Jumbo is Officially Back! San Jose Sharks Sign Joe Thornton to 1 Year Deal

With training camp just weeks away the San Jose Sharks officially sign Jumbo Joe Thornton to a one year deal.

After an awfully quiet summer regarding Joe Thornton‘s future in the Bay Area. News finally broke that the San Jose Sharks had signed their longest tenured skater to a one year deal worth 2 million dollars.

It was only a matter of time until we saw an agreement like this take place between Thornton and the Sharks.  However the amount of time it took to get the 40-year-old signed made for an interesting end of the summer for fans still tracking the team throughout the off-season.

Bringing Thornton back for his 15th season in Teal was an easy choice to make considering he’s coming off a year where he accumulated 51 total points and played heavy minutes for the Sharks anchoring the third line.

Despite his age Thornton has an uncanny ability to make surrounding skaters play above their potential. Jumbo’s capacity to continuously produce at an elite level puts him on a short list of some of this games greats.

Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson definitely believes this is the case. In a statement attached to the announcement signing Wilson explained…

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"“Joe is a generational player who seemingly blazes past an existing Hall-of-Famer with each game he plays. His leadership and dedication to the organization and his teammates is inspiring. He has the rare ability to make the players around him better and we’re excited to see him healthy and back wearing the Sharks crest.”"

In 2018 – 2019 fans of Team Teal were blessed to witness one of their franchise icons reach a new historical feat on a nightly basis. And with this new deal in place we’ll likely get to see him pass a few more legendary names that litter these all-time lists. Another season like the last would put Jumbo within striking distance of records held by hall-of-famers like Adam Oates, Paul Coffey, and Mike Recchi.

The 1 year contract worth 2 million dollars gives the Sharks $2,682,583 in projected cap space which they will likely carry into the regular season unless something drastic happens between now and then. Nevertheless, keep your eyes peeled considering the Sharks were able to bring in Erik Karlsson in the middle of training camp last summer.

With Joe Thornton’s deal settled the composition of this roster is finally starting to take its form after a summer of influx. With training camp on the horizon and the Rookie Showcase this weekend the reality of hockey season is finally setting in. Only a few more weeks until we see the Sharks begin their quest for the Cup in their 29th season in the NHL.