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With Next Contract, Sharks Must Keep Joe Thornton From Feeling Too Happy

Joe Thornton and the Sharks are already starting to talk contract extension.

Thornton’s current contract ends at the end of the upcoming season.

Here’s the thing about Thornton and the Sharks: The Sharks want to keep him around and Thornton wants to stay in San Jose. He’s comfortable in San Jose, where he and his family have put down roots.

There’s very little doubt Thornton and the Sharks will be able to work out an extension without much drama.

But maybe that’s the problem.

Thornton is a hugely talented player, but also a lazy one. He tends to disappear in pressure-packed situations, unless he’s being called out.

Look at last season’s playoffs: Three assists in a first round win over Colorado, with just about everyone screaming the Sharks were about to choke in the post-season yet again. Then, in a huge series against Detroit, Thornton came alive with three goals and five assists in five games. Then, having established his ability to succeed in the post-season, Thornton once again disappeared, with just one assist in the final series, where the Sharks were swept by Chicago.

But even looking at Thornton’s career as a whole, you see a similar trend. Back in Boston, where Thornton felt safe, his numbers were good: He averaged just under 57 points a season in seven seasons, plus part of an eighth. But once he was shockingly and suddenly traded to San Jose, a tremendous indignity, Thornton’s numbers improved. Suddenly he was averaging over 95 points per season.

The difference? Obviously, Thornton’s play improved as it most likely would have had he stayed in Boston. But Thornton also stepped up his game in an effort to show Boston they were wrong to trade him. Thornton was angry and upset and it elevated his game.

This is the challenge the Sharks must navigate. Thornton plays better when he’s not comfortable. Thornton is at his best when he’s been pushed to the brink and feels he has something to prove. Because once he’s comfortable, once he’s not upset, he can be susceptible to disappearing on the ice.

So while it’s great both parties want Thornton to stay a Shark, the team needs to be careful about making Thornton too happy. A long-term contract could saddle the Sharks with an underperforming, high-priced player that could handcuff the team for years.

The Sharks need to figure a way to keep Thornton happy, but not too happy. Maybe it’s in the form of a shorter-term contract. Maybe it’s in the form on an incentive-laden contract.

But if the Sharks want to get the best out of a very talented player, they need to keep him from feeling too content. Thornton is at his best when he’s uncomfortable, so the Sharks need to make sure his next contract doesn’t make all of his dreams come true.

Related posts:

1. Everybody Loves Thornton
2. Joe Thornton: Swiss Mister
3. Thornton: ‘Don’t Burn Pat Over Me’

NHLPA Might Be Rooting for Ilya Kovalchuk to Leave NHL

While Donald Fehr, the legendary head of Major League Baseball’s players union, hasn’t taken the NHLPA job quite yet, it seems like he’ll eventually accept the gig.

It also seems like someone is working with the NHLPA to give them leverage moving into the next Collective Bargaining Negotiation.

Otherwise, would Ilya Kovalchuk’s camp really be threatening to leave for the KHL?

Kovalchuk has always seen torn between the NHL and the KHL. But he spent most of his summer trying to get contract in the NHL. And then, when he got a contract and it was rejected, he still stuck around (possibly past a second rejected contract).

That indicates he’d prefer to play in the NHL next season.

Plus, the KHL season starts September 8, which is less than two weeks from today. I’m assuming Kovalchuk doesn’t want to make his first line change from the baggage carousel, so if he was serious about leaving for Russia, I think he might have put a plan in motion by now.

This isn’t to say Kovalchuk won’t leave for the KHL. It just doesn’t seem to be his preference. But neither did New Jersey and look how that worked out. Or didn’t work out.

Kovalchuk’s threatening to leave is a wonderful thing the NHLPA, though.

It can be used to show the owners that the current NHL CBA is causing a player drain (I’m sure the NHLPA is hoping the NHL doesn’t bring up the fact that Kovalchuk would be the first elite, in-his-prime player to leave the NHL for the KHL, post-lockout).

Kovalchuk’s leaving, or threatening to leave, can also be taken to the fans to illustrate how restrictive the CBA can be to certain players. It can also be used to show that if NHL owners don’t get more competitive with their salaries, more players could leave.

To be clear, I don’t know any of that would be a consequence of Kovalchuk’s leaving the NHL, but I suspect the NHLPA would be interested in those arguments as rhetorical techniques to keep the fans on the side of the NHLPA, where they didn’t really seem to be during the last lockout.

The NHLPA might have had more leverage if the fans had been outraged by the lockout. But to be fair, so many things went wrong the NHLPA during the lockout, it’s kind of hard to isolate that one critical variable that might have turned things around for them.

I don’t know if Kovalchuk’s camp is deliberately helping out the NHLPA with their posturing, or if they’re just trying to get a client the contract he wants.

I’m pretty sure that the NHLPA, and whoever their leadership might be, have to love that right now, the current CBA might drive an elite NHL player out of the NHL.

From a negotiating and rhetorical perspective, it’s a huge win for the NHLPA.

Of course, for hockey fans and the NHL as a whole, it’s a huge loss.

Welcome to the post-lockout, pre-second-lockout NHL.

Related posts:

1. How Ilya Kovalchuk Should Have Handled Free Agency
2. Devils Really Don’t Need Ilya Kovalchuk
3. Inside the NHLPA and Their SuperComputers