New Jersey Devils Free Agency Profile: Joe Thornton
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils are officially in offseason mode. Over the next few days, we will look at 20 potential free agents they could look at signing. Today, we look at the San Jose Sharks Joe Thornton.
Talking about Joe Thornton on a team besides the San Jose Sharks seems dirty. Those two seem to be made for each other. He looks like he’s Brett Burns brother, or at least cousins. It just seems like a perfect fit. However, the Sharks may look to move on, and Thornton will need a home. That home can come with the New Jersey Devils.
Thornton is still producing points at 38 years old, and can still bring a calm to the ice as he’s still one of the best at finding the open man. He’s far away from the 90 point producer he was when he first came to San Jose, but he’s easily still a 50 point producer.
This season, he was on pace to score 22 goals and a total of 63 points. That was his pace until he got hurt. He injured his MCL in January, and never returned to the lineup. It was later revealed that he actually tore his ACL and MCL. That makes it peculiar that the Sharks waited until the offseason to reveal this, because it kept the questions coming all season, but it shows how what looks like a simple injury turns major at an advanced age.
That’s definitely a “con” of signing Thornton. It’s great he can still produce when healthy, but how many games can you actually expect from him?
Another con is figuring out what to pay Thornton. He returned to the Sharks last season on a one-year, $8 million deal. That’s a ton of money. Not only would that make him by far the highest paid Devils player, but he’s one of the 30 best paid players in the whole league.
Clearly, Thornton isn’t in the top 30 in the league anymore, but his past performance still gets him paid.
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Also, Thornton may not want to play for another franchise. Sure, he may want to go for the elusive Stanley Cup, but he may not see that in the New Jersey Devils. The team is definitely on the rise, but a first-round exit to the Tampa Bay Lightning doesn’t scream one player away. Especially if that player will be 39 at the start of the season.
The Devils should definitely reach out to Thornton. He’d be willing to sign a one-year deal, and he can keep the second line center position warm while Pavel Zacha and Michael McLeod develop. He can lead players like Blake Coleman, Miles Wood, Jesper Bratt and Marcus Johansson to another gear.
It’s hard to see it working out. Between the salaries, the cross-country move and the place the Devils find themselves, Thornton will probably think there are better places for him to go. While the Sharks did just sign Evander Kane to a huge contract, it still seems like those two will work it out.