[Signing] Maple Leafs sign Joe Thornton

[MoneypuckOverlord]

11 hours ago, Slegr said:

Oh my, there have been so many stories on Sportsnet about this bum. Who knew a league minimum signing could be the holy grail for the Leafs. They’ve won another Stanley Cup in the offseason it would appear.

you know what's hilarious.  He had a 11 minute interview with sports net and he started it off by saying he had multiple teams interested in him.   

 

That's bull $&!#.   The fact it was 700000k shows no one wanted him.  

 

 

and because he signed with the leafs instead of the Canucks, guys like Dreger and Friedman doesn't have a negative back story like Toronto was the only team interested in signing him.  Peddle off the meddle if it's a leafs signing.  Rip it hard if it was a Canuck signing. 

 

11 hours ago, J-Dizzle said:

Not sure I get the ‘leadership’ angle.... didn’t the guy get stripped of a letter in SAN Jose?  Never really seemed like the ‘good influence’ kind of guy. 

I think leafs fans want to find something good to say about the signing.      Who am I to question what a future hall of famer does, but with all due respect to Joe Thornton, what he is doing right now playing at a lowest level in his career is something the Sedin's didn't want to do, which was playing their final years from team to team on a low salary at a low level. 

 

 

[KoreanHockeyFan]

On 10/16/2020 at 5:13 PM, grandmaster said:

Wow. I really think the Leafs have done really well. They have so many of these reclamation projects for dirt cheap. At least one of them will be a hit. 
 

Low risk versus high reward.

 

Simmonds - 1.5M

Thornton - 700K

Spezza - 700K

Bogosian - 1M

 

Add Brodie, a good defenceman. 
 

I like the moves. 

 

[Ilya Mikheyev]

Thornton continuing to play for Davos for now. Who knows, maybe starting the year early will give him a slight leg up on players who are sitting. 1 secondary assist in 1 game in a 9-2 win, somehow ended up -1 tho.

[spur1]

I have been laughing for days.  Joe going to TO to win a cup. 

[The Lock]

On 10/16/2020 at 2:13 PM, grandmaster said:

Wow. I really think the Leafs have done really well. They have so many of these reclamation projects for dirt cheap. At least one of them will be a hit. 
 

Low risk versus high reward.

 

Simmonds - 1.5M

Thornton - 700K

Spezza - 700K

Bogosian - 1M

 

Add Brodie, a good defenceman. 
 

I like the moves. 

 

The problem I have is how many of them are actually going to play? They seem to have like 293846 forwards and 125125 defense at this point. If you told me they were trying to keep every free agent employed I'd believe it! lol

 

Perhaps it'll be good for depth, but I have to think someone there's not going to be happy in the end when they don't get to play.

Edited October 20, 2020 by The Lock

[J-P]

I get signing one of Spezza or Thornton, and maybe Simmonds can have a purpose on a checking line although I'm hesitant he can be effective in that role at this stage. But signing all three to that lineup? Sounds crazy to me...

 

In other words - I love it!!!

[IBatch]

On 10/19/2020 at 3:02 AM, MoneypuckOverlord said:

you know what's hilarious.  He had a 11 minute interview with sports net and he started it off by saying he had multiple teams interested in him.   

 

That's bull $&!#.   The fact it was 700000k shows no one wanted him.  

 

 

and because he signed with the leafs instead of the Canucks, guys like Dreger and Friedman doesn't have a negative back story like Toronto was the only team interested in signing him.  Peddle off the meddle if it's a leafs signing.  Rip it hard if it was a Canuck signing. 

 

I think leafs fans want to find something good to say about the signing.      Who am I to question what a future hall of famer does, but with all due respect to Joe Thornton, what he is doing right now playing at a lowest level in his career is something the Sedin's didn't want to do, which was playing their final years from team to team on a low salary at a low level. 

 

 

There isn’t many teams in the league who wouldn’t want to sign JT at 700k to be a depth C or even a regular in their bottom six.   Like Recchi and other guys who loved hockey so much they never wanted to stop,  he will be a good leader for their team and help them keep an even keel if they end up 3-2 against a contender like Boston again.   He’s getting more flak on here then he deserves, and most kids growing up when and where they did dreamed of playing for the Leafs, the same way I’m sure BC kids do as well (hi Benn, hi Myers).     And take discounts to do so depending on circumstances.     The Sedins retiring was a gift to us.   Post Sedin 2 and look how far we went.  I’m glad for that for sure - wouldn’t want to watch their skills deteriorate, but on the flip side if they signed for us at the league minimum right now how could we not give that a go? 

Edited October 22, 2020 by IBatch

[EternalCanuckFan]

3 hours ago, IBatch said:

There isn’t many teams in the league who wouldn’t want to sign JT at 700k to be a depth C or even a regular in their bottom six.   Like Recchi and other guys who loved hockey so much they never wanted to stop,  he will be a good leader for their team and help them keep an even keel if they end up 3-2 against a contender like Boston again.   He’s getting more flak on here then he deserves, and most kids growing up when and where they did dreamed of playing for the Leafs, the same way I’m sure BC kids do as well (hi Benn, hi Myers).     And take discounts to do so depending on circumstances.     The Sedins retiring was a gift to us.   Post Sedin 2 and look how far we went.  I’m glad for that for sure - wouldn’t want to watch their skills deteriorate, but on the flip side if they signed for us at the league minimum right now how could we not give that a go? 

Re the Sedins coming back in a depth role, aside from concerns about their foot speed which was always a knock on them, I always thought that the combination of their strength, smarts and their strong cycle game would make them the best grinders.  Even if they might not produce as much, they could anchor an incredible possession driving 4th line.

[oldnews]

4 hours ago, IBatch said:

There isn’t many teams in the league who wouldn’t want to sign JT at 700k to be a depth C or even a regular in their bottom six.   Like Recchi and other guys who loved hockey so much they never wanted to stop,  he will be a good leader for their team and help them keep an even keel if they end up 3-2 against a contender like Boston again.   He’s getting more flak on here then he deserves, and most kids growing up when and where they did dreamed of playing for the Leafs, the same way I’m sure BC kids do as well (hi Benn, hi Myers).     And take discounts to do so depending on circumstances.     The Sedins retiring was a gift to us.   Post Sedin 2 and look how far we went.  I’m glad for that for sure - wouldn’t want to watch their skills deteriorate, but on the flip side if they signed for us at the league minimum right now how could we not give that a go? 

Thornton isn't really the one getting the flack (aside from some jokes about his age) - and the question isn't whether he's a good depth signing at that price (like Spezza he's probably a good deal at that price) - however the question - once again, as it has been year after year with Dubas' Leafs - is the type of players he signs to fill out that roster relative to what that team appears to need....they repeatedly wind up with guys like Tavares and Marner playing their hard minutes in the playoffs - Marner being their lead penalty killing forward - out there blocking shots, etc....

Was Spezza a 'bad signing'?  No not really - but was a guy that kills 3 seconds a game of penalties and has never been known as a defensive center, the 'right' target for a 4C for them?  Certainly 'unconventional' - you have to give him that - and he probably got lucky with the timing of Covid in this sense,  needing bargain basement contracts....but I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone claim that "offense wins championships".   It's possible - it's been done - but in general teams that are built with better balance tend to be more successful imo.

[oldnews]

2 hours ago, EternalCanuckFan said:

Re the Sedins coming back in a depth role, aside from concerns about their foot speed which was always a knock on them, I always thought that the combination of their strength, smarts and their strong cycle game would make them the best grinders.  Even if they might not produce as much, they could anchor an incredible possession driving 4th line.

I think that's a real misconception.

 

The thing about playing 'defense' or defending in general - the Sedins lack of footspeed and lack of aggressiveness are/were serious limitations to their 'defensive game'. 

The fact is - that the puck moves faster than any skater - and that is the basis of their genius - they compensated for what they did not have - with what they did - namely they lacked speed and 'hardness' - instead they had intelligence, puck movement and sheer will to build strength - to endure.

Their truly only 'high end' defensive trait - was their incredible - hard-earned - endurance.  They could last and last on shifts - and further, their ability to move the puck and lure opponents into chasing - was pure execution to their strengths.

 

But attempting to overcome their lack of foot speed and lack of aggressive physicality was an uphill battle for them - you'd see Daniel separate a guy from the puck on rare occassion, but the Sedins were never really able to match their ability to battle and cycle down low in an opponent's zone with a comparable level of effectiveness in their own zone, without the puck.  This is probably in part due to a few different factors - first they spent most of their careers getting very high ozone starts as relative 'specialists' in a team-build that suited them (ie one with bottom six forwards like Malhotra, Higgins, Hansen, Lapierre, etc... And second, they as much as anyone were probably intimately aware of what made their strengths their strengths...ie that the puck moves faster than any skater....so perhaps on a certain level they "knew" that they weren't cut out to be high end defensive forwards = their own adaptations to become 'elite' players, expose them even more on the other side of the puck.   Could they have been better if it had been more of a focus of their incredible will and work ethic?  Perhaps - but I never saw the point - particularly at the stage where a Tortorella comes in and attempts to make a square out of a circle.  The team never really needed them to be capable of playing 4th line type minutes - and arguably - they aren't really capable of being as good in those kinds of minutes as players that were more mobile, more physically aggressive, players that had long developed their defensive intelligence - essentially more talented defensive players.

 

If they are starting in their own zone, without the puck (Henrik was a career sub 50% faceoff guy) - they are not going to be great 'possession' players(the idea that they'd be 'driving play' in that context is an assumption that they have the puck - when they are more likely going to be 'chasing' the play - without great footspeed, and not exactly known to separate people from pucks, etc....and further, they aren't exactly transition scorers - they are 'possession' and cycle scorers.  On that note I'd point out that when in possession they were actually better "possession" players than is typically perceived, because "possession" metrics have depended on shot attempt totals as opposed to actual possession - when it came to actual possession, they were  more 'elite' than it seemed because their ablity to move the puck, complete passes and maintain (exhausting levels of possession to defend against - was relatively outstanding (and ironically, their reluctance to shoot the puck - their preference to wait and build a shift, to wear on an opponent - actually meant that their shot differential 'possession' numbers deflated the impression of their actual possession.

Edited October 22, 2020 by oldnews

[Goal:thecup]

Joe can rot in TO for all I care.

Him following like a sheep and sticking his fingers in Henrik's mouth was the last straw for me.

He is a dolt; if it wasn't for Burns, he would have been completely without class or high character.

 

I love TO's plan; they may not ever win another round in the playoffs.

Signing all these over-the-hill losers will help prolong their incompetence.

Wish Dumbass could be cloned for every other team.