On the San Jose Sharks and Joe Thornton …
Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: The Sharks are one of four teams that don’t have any players with no-movement clauses – Flames, Blues and Capitals are the other three.
Joe Thornton is a pending UFA and as long as the Sharks don’t sign him before the expansion draft, they won’t have to protect him. Vegas GM George McPhee would likely say that the Sharks and Thornton have deal in place and could be circumventing the draft.
Thornton agent, his brother John, said earlier this week that they want a three-year deal. The Sharks might be concerned with this for the soon to be 38-year old. The Sharks would likely rather do one-year deals.
Wouldn’t be a surprise if the Sharks don’t re-sign Patrick Marleau, who has played his entire career with the Sharks.
Darren Dreger: Following up on LeBrun’s report, it’s fairly quiet on the contract talk front between the Sharks and Thornton’s camp at the moment.
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Pierre LeBrun was on TSN 1040 talking about Joe Thornton and San Jose Sharks. Don’t think the Sharks and Thornton are in a hurry to get an extension done. There is trust between the two sides.
Thornton is looking for a three-year deal, which would be his fourth three-year deal in a row.
“Now, most people listening know the CBA wrinkle for players 35 and over. If you’re 35 and over and sign a contract, the entirety of that contract counts against the cap no matter what happens to you as a player. So that’s why it’s scary, is you often see a lot of 35-plus players just sign one-year extensions because of it. But, I mean – Joe Thornton is in unbelievable shape. He showed no signs to me of slowing down, so who knows. If the Sharks are at least willing to go two, is that good enough? There’s still lots of time for both sides to find some middle ground, so hopefully they get that done. But boy, if it doesn’t (laughs) that would be an interesting name come July 1, that’s for sure.”
