I wonder if, in the history of the NHL, more has ever been said about the signing of a player to a league minimum contract than has been said about Joe Thornton signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs. If an occasion has surpassed this, it can’t have been by much. Granted, it’s only natural given what the team and player have created in terms of potential storylines.
Take a sec to lay it out: An Ontario kid, a first-overall pick, plays 23 seasons and some 1,700 total games between two U.S. cities without ever winning a Cup. He’s a star, he’s famous. He makes all-star teams, and wins Olympic gold, the World Cup and the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s best player. He gets older, he gets grey, he grows increasingly desperate for that Stanley Cup championship.
He goes home. He goes home for (likely) one last kick at the can, right as a talented young team sees its prized core hit its prime age. It’s all so Disney.
You’ll often hear media say they don’t root for players or teams but rather for stories, and if that’s true, there’s gotta be some journalistic types out there right now picking up blue and white pom-poms at their nearest dollar store.
All that’s been written and said about the potential storybook narrative brings me to two important questions that fans will actually want to kick around, which are: Where does Thornton practically fit in the Leafs’ lineup, and (sacrilegious though this is to question) was his signing actually a good use of that bottom-six roster spot? There’s also the question of if it’s even possible to divorce Thornton of All That Is Joe Thornton and just consider his value as a player, so we’ll touch on that, too.
The Leafs had a few issues against Columbus in the play-in round, but one was really glaring. Their top two lines were stacked, and therefore supposed to draw the opposing team’s best players, meaning their third line could feast against weaker competition. In reality, they didn’t feast — not at all.
While Kasperi Kapanen and Alex Kerfoot were busy not feasting – fitting for those two to say they were fasting? – they also weren’t providing much else. And because of the type of players they are and what their job was supposed to be (depth scoring), they couldn’t even be used for heavy D-zone starts to prop up the other lines. They had to be protected to do their non-scoring, which is an overall drag on a team given the positions it puts other lines in.
That led to much speculation that this next version of the Leafs would have a bottom six that could at least do other things (defend, hit, wear opponents down) if they weren’t going to produce offence. Which brings me to Thornton and how, if he’s not going to produce offence, I’m not sure he’s going to do much else.
I’m confident he’ll be more willing to hang on to pucks in the offensive zone, control play, and play at the net, but let’s not kid ourselves about what he’s supposed to do. His role will be to help get some offensive punch out of the bottom six, and I’m not overly confident a ton of punch still exists.
I’m also pretty sure he won’t be taking more D-zone starts off the table from the top lines, meaning he may need some protecting himself. So there’s some justifiable grounds in questioning his addition, as has been done by my Hockey Central teammate Brian Burke:
But let’s not overthink this too much. Let’s lay the reality out much more plainly. We’re basically talking about swapping Joe Thornton in for Frederik Gauthier, not Thornton for Kapanen or Andreas Johnsson, as those guys and their dollars went to improve the team’s defensive corps. Thornton can take that spot as a bottom-six centre (call it third-line centre for now), and create some offence at both 5-on-5 and on the second power play unit.
Keep in mind that while Thornton had only 31 points last season, he also had 18 assists at 5-on-5, which if you look at league-wide comparables (names like Jack Eichel, Nicklas Backstrom and Blake Wheeler) was pretty decent. That was all while playing the bulk of his minutes with a pretty meh Marcus Sorensen (18 total points) and Kevin Labanc (33 points).
So he didn’t exactly play with big talent (his minutes away from those two saw him drive play at a much more successful rate), and he also saw his power play assists fall off the map, tallying only five on a quite-bad Sharks special teams unit. It’s tough to play chicken-or-egg with laying fault for his limited power play points, but certainly some of it had to do with an overall bad unit.
It’s not at all unreasonable to think that if the Leafs play him 13 or 14 minutes a game (instead of 15.5 as with San Jose), if he sees power play time with more talented players (almost a certainty), and if he just has a little better luck, his numbers could tick up this season. Whatever mix of linemates he hops the boards with, from Wayne Simmonds to Ilya Mikheyev to Jimmy Vesey to Jason Spezza or whoever, he’ll almost certainly have quality finishers alongside him.
There’s also the matter of what his more reliable presence can do for the rest of the lineup, which includes allowing Kerfoot to play more at wing — where he looked at his best for the Leafs last season. With that, Thornton too can play wing when needed, allowing Sheldon Keefe some versatility not just in-game, but in-season as injuries mount and lineup juggling becomes standard.
