Thornton traded to Sharks

[boondockdrunk]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2242875

The struggling Boston Bruins traded away captain Joe Thornton, once thought to be the future of the franchise, to the San Jose Sharks for three players, a Bruins spokeswoman confirmed late on Wednesday night.

The Bruins get Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart in return for Thornton, who in August signed a three-year, $20 million contract.

"He is a leader who scores points and makes other players around him better," San Jose GM Doug Wilson said in a statement. "To get a player of this caliber, you have to give up something to get something. You would make this trade last month, this month or next year. It follows our philosophy of making our team better for this year and next year."

Thornton, the top overall pick of the 1997 draft, leads the Bruins in scoring this season. He has nine goals and 23 assists for 32 points.

The 8-13 Bruins have lost nine of their last 10 games and are in last place in the Northeast Division.

Bruins spokeswoman Heidi Holland said the deal was completed on Wednesday night.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Thornton, 26, has been the key to the Bruins offense. He has scored more than 20 goals in each of his last five NHL seasons, including two with 30 or more. In 2003-04, he led them in scoring with 23 goals and 50 assists.

Primeau, a center, was the Sabres' first-round choice, 17th overall, in the 1994 draft. He has five goals and three assists in 21 games.

Sturm, the Sharks' first-round choice, 21st overall, in the 1996 draft, has six goals and 10 assists in 23 games.

Defenseman Stuart, the Sharks' first-round choice, third overall, in the 1998 draft, has two goals and 10 assists in 23 games.

Someone please tell me why on earth the Bruins made this deal?!?! Horrible trade for them. The only thing I can think of is that they are dumping salary( and even so, The Bruins will save over $1.5 million in the deal, with Sturm making $2 million, Stuart set to make $1.9 million and Primeau earning $1.1 million). If that is the case, think we can jump and get Sergei Samsonov? Just run together three scrubs and send them packing for him.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I was surprised by that, too. I wonder if there was more to it that we don't know about....

 

[Scott MS]

I was surprised by that, too. I wonder if there was more to it that we don't know about....

Like the Bruins are not going to make the playoffs so why not cut the payroll now and make some money?

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Like the Bruins are not going to make the playoffs so why not cut the payroll now and make some money?

From what I've read, it sounds like Thornton was just underachieving in Boston. Just seems kind of drastic to give up on him, but I guess it's been a problem for a few years now.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

primeau is nothing much

but don't understimate how good stuart and sturm are ... both are very talented young players

i think the Bs should of snagged Toskala instead of wayne and then the deal would of been pretty good for all involved

as it is my sharks got the advantage, although i'll miss marco and brad

 

[Murf]

SJ won on this trade.

Boston lost.

The Pacific division got the shaft.

The Coyotes missed an opportunity. Should have sent Tanabe and Take-your-pick to Boston for Thornton.

 

[boondockdrunk]

Like the Bruins are not going to make the playoffs so why not cut the payroll now and make some money?

As I said they are only saving a total of 1.1 million on this deal. Not too significant an amount.

primeau is nothing much

but don't understimate how good stuart and sturm are ... both are very talented young players

i think the Bs should of snagged Toskala instead of wayne and then the deal would of been pretty good for all involved

as it is my sharks got the advantage, although i'll miss marco and brad

Stuart and Sturm are good young players, but hardly anything special. Sturm is a 20 goal scorer and Stuart is pretty good as a D-man.

However, Thorton is also young and a very good player.

I know alot of places say that he underachieved, but what did they expect when they surround him with garbage? They have a decent team, but nothing special (besides Sergei). Also, he had 33 points in 23 games, you cannot tell me that those numbers are bad. The rest of his team just didn't do anything to help them win.