Bruins’ Biggest Question in Offseason Is What to Do With Tim Thomas
They have some cap space and don’t need wholesale changes, but they have one crucial decision to make: Do they move a veteran goaltender in the hopes of boosting other areas of the team?
Another team facing the same question is the Bruins’ 2011 Stanley Cup finals opponent, the Vancouver Canucks. While the Canucks have their own issues and dynamics with Roberto Luongo, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli has already said the team won’t be trading Boston’s netminder, Tim Thomas.
With both the Bruins and Canucks out of the playoff picture, the New York Rangers now lead the odds to win it all, at 3-1. The Philadelphia Flyers have 4-1 odds, while the St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings both have 5-1 chances.
As Boston licks its wounds from missing a chance at the Cup, the club’s attention now turns to shoring up the team for another run next year.
Starting with free agency, the Bruins don’t have too much to worry about, but they’ll likely want a piece or two back. Brian Rolston and his $5.06 million will come off the books. If he is brought back, it’s likely at the league minimum.
Gregory Campbell and Daniel Paille are two other forward free agents making in the neighborhood of $1.1 million, and the Bruins will have to make some decisions. Chris Kelly is likely the team’s key free agent up front, and he’s due for a raise on the $2.125 million he made after scoring 20 goals this season.
On defense, Greg Zanon, Mