I would be more impressed if he had Dan Boyle on it. Thornton is unquestionably a force on the powerplay, but he no longer racks up points with the man advantage like he did in his first 4 years with the Sharks. Ironically, he has bucked the traditional career performance curve. As Thornton has gotten older, he has not only become a better player than he was during his Hart days, but also has specifically become a superior player at even-strength while no longer having PP-inflated point totals. Most players, especially those of Thornton's caliber and body type, turn into glorified PP specialists as they get older. Thornton has gone the opposite way. But you can make a strong argument for a handful of star centers being on this unit ahead of Thornton. You cannot, however, make an argument that there are two defenseman in the NHL that are better on the powerplay than Dan Boyle. As I pointed out in another thread, no player in the NHL has been on the ice for more shots/60 minutes of PP time since 2008 than Boyle. And only Christian Ehrhoff has been on the ice for more goals/60 minutes of PP time in that span. That is a result of Ehrhoff playing on both the Sharks' and Canucks' top powerplay unit in the last 5 years.
Just like Thornton, Boyle has somehow managed to buck the career arc trend. He has gone from a glorified PP specialist (an incredibly impactful one, I must admit) playing 3rd pairing minutes at ES, during his first season with the Sharks, to a legitimate #1 defenseman that is widely regarded as one of the top ten in the league even at age 36.
Just like Thornton, Boyle has somehow managed to buck the career arc trend. He has gone from a glorified PP specialist (an incredibly impactful one, I must admit) playing 3rd pairing minutes at ES, during his first season with the Sharks, to a legitimate #1 defenseman that is widely regarded as one of the top ten in the league even at age 36.
Boyle never played 3rd pairing ES minutes. In his 4 years as a Shark, he's been 2nd, 1st, 1st, and 2nd among the defensemen in ES TOI (Vlasic was #1 those 2 years).
Boyle never played 3rd pairing ES minutes. In his 4 years as a Shark, he's been 2nd, 1st, 1st, and 2nd among the defensemen in ES TOI (Vlasic was #1 those 2 years).
Boyle and Lukowich played third-pairing competition at ES in 2008-09. The toughest ES matchups went to Blake and Vlasic, with Ehrhoff and Murray getting the other team's second forward line. Boyle and Lukowich were sheltered at ES and almost always were on the ice with the top line. This was also before McLellean began matching up Thornton and Marleau with the other team's top line, as he has done almost exclusively in the last 3 years.
