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Shawn Thornton

Snapshots: Kovalchuk, Quenneville, Thornton

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Despite rumors out of Russia that Ilya Kovalchuk was now considering staying in the KHL next season, Devils GM Ray Shero told Mike Morreale of NHL.com that the sniper is still pursing NHL opportunities. Shero spoke with Kovalchuk’s agent yesterday, and is waiting on his camp to make a decision.

I can’t go out calling teams because that’s a waste of my time. He’s going to tell [us] where he wants to play and in the end, if that does work out and it’s not the Devils, then I’ve got to see if that makes sense for us to do that.

Kovalchuk would be an interesting addition to many teams around the league, but can’t officially sign a new contract or be traded until July 1st. A sign-and-trade this summer is the most likely scenario, though he could wait another year to become an unrestricted free agent and able to sign with any team in the league. That said, a contract next summer would come at the age of 35, and with it the restrictions 35+ contracts contain.

  • The New York Islanders have extended a “bona fide offer” to draft pick David Quenneville, in order to retain his rights for another year. This information almost never comes out officially, but in order to keep his exclusive negotiating rights until next June the offer needed to be submitted today. Quenneville, the brother of New Jersey forward John Quenneville and second cousin to Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, was drafted in the seventh round last summer and enjoyed a successful season for the Medicine Hat Tigers.
  • The Florida Panthers have officially welcomed former player Shawn Thornton into their front office as Vice President, Business Operations. It had previously been reported that Thornton was headed for the business side of the game after retirement, and he’ll now work with President Matthew Caldwell. The veteran of 705 NHL games is known for his charitable work in the community with programs like the Shawn Thornton Foundation and the Pucks and Punches for Parkinson’s golf tournament.
  • Vegas has a new ECHL affiliate, announcing a partnership with the Quad City Mallards today. The Mallards had previously been affiliated with the Minnesota Wild who, according to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, will have a new ECHL team announced next week. The Golden Knights had previously announced their AHL affiliate as the Chicago Wolves, and now will have two minor league teams to fill as they look to build a pipeline of young talent.

Snapshots: Suzuki, Thornton, Malkin, Giordano

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Now that Jack Hughes will be heading to the US Development Program, the expected first overall pick in the upcoming OHL draft was vacated. While Hughes would have been a shoe-in for the Barrie Colts selection, Bob McKenzie of TSN now reports that it will be Ryan Suzuki going first. If that last name strikes you as familiar in regards to a hockey draft, you’re not crazy—Nick Suzuki, Ryan’s older brother, is expected to go in the first round in this summer’s NHL entry draft. The older Suzuki is playing with the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL and has a chance at a Memorial Cup bid this spring. In 70 games this season (including five playoff contests), the 17-year old centerman has 106 points.

  • Shawn Thornton will call it quits after this season, and transition into a business position with the Florida Panthers according to Craig Davis of the Sun Sentinel. Thornton will finish with 705 career games played and over 1100 penalty minutes. The rough, physical forward hit double digit goals only twice in his career, but was part of two different Stanley Cup winning teams. At 39-years old, he’s carved out an impressive career for a player drafted in the seventh round who never even recorded 30 points in his junior career. While a lot of that success has to do with his fists, he’s also a testament to work ethic and perseverance.
  • Penguins’ head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters that the team is “optimistic” Evgeni Malkin will be ready for the start of the playoffs. After getting news that Kris Letang would miss 4-6 months following neck surgery, getting Malkin back as soon as possible is extremely important if the Penguins want to do any damage in the postseason. Malkin has been skating by himself for a few days, and took shots before practice this morning.
  • Mark Giordano will not receive any supplementary discipline for the hit that injured Cam Fowler last night, according to Mike Halford of NBC. Giordano went knee-on-knee with Fowler, but did receive a punishment of sorts when Josh Manson decided he deserved some justice. Losing Fowler for any length of time would be a big hit to the Ducks as they head into the postseason.

Shawn Thornton Expected To Retire After Next Season

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Florida winger Shawn Thornton is expected to retire following the 2016-17 season, reports DJ Bean of WEEI.  Interestingly enough, last year was supposed to be his final season but when the Panthers opted to offer him an extension just before the trade deadline, he jumped at the opportunity to stick around for one more year, telling Bean that, “When they offered another year, I sprained my finger signing the thing before they changed their minds”.

Thornton has played a part-time role with Florida in the past two years after joining the team in the 2014 offseason.  In 2015-16, he suited up in 50 games for the Panthers, picking up a goal and four assists to go along with 80 penalty minutes.  He also got into four postseason contests, being held pointless.

The 39 year old was drafted by Toronto in the seventh round of the 1997 draft but never suited up for the Leafs.  He still has been well-travelled over the years, getting in 655 games with Chicago, Anaheim, Boston, and Florida, picking up 40 goals, 58 assists, and 1,036 penalty minutes.

A year ago, Thornton was planning on getting involved in sports media in his retirement but has had a change of heart and now plans to get into the business side of the game:

“As we know, things change year-to-year – this would have been a different conversation last year – but as of right now I think I’m probably leaning more towards the business side of hockey. Once the season’s over, I’ll probably move into that role in Florida.  Media, I did a lot and that’s exactly where I thought I was going to end up going, but if the opportunity is still there to get into learning something new in the business side of sports, I just see a ton of upside to that for longer in life.”

Thornton will likely once again be a part time player with Florida next season, as evidenced by the pay cut he took in his deal last February.  After earning $1.2MM in each of the last two seasons, he is only guaranteed half of that in 2016-17 with an additional $172K in games played and Stanley Cup bonuses.  When in the lineup, he’ll likely be deployed on Florida’s fourth line.

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