I’ve been trying not to, but it’s also tough to not come back to the money in the end. How many minutes or points would constitute value on a league-minimum deal like Thornton’s? Elven or 12 decent minutes a night? Thirty-one points again, over 82 games? If you consider the type of players (usually just-OK prospects) that play for his number, the bar is pretty low.
Let’s go deeper into that part.
Was signing Thornton the best use of a bargain-basement spot on next season’s Leafs?
When looking at the potential UFAs available on Oct. 8, I dedicated a paragraph to some of the bigger names. With Thornton, I hinted at the things I mentioned above – he can still get assists and retains some effectiveness, but I closed with this:
At some point, though, the pace just slows too much, and the “getting some points” thing isn’t enough. If Thornton’s willing to play a minimal role (fourth-line minutes) and play for a fourth-liner’s salary, you could maybe talk me into it (and he is, by all accounts). The hard truth though is that even then, I’d probably prefer to spend the money on some young forechecking machine who can make your team tough to play in other ways.
When I wrote that, I don’t think I considered the idea that he’d play for just $700,000 (I figured $1 million was likely). That changes things. So while I outlined Thornton not being a perfect fit for the changes the team may have wanted to make, we also need to consider the fit of their salary cap, and how his addition may allow the Leafs to keep another valued contributor, someone who may not have been able to stay had the Leafs spent even as much as $1 million on that bottom-six centre spot instead. The fit consideration isn’t purely about his game — it’s the fit of the Leafs puzzle as a whole. When considered like that, Thornton looks like more of a win than just what his on-ice, tangible game will offer.
Speaking of fit, though, how much of his gains will be provided off the ice? I realize this stuff is unquantifiable, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real.
Is it possible to just consider Thornton for his value as a hockey player in this upcoming season, as we’ve aimed to do above?
I mean, of course not. Where the conversation about the “fit” of Joe Thornton takes me is from the hockey fit, to the money fit, then to the intangibles. The Leafs have dedicated their off-season to finding one thing: hockey obsessives. I thought that was one of the reasons they kept Kerfoot over Johnsson — he’s a serious hockey diehard, extremely passionate about his craft. That was the stated reason they wanted Joey Anderson from the Devils, too – he’s a hardcore, committed, hockey obsessive.
Y’know who else is? Leafs’ rising star Nicholas Robertson. Also motivated? Simmonds, come home to prove his last season was a blip and not the end. Vesey wants to do the same, saying he’s “going to come out with his hair on fire.” Thornton – Cup-chasing and hungry – fits that mold, too, as the type of desperate player the Leafs want to put around their core.
So yes, Thornton fits reasonably well for the Leafs on the ice. But it’s when you pull back that it really makes sense. The core players all finally have their big comfortable contracts, and the last thing they need is for those guys to actually get comfy.
Surrounding them with pros with passion, with veterans like Thornton and Spezza who can serve as examples that nothing is promised, and no single shot at the Cup should be taken for granted, should help get the most of them, too. To me, that fits what the Leafs are chasing here as much as anything else.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Kevin Yu made a 15-foot birdie on the 18th hole for a 5-under 67, and he birdied it again from six feet in a playoff to beat Beau Hossler and win the Sanderson Farms Championship on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title.
Yu was nearly forgotten for most of a final round that appeared to be a duel between Hossler and Keith Mitchell until the 26-year-old from Taiwan made a birdie to tie them for the lead.
Hossler pulled his drive on the 18th in regulation behind a tree, had to pitch out and hit his third shot to four feet to save par. Mitchell had a 35-foot birdie putt to win it and it grazed the left edge of the cup. But he missed the four-foot comebacker for par, shot 70 and missed the playoff.
Mitchell tied for third with former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, who played the last six holes in 5-under par — including pitching in for eagle on the par-4 15th — for a 66.
Hossler again was left off the tee on the 18th in the playoff. Yu hit first and sent his approach to six feet right of the hole. Hossler had to punch below the trees, and it turned too much and went into a front bunker. He blasted out to two feet to secure par.
Yu hit his winning putt, a victory that sends him to the Masters and the PGA Championship for the first time. He also will start his season at Kapalua for The Sentry, a gathering of PGA Tour winners in 2024.
“I’ve been dreaming this moment since I was 5,” Yu said. “This is the dream for all golfers, to win on the PGA Tour. I did it today. I’m thankful for my parents. Without them, I couldn’t have done that.”
Yu and Hossler, who shot a 68, finished at 23-under 265.
Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, Ont., finished in a three-way tie for eighth at 19 under. Roger Sloan of Calgary finished in a two-way tie for 61st at 9 under.
This was Hossler’s 200th start on the PGA Tour without ever winning — four of them as an amateur — and it was as close as any. He fell back with a pair of bogeys early on the back nine as he tried to keep pace with Mitchell, and he pulled into a share of the lead with a 20-foot birdie on the 17th hole.
But he never gave himself a good look on the 18th or in the playoff.
“Even though I didn’t have my best stuff on the back nine I grinded really hard,” Hossler said “Hit some really quality shots under the gun, and that’s all you can do. Obviously, Kevin played a beautiful hole in the playoff.”
Mitchell might have the most regrets in search of his first win in five years. He was two shots ahead with five to play when he failed to birdie the par-5 14th or the reachable par-4 15th. He still had a putt to win, and that’s where it all went wrong with a three-putt bogey.
“The first putt actually looked good off the face. Right when it missed, I kind of turned my head and didn’t watch the read on the way by,” Mitchell said. “I assumed it was breaking — guess it broke left. It was going to break right back up the hill.”
He played the four-foot par putt inside the left edge and it stayed out to the left.
“I hate that I finished with a three-putt,” Mitchell said. “Felt like I grinded all the way to the end and gave the first putt a really good chance.”
PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) — LeBron James and his son, Bronny, made NBA history Sunday night when they played together for the first time during the Los Angeles Lakers’ preseason game against Phoenix.
LeBron and Bronny are the first father and son to play in any NBA game at the same time, let alone on the same team. The James family’s remarkable moment coincidentally happened on Bronny’s 20th birthday.
Bronny James entered the game as a substitute to begin the second quarter, joining his father on the court out of the timeout. The crowd at Acrisure Arena in the Coachella Valley cheered at the mention of Bronny’s name.
LeBron James is beginning his record-tying 22nd season in the NBA, while LeBron James Jr. — known to all as Bronny — was the Lakers’ second-round draft pick this summer. After recovering from cardiac arrest over a year ago, Bronny played just one season at Southern California before entering the draft and joining the Lakers.
Things weren’t immediately smooth for the James family: Bronny committed two turnovers and LeBron made another in their first two minutes together. Shortly after LeBron hit a 3-pointer moments later, LeBron got the ball to Bronny and set a screen for his son’s 3-point attempt, but Bronny missed.
Bronny came off for a substitute 4:09 into the second quarter, and LeBron came off 25 seconds later at the next dead ball.
Although LeBron will turn 40 in late December, the top scorer in NBA history has shown no sign of slowing down with age. He has spoken for years about his longtime dream of playing in the NBA with one of his sons, and the Lakers made it a reality when they grabbed Bronny with the 55th pick in the draft.
The 6-foot-2 Bronny is expected to spend much of the upcoming season working on his game with the South Bay Lakers of the G League, but he will almost certainly get to play alongside his 6-foot-9 father in a real game early in the regular season.
Head coach JJ Redick said the Lakers already have discussed the logistics of the next historic moment, but he hasn’t predicted when it will happen.
LeBron sat out of the Lakers’ preseason opener against Minnesota last Friday night, resting up after a full week of training camp following a busy summer. Bronny had two points on 1-for-6 shooting and three blocked shots while playing 16 minutes against the Timberwolves.
The Lakers have four more preseason games — all outside Los Angeles while their home arena is being renovated — before they begin the regular season at home against Minnesota on Oct. 22.
LeBron was early in his second NBA season with the Cleveland Cavaliers when he and his high school sweetheart, Savannah Brinson, became parents for the first time in 2004. They had two more children — son Bryce and daughter Zhuri.
LeBron and Bronny have been preparing for the chance to play together ever since LeBron returned from a summer vacation after winning a gold medal with the U.S. team at the Paris Olympics. Anthony Davis also made his preseason debut against the Suns after a similarly busy summer.
The father and son have scrimmaged together repeatedly during workouts at the Lakers’ training complex, both as teammates and opponents. Redick said they’ve even run pick-and-rolls together in preparation.
In the regular season, they’ll join a short list of fathers and sons who have shared a playing field in North American professional sports. Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. played together with the Seattle Mariners during parts of the 1990 and 1991 MLB seasons, while hockey great Gordie Howe played with his sons Marty and Mark for the WHA’s Houston Aeros and the NHL’s Hartford Whalers.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nick Castellanos sometimes amazes himself with intuition he can win a game on the final swing.
As he approached the plate with two outs in the ninth inning, with two runners on and the score tied, Castellanos had a hunch he could win Game 2 of the NL Division Series for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Even in the face of an 1-2 slider against Mets reliever Tylor Megill.
“I did like that pitch when I saw it,” Castellanos said.
As Phillies fans unleashed a throaty roar that echoed outside Citizens Bank Park, it was clear they liked that pitch, too.
Castellanos ripped a winning single that scored Trea Turner and sent the Phillies to a dizzying 7-6 win over New York on Sunday and evened the NLDS at one game apiece.
“I said to the guys, Rocky would be proud,” postseason star Bryce Harper said. “Never-die mentality. Just a great game.”
This win meant more than any fictional tale.
Castellanos, who led the major leagues this season with four walk-off hits, tossed his helmet and was mobbed by teammates on the infield as a game that seemed to slip away one inning earlier turned into one more comeback for the NL East champions.
He ran over to his son, Liam, a steady presence at the ballpark during his tenure, and the two exchanged a big “Let’s Go!”
“When I’m old and no one cares about me as a baseball player anymore, we’re going to be home and be able to remember and look back at that,” Castellanos said.
His performance in Game 2 will live long in Philly sports lore. Castellanos had two big swings and misses in the fourth inning for an 0-2 count. He didn’t bite on a sweeper in the dirt and mouthed his displeasure when he heard boos from fans.
His tying homer in the sixth made it 3-all, and Castellanos scored the go-ahead run on Bryson Stott’s two-run triple in a three-run eighth that put Philadelphia ahead 6-4.
“He came up big for us a lot this year,” Stott said. “It feels like every walk-off hit is Nick, and that’s who he is. And his heart rate doesn’t get up, stays the same. And gets the swing off.”
Megill retired the first two batters of the ninth and walked Turner and Harper, who also homered and scored twice. Castellanos followed with the Phillies’ fifth career postseason walk-off hit.
“Just made a bad pitch, backed up on me,” Megill said.
After falling behind 0-2, Castellanos took a ball in the dirt, then pulled a hanging slider into left and sparked the towel-waving crowd at the ballpark into a frenzy.
“Unbelievable. Unbelievable,” Castellanos said. “If he blows a fastball by me, so be it. I’d rather that than swing at something in the dirt. It was incredible but the series is even. Now we go to New York and there’s a lot of baseball left.”
Game 3 is Tuesday in New York, the Mets’ first home game since Sept. 22.
“No excuses. It’s been hard, but here we are,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I’m just looking forward to get back to Citi Field.”
In just the second postseason game between the NL East rivals, the Mets and Phillies were pushed from pillar to post over the final four innings, each game-changing swing topped by one even more emotional.
Mark Vientos hit a pair of two-run homers for the Mets, who got solo shots from Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo.
“I think we put on quite a show for everybody in attendance and everybody watching on TV,” Nimmo said.
Harper’s two-run homer and Castellanos’ solo drive in a three-pitch span from Luis Severino sparked the Phillies’ comeback from a 3-0, sixth-inning deficit.
“Missed my location and paid for it,” Severino said.
After Nimmo’s seventh-inning homer off Orion Kerkering gave New York a 4-3 lead, Stott lined a go-ahead, two-run triple down the right-field line on his 27th birthday after Harper walked and Castellanos singled off Díaz in the eighth.
“He threw a slider that I thought I could finally hit, and was able to pull it down the line,” Stott said.
Díaz, who has a 9.37 ERA at Citizens Bank Park, threw 104 pitches in three outings over a seven-day span.
Díaz faulted his approach to Harper, saying “I think I was a little bit lazy to him instead of attacking him.”
J.T. Realmuto’s grounder scored Stott for a 6-4 lead, but Vientos hit a two-run homer off Matt Strahm, an All-Star lefty who failed the Phillies for a second straight game.
Harper — who wore a “Showman” headband — snapped the Phillies out of their offensive malaise when he drove Severino’s fastest pitch of the day, a 99 mph fastball, 431 feet into the shrubbery in dead center as fans roared.
“That was sick,” Harper said. “Best fanbase in the world.”
Phillies fans were still going wild when Castellanos followed with a tying homer to left-center, then sprinted around the bases.
Now it’s off to New York.
“Both teams, man,” Harper said. “Punch for punch.”
UP NEXT
Phillies RHP Aaron Nola and Mets LHP Sean Manaea start in Game 3.
