Does a Joe Thornton trade to the Blue Jackets make sense?

Besides his talent, we mainly want him for his playoff beard. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

The Jackets lack with little playoff experience. Yes they have a 2-4 lost series last season but that’s not enough. Adding an extremely talented veteran like Joe Thornton brings so many of those playoff intangibles that you need to an already young core. Thornton is no dead meat either. Despite constant controversy in San Jose this season, Thornton still finished with 65 points (would be good enough for 3rd best on the Jackets and 26th in the NHL). He’s not the 100 point seasons guy like he did in his mid 20’s but he would definitely be a great upgrade to the roster. He still has great vision, hard nosed toughness, great size that he’s uses to his advantage and has evolved into a great playmaker which will work as a double benefit for both the himself (better finishers and young talent) and the Blue Jackets, which will gain better positioning and spacing via clearer lanes and open looks. He’s been around the block, in the NHL since the 97-98 season, and can help mentor the young core coming up.  The fit makes sense and with news out of San Jose that owner Hasso Plattner is on board with a rebuilding timeline, it seems as if Thornton’s days as a San Jose Shark are coming to an end.

“The rebuild is in full progress, the team is now amongst the youngest in the league and has a great future,” San Jose Sharks owner Hasso Plattner

The San Jose Sharks full rebuild mode doesn’t stop with the roster. The on-ice vision will change with Coach Todd McLellan having been let go. Furthermore Thornton clashed with GM Doug Wilson this season, saying about Wilson, “He just needs to stop lying, shut his mouth.” It doesn’t bode well for Thornton’s Shark future that Wilson is expected to return. Also in consideration has to be Thornton’s eternal clicking clock. He’ll turn 36 before the season begins (which would make him the oldest person on the Blue Jackets by  3 years, over next in line for an AARP card, Scott Harnell) and he has yet to win, let alone play for, a Stanley Cup. I can’t imagine him wanting to stay for a rebuilding team who he seems at war with.

So what will it take to bring Thornton to Cbus and what would the Jackets be potentially willing to give up? I asked Twitter (which is always a risky thing,) what you, the fans thought.

They ranged from supportive

To negative

To doubtful

to running like a unicorn across a rainbow of possibilities

What would it honestly take to bring him over? Here’s where the Blue Jackets make a ton of sense. The Sharks are in a rebuild mode and they want young players and draft picks. Also you have to think about who would want to give up a young prospect or draft picks for a 36 year old veteran. The overlapping criteria leaves a few teams that have the abundance of  prospects and picks to go through with a trade like this but also have the talent on the roster that giving up those assets makes sense for a few years of Cup Chase. The Jackets have their first rounder this year, #8 overall, as well as 3! 2nd rounders #34 (from the Toronto Maple Leafs), their own at #38 and wherever the Anaheim Ducks‘ 2nd rounder falls. On top of that, they also have two back to back 3rds this season. The Philadelphia Flyers‘ at #68 and their own at #69. It’s also worth nothing they have their full 1-4 rounds of picks for next year’s draft. Also in the arsenal that could help is last year’s 1st rounder (#16 overall) Sonny Milano.  Milano is still very young, turning 19 in a few weeks, but only played 10 games for top affiliate Springfield Falcons, though he did notch 5 assists in 10 games. We’ve previously discussed the log jam of talented offense the Jackets seem to have with Johansen, Dubinsky, Hartnell, Foligno, Cam Atkinson, Alexander Wennberg, Kerby Rychel and Marko Dano.  Seven are under 28, four of which are under 22, so a young offensive player that still needs some time could become expendable for a current Cup push.  That said would you want to give up young assets and not receive any help in what most call our greatest position of need…on the blueline? These are all things to be considered when heading into the NHL off-season.

Its likely that some combination of those 2nd and 3rd round picks with Milano could get the job done. Though who knows when you’re dealing with GM Doug Wilson. You could be pleasantly surprised.