Ek’s note:
Please join me in welcoming Franklin Steele to the HockeyBuzz writing team. Franklin has been writing about hockey online since 2011 with stops including Bleacher Report, Sharks’ centric Blades of Teal, and a handful of other niche sites. I like his hard-hitting, no-nonsense take on the San Jose Sharks, and look forward to him covering the team during what promises to be a period of transition for the franchise.
When the Boston Bruins traded Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks, the center
said that he was "blindsided" by the deal. It's tough to blame him. It's not every day that a rebuilding franchise decides to ship its best player to the opposite coast for what amounts to moving parts. That's exactly what happened when the B's moved Thornton to San Jose for Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau though.
Thornton had just signed a three-year extension to stay in Boston a few months before the trade happened, which made the move seem even stranger. We'll never know for sure how the B's would have progressed with No. 19 as the team captain, but we know what's happened in Boston since. The current captain of the Sharks was moved in December of 2005. In the summer of 2006 the Bruins were able to land Zdeno Chara as a free agent, and the "big and bad" squad from years gone by was born again.
Boston hasn't missed the playoffs since 2007, and they've been a top-end contender for a majority of that time. Would that have been so successful had they not moved Thornton when they did? The success that the Bruins have had didn't stem from pieces that they acquired in the Thornton deal. Instead, their success seems to have blossomed only after they moved their best forward. Is this just a coincidence?
Given San Jose's postseason struggles during Thornton's tenure, there has to be at least a casual connection between lack of playoff success and the presence this particular player. The Sharks have been a good regular season team since 2003. When they managed to pry Thornton away from Boston, he was viewed as the missing piece, and he certainly seemed to be after finding instant chemistry with Jonathan Cheechoo. Boston has gone on to two Stanley Cup Final appearances since dealing the former first-overall selection, while the Sharks have yet to make it to the third round since the trade.
Correlation isn't necessarily causation, but this trend is tough to ignore as the Sharks look to shake up their core after an embarrassing showing in the playoffs this year. General manager Doug Wilson—a guy who is typically reserved in his judgments in the public forum—is now pushing a rebuilding message. The GM had this to say about the direction of the team recently,
as reported by David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News:
"We're a tomorrow team... This is a phase that this organization has never gone into in the past, and maybe should have many years ago."
Those are strong words from Wilson, and Pollak also reported that the manager has the full support from ownership to undergo a rebuild-on-the-fly. It's speculation on our part, but can the Sharks truly claim to be a rebuilding team that is looking for a new direction if they continue to back Thornton as team captain? It's not fair to pin all of San Jose's shortcomings on the 34-year-old center, but when you make the big bucks, you're also buying yourself added responsibility. "With great power" and all that. The issue here isn't with "Jumbo Joe" and his production. He's still a remarkably talented and intelligent pivot that tends to make the guys on his line better.
If that's the case, then why can't the Sharks win with him as the leader both on and off the ice? Or rather, what did the Bruins know back in '05 when the moved Thornton for two depth forwards and a top-four defenseman? The important thing to remember here is that the breakup between Boston and Thornton wasn't pretty. The player called out management and the coaching staff while the Bruins' brass didn't shy away from critiquing Thornton.
Perhaps the B's came to the same conclusion that San Jose is just now honing in on. That they couldn't elevate to true contender status with Thornton as the most important guy on the ice. It's not a slight to him or his personality. I've never been in the same room with him but he seems to be well liked and funny. This is about results. The NHL—and all businesses, really—is results based. The Sharks wanted a Stanley Cup parade when they acquired Thornton, and they've been building around him as the center piece since then.
And it hasn't worked.
If we're to believe Murray, and there's no reason to think he's blowing smoke here, then big changes are coming for the boys in teal. None of those shifts will matter until they break the bone for the sake of resetting it. That is to say: until they deal Thornton for whatever they can get and finish what has been a promising but altogether disappointing chapter in team history, no rebuild can be taken seriously.
Think about the options that open up with Thornton playing elsewhere. Suddenly San Jose truly becomes a team that belongs to Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture and maybe even Tomas Hertl. That's not a bad group of guys to have waiting in the wings, and while they obviously have a voice in the locker room, none of these players looms larger than Joe Thornton. Trading him would also free up some cap space and would allow the Sharks to take a run at a number of free agents. One player that could drastically change the makeup of this team from day one? Paul Stastny.
Keep an eye on this space in the coming days, as we'll be evaluating which free agents could turn into home runs for a team that desperately needs one.
What do you think about Thornton and his future in San Jose? Do you think he's a part of the problem, or is he the convenient scapegoat for a team that's full of underachievers? Sound off and let us know what you think.
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