On free agent Joe Thornton …
Pierre LeBrun: Have heard that Joe Thornton’s camp took calls from twelve teams so far (as of late Monday afternoon). The San Jose Sharks remain at the top for him. Don’t think that Thornton plans on visiting any cities.
Pierre LeBrun: Would think that LA Kings would be one of the teams that was in contact given his relationship with Kings GM Rob Blake. thinks that Thornton will end up staying in San Jose.
Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area: If other teams offer Sharks free agents Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau multi-year deals, it may become less likely to return, especially for Marleau.
Dennis Bernstein: The Montreal Canadiens would be one team that Joe Thornton would consider if he hits the open market.
David Pagnotta: Joe Thornton has received lots of interest from Cup contenders to teams at the bottom.
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliotte Friedman was on a Sportsnet 590. Friedman says that Joe Thornton is getting a lot of calls, but isn’t sure if Thornton is ready to move. He really likes it in San Jose and is a big part of the community.
“But he wants some term. And it’s always dangerous with a guy his age to give him term. The belief is that San Jose has some extensions done on July 1 – Martin Jones, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who are unrestricted in a year from now, but I think they’re going to get those done.
“So what’s left. What’s left for Thornton. I think there’s a lot of teams – Nashville, maybe Toronto, Montreal, Rangers – I even wouldn’t be surprised if a team like Columbus, who are all-in in the next two years, would call and say, ‘What would it take.’ “
Friedman thinks that Thornton could be looking for three years and maybe in the $5 to $7 million range.
“And I’ll tell you this: I think there’s a lot of teams that at least want to talk to Joe Thornton and say, ‘What would it take to get you here,’ so they know.“