5 Hometown Players the Toronto Maple Leafs Should Sign

#3. Joe Thornton

Who wouldn’t love to see Jumbo Joe finish his career lifting a Stanley Cup with the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Although Thornton grew up in London, we’ll consider him a local-kid. Thornton has been linked to Toronto for a long-time and fans would be thrilled if he came back home.

The 41-year-old has made almost $110M in salary alone during his career so you would hope he’d be willing to take a $1-2M deal to join the Leafs. The San Jose Sharks could still win a Stanley Cup next season, but he’d have better luck competing for a championship in Toronto.

Even at his age, he’s continued to produce. With similar numbers to Spezza, the vision of Thornton hasn’t left. He still has the ability to find an open player and rack up assists.

Despite most likely playing on the third or fourth line if he signed in Toronto, he would still be playing with immensely skilled players. He would most likely be paired with someone who could be his son, Nick Robertson, and either Andreas Johnsson or Ilya Mikheyev, if they’re both around next year.

The last veteran Shark to join the Leafs (Patrick Marleau) performed very well in Toronto, but he overstayed his welcome. Let’s get Thornton to the Leafs on a one-year deal and see what he can do.