Joe Thornton: Chicago, St. Louis, or NY Rangers?
By Robert Nasso
Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues, much like Thornton’s Sharks, came up short in the postseason after an inspiring regular season that had people counting on them to go far. The Blues currently have over $22 million in cap space to work with, and will most likely have enough space for Thornton as they are letting go of UFAs Ryan Miller and (most likely) Derek Roy. The Blues are in need of another top 6 center as Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka have not proven that they can handle that role. David Backes plays an excellent two-way game and would be better off playing with two-way forwards Alexander Steen and Jaden Schwartz while Thornton could play in a scoring role with goal scorers T.J. Oshie and Vladimir Tarasenko. This would completely balance the team and give the Blues a key piece to the puzzle that they have been missing.
St. Louis has the assets for Thornton and San Jose could ask for a combination of one of their top prospects, Ty Rattie or Dmitrij Jaskin, as well as either a first round pick or a roster player like Patrik Berglund or Vladimir Sobotka.