornton may need to be as flexible this summer if the Sharks hope to bring back Joe Pavelski, who is also on an expiring contract and may be in line for a raise if he hits the open market. Pavelski, who scored a team-high 38 goals last season, is finishing the fiveyear, $30 million deal he signed in 2013.
Earlier Tuesday, the Sharks traded defenseman Justin Braun to the Philadelphia Flyers for two draft picks. Braun’s salary cap hit for next season was going to be $3.8 million, so now the Sharks have roughly $16.3 million in cap space for next season, according to capfriendly.com.
Thornton is finally entering an offseason where he doesn’t have to rehabilitate a knee injury, something he said last month would factor into his decision on whether to return. Thornton tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee in April 2017, and had the exact same injury in Jan. 2018, only to his right knee.
“My body feels great, and it’s going to be the first time in a long time I don’t have to rehab in the summer,” Thornton said, “so I’m excited for that.”
Thornton and defenseman Brent Burns are both finalists for NHL Awards, which will be presented Wednesday. Thornton is a finalist for the Masterton Trophy, given “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.” Burns, for the third time in four years, is a finalist for the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman.
Thornton was eighth on the Sharks this past season with 51 points, as he averaged 15 minutes and 33 seconds of ice time in 73 regular season games.
“He’s still got game,” DeBoer said last month. “For me, I’d love to have him back.”
Thornton said May 23, two days after the Sharks were eliminated from the playoffs by the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference Final, he still had to talk with his family before he decided his next move. At that point, he didn’t have a timetable for a decision.
“We had a good year, but with the guys we’ve got coming back, there’s no reason why we can’t give it another crack,” Thornton said Tuesday. “We just ran out of gas. A lot of guys hurt and stuff like that, like a a lot of teams. So, it was unfortunate. But it’s a new year now.
“It’s such a long grind, it’s just the way it plays out sometimes. A lot of our guys were banged up. I’m sure St. Louis and Boston had a lot of banged up guys, too. It’s just a battle, but the team will be good again next year.”
Thornton is the NHL’s active leader in career assists (1,065) and points (1,478) in 1,566 games played. He scored his 400th career goal Nov. 13 and on April 4 passed Nicklas Lidstrom (1,564) into 12th place on the all-time games list and Steve Yzerman (1,063) into eighth place on the all-time assists list.
Flyers trade for Sharks defenseman Justin Braun, giving up draft picks
The Flyers continued to remake their defense Tuesday.
Four days after they acquired Matt Niskanen from Washington, the Flyers traded two draft picks to San Jose for veteran defenseman Justin Braun.
“He is a high-character, quality defender who will bring a steadying presence to our team,” Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said.
The Flyers sent their secondround pick (41st overall) in this weekend’s draft and a thirdround 2020 selection to the Sharks.
It was a deal that countered the strategy used by former GM Ron Hextall, who tried to stockpile draft picks for the future.
Fletcher’s focus is clearly on building for the present.
Braun, 32, a stay-at-home defender who shoots right-handed, has spent his entire nineyear career with San Jose. He had two goals, 14 assists and a career-worst minus-14 rating last season, the sixth straight year he averaged more than 20 minutes per game.
A Minneapolis native, Braun said it was a “little shocking” to be traded “but at the same time, it’s exciting. It’s something new, something different.”
Braun, who is friends with the 32-year-old Niskanen and Flyers left winger James van Riemsdyk, said he was looking forward to playing in front of young goalie Carter Hart, saying “he looks like the real deal.”
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Braun, who played at the University of Massachusetts, has appeared in 84 Stanley Cup playoff games, the second-highest total in San Jose history among defensemen. He helped the Sharks reach the Western Conference finals this season, and played in three conference finals and the 2016 Stanley Cup Final.