Tim Thomas

[hockeypoolfanatic]

How many years does he have left in the tank? His contract is up in two years does Boston re-sign him or trade him?

Also, would you rather have the aging Thomas for a few more years or a young Varlamov? Standard cats league.

[tgraveline]

I'd rather have Thomas as Varly gets injured every season. Thomas should have at least a couple years left in the tank. His competititon is Rask who is quite good, but after this playoff its Thomas's job to lose. I don't think he'll give it up anytime soon.

[Shoeless]

Is it always that simple? I don't think so - what's the rest of your roster especially in goal, it's obviously a keeper so how many do you keep, who are you planning to keep.

Thomas is very likely to start phasing out so I am not sure he will get you the starts you want. Sure he's the better goalie but is it time to implement a succession plan?

[Shake]

I'm on the road that Shoeless is taking with this..

How many do you keep? Can you keep Thomas and then also keep a younger goalie such as Varly, or are you regulated to just pick one?

Need some more info here, roster, keeper amount, etc.

[JHM]

I picked up Ray Bourque as a throw in in a deal. He was too old. He played three more seasons before he retired.

I picked up Teemu Selanne for a draft pick. He was too old. That was five years ago.

I picked up Ray Whitney for a draft pick. He was too old. That was five years ago.

When a player is SUPER ELITE, it's reasonable to think that they are still capable of playing a few more seasons. Thomas is SUPER ELITE at this time, thus NHL records for highest save percentage in a season, a Stanley Cup, the Conn Smyth Trophy, the ESPY for Best NHL Player, ESPY for top playoff performance and his second Vezina in three years. Oh, the Roger Crozier Award for the second time, and he's a recent winner of the Jennings.

This fear of his birth certificate is over rated. There's a great ride to be had, and those that get on the train will be happy campers for the foreseeable future. There's not much rust on the chassis at the moment. Why would he not have at least three more excellent seasons. Every reason to think this guy can play five more years.

[hockeypoolfanatic]

My other starters besides Varlamov are Miller and Lundqvist so if I were to make the deal I would have the best goalies in the league by far. I also have Bernier and Lehner on my farm team. Goaltending is huge in this league as they count 9 out of the 19 total categories.

I'm leaning towards making the deal in the hopes that I can get at least 3 more solid years out of Thomas. I think Lehner will be the #1 goalie in Ottawa by then and he can step in and take Thomas' spot. Bernier might also be a #1 at that point either in LA or somewhere else.

Should I pull the trigger?

[Shake]

Smart thinking and yes go with Thomas

[Shoeless]

Jeez HPF - you have the world's fair in net - by all means roll with the Tasmanian Devil.

[bondon]

Rask is due for a contract renewal at the end of next year (credit wendelclark17 for pointing this out to me awhile back. They will ride Thomas next year and keep the cost for Rasks renewal down.

Lundqvist + Miller + Thomas = destruction.

[MXHockey]

Rask is due for a contract renewal at the end of next year (credit wendelclark17 for pointing this out to me awhile back. They will ride Thomas next year and keep the cost for Rasks renewal down.

That's brilliant thinking, next time I see him, he deserves rep for sure.

Lundqvist + Miller + Thomas = destruction.

Agreed, the trade is a no-brainer when looking at the big picture.


Cheers.

[Thieving Giraffe]

Rask is due for a contract renewal at the end of next year (credit wendelclark17 for pointing this out to me awhile back. They will ride Thomas next year and keep the cost for Rasks renewal down.

Lundqvist + Miller + Thomas = destruction.

Destruction, you say? Yeah it is. ...though I wonder if the Thomas/Rask part is sort of like saying that you're going to drive the BMW so you don't have to spend money replacing the battery on the Prius... I'm thinking it might be the whole "he's the best goaltender in the world" thing that's the driving factor. But keeping Rask's salary down is a fine collateral perk!

I picked up Ray Bourque as a throw in in a deal. He was too old. He played three more seasons before he retired.

I picked up Teemu Selanne for a draft pick. He was too old. That was five years ago.

I picked up Ray Whitney for a draft pick. He was too old. That was five years ago.

When a player is SUPER ELITE, it's reasonable to think that they are still capable of playing a few more seasons. Thomas is SUPER ELITE at this time, thus NHL records for highest save percentage in a season, a Stanley Cup, the Conn Smyth Trophy, the ESPY for Best NHL Player, ESPY for top playoff performance and his second Vezina in three years. Oh, the Roger Crozier Award for the second time, and he's a recent winner of the Jennings.

This fear of his birth certificate is over rated. There's a great ride to be had, and those that get on the train will be happy campers for the foreseeable future. There's not much rust on the chassis at the moment. Why would he not have at least three more excellent seasons. Every reason to think this guy can play five more years.

My favorite post since MCT met epic verse... the assumption that a guy who is literally the best in the world at what he does will lose ground so quickly is as pervasive as it is confusing to me. I'm not really referring to this thread or Tim Thomas, whose style actually does make him more susceptible to a rapid drop-off (it's a lot easier for a butterfly goaltender to cope with aging reflexes... though with his late start, I think 3-4 more years of excellent play is reasonable). But anyway, much like JHM, I was always mystified (if thrilled) to get guys like Bourque, MacInnis, Selanne and Hull for pennies on the dollar.

[hockeypoolfanatic]

So this is what the trade ended up being:

His: Thomas + Roy + 3rd round pick

for

My: Varlamov + Gagner + Green

My logic: We have to drop six players at the end of the season so by only trading two I can now keep Josh Bailey who I would have had to drop so in the end it's really Thomas + Roy + Bailey + 3rd round pick. I am giving up a goalie who is injury prone on a young team that will struggle for wins, an underachieving forward and a defenseman who is elite but also somewhat injury prone who has concussion issues. I don't think he'll get to play the 4th forward style anymore in WAS but even if he does I can afford the hit. Whether I overpaid or not I don't really care since I now have Thomas, Miller and Lundqvist and am going to be a nightmare to play against each and every week. Roy is close to a PPG player and Bailey has a crop of young talent to play with in NY. The 3rd round pick is a bonus.

In the words of the immortal NBA JAM play-by-play announcer: BOOMSHAKALAKA!