“Jumbo Joe” turned 42 last month, and signed a one-year, $750,000 contract on Friday with the Florida Panthers. The 2021-22 campaign will be Thornton’s 24th in the NHL.
Thornton ranks sixth all time in NHL games played (1,680) and 14th all time in points (1,529), since being drafted first overall by the Bruins in 1997. He needs just five points to move past Paul Coffey (1,531) and Mark Recchi (1,533) into 12th.
As astounding as those numbers are given Thornton’s age, the more amazing factor is Zdeno Chara of the Washington Capitals is over two and a half years older and still playing.
Thornton has played in a Stanley Cup final, along with 17 other playoff appearances in his previous 23 years. Undoubtedly the Panthers will make that number grow by one with the talent coming back from a 2021 playoff run that saw them give the eventual champion Tampa Bay Lightning all they could handle, before falling in six games in the Easter Conference Quarterfinals.
The Panthers finished last season one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the top spot in the Covid-realigned Central Division. Now with the divisions going back to normal with the addition of the Seattle Kraken, Florida snaps back to the Atlantic Division with the Bolts, Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens being their biggest hills to climb.
The Panthers only had $2.82 million in salary cap space, what with giving Sam Reinhart $6.5 million the next three seasons after getting him from the Buffalo Sabres. Keep in mind that Florida still has to pay Roberto Luongo $1.09 million for this season, despite retiring in 2019, as there were three years left on his existing contract. Going into next season, the Panthers are going to need to shell out decent money for Carter Verhaeghe after his breakout performance in the playoffs.
We have seen Chris Chelios play until he was 48. Gordie Howe played until he was 52. Jaromir Jagr left the NHL at 46. I doubt few would know this, but Jagr is still playing professionally in the Czech Republic for his hometown HC Kladno. European hockey leagues operate much the way soccer leagues would, by teams being promoted and demoted to tiers, based on performance. HC Kladno will play the 2021-22 season in the Czech Extraliga, their highest-tier league.
Jagr will turn 50 during the upcoming season.
Surrounding Thornton with young talent like Reinhart, Verhaeghe, Alexander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad is perfect at this stage of his career. Their speed and talent can mask many of his shortcomings, as he only put up 20 points (5 goals, 15 assists) in 44 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season.
It has been rumored that Thornton was going to retire going back to 2018, when he only dressed in 47 games with the San Jose Sharks. You could almost make the joke the Father Time is calling Thornton, but the length of his beard is not really letting you tell the difference between them as the years progress.
You hate seeing the greats bounce around at the end of their careers. Joe Montana in Kansas City; Jagr with seemingly a quarter of the NHL; Albert Puljols this year with the other team named Los Angeles (even though the original is Anaheim). Although you get the Panthers scorching the earth at the end of the regular season like they did last year, and Thornton’s leadership might be just the edge much of the youth needs to push the Lightning in their quest for a three-peat.
-JC24