Joe Thornton
Joe Thornton, who will not be wearing teal for the first time in 15 years, agreed to a league minimum contract to come home, play for his hometown team, and try to win the Stanley Cup, the prize that has eluded the 22-year veteran thus far. With him being 41 years old, no one knows how long he has left to play.
Think about this – last season, there were only three players 40+ to suit up for at least one game. Those players were Zdeno Chara, Patrick Marleau, and Thornton. That is it. With Chara still unsigned, of the group, only Thornton will be playing for a contender this season.
With a lot of miles on his body, the decline will not be gradual. It is steep and it is sudden. We do not know how Thornton will look this season without having played an NHL game in over 10 months. This may very well be Thornton’s last kick at the can to try and win it all.
The hope is there Thornton will be more motivated than ever to push his teammates to help him finally accomplish his dream. After all, it is not every day you get the opportunity to represent your childhood team night in and night out.
All that remains to be seen is if Thornton can still compete at his age. There is one thing working in his favour – by the time the season starts up again, Thornton will have gone 10 months and 3 days (assuming Jan. 13th start) since his last game action. That is a lot of time for the London, Ontario native to rest his ageing body and get back to full health in time for the season.