For now, it looks like Joe Thornton will be making a return to the NHL next season. At least that’s what he implied in Las Vegas ahead of the league's Award ceremony.
A veteran of 21 NHL seasons, Jumbo’s best days are behind him, however, he’s still managed to establish himself as an effective player. The soon to be 40-year-old posted an impressive 51 points through 73 games and with some juice left in the tank, it seems as though he’ll be returning next season in an attempt to win his first Stanley Cup. Similar to the great Jaromir Jagr, Thornton doesn’t see himself retiring any time soon.
"I got nothing else going on..." Must be nice to be Joe Thornton! Clearly the man with the grizzled beard just needed some time to think…
There’s few things hockey fans would like to see more than Thornton lift his first Stanley Cup, but the Sharks are going to have to get creative if they want him doing it in a teal jersey. On Monday, San Jose awarded defenceman Erik Karlsson an eight-year, $92 million contract, leaving them with just over $16.3 million in cap space to sign captain Joe Pavelski, Gustav Nyquist, Brenden Dillon, Joonas Donskoi, RFAs Timo Meier & Kevin Lebanc, and Jumbo.
This whole thing could very well have been a bluff but we wouldn’t put it past the guy to come back for one more year.
(H/T San Jose Sharks)
