Friedman on Thornton-Sharks buyout speculation
/Elliotte Friedman was on Calgary’s Sportsnet 960 on Monday morning.
On what he sees as the first shoe dropping with the San Jose Sharks after the season:
“I’ve been told that when – and I have no proof of it – but when the owner stepped in when everybody kind of blew up at each other there, the word I was given was that Joe Thornton was told he was not going anywhere. That he’s going to stay and he’s going to retire a San Jose Shark. Which I do believe is the case. Joe Thornton has made it very clear he’s not getting traded unless he wants to be and he doesn’t want to be.
“And to be perfectly honest, he’s been their second-best player this year. So why would you want to trade him anyway.”
Later in the discussion on the Sharks:
“I’ve heard – I don’t know, I probably shouldn’t be passing along rumors, but what the heck – it’s radio and that’s what we do. Last year, that when this whole thing started and there was a debate about whether or not they wanted to trade him, he basically said: ‘You know what? I’m not moving. If you want to get rid of me, buy me out. Then I can go anywhere I want.’
“And they didn’t want to do that for obvious reasons. So unless his mind has changed, that’s been his thinking. If you want to move him, buy him out. And I don’t think San Jose will do that.
“I wonder if in the off-season they sit down and have another conversation. Doug Wilson has said this year that he will not ask Joe Thornton to be traded. And we’ll see if that changes in the off-season, or, if there’s a new GM, whether it’s Ray Shero or whoever it is, goes to him and says, ‘This is what I’m thinking.’ “
Source: Sportsnet 960/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey
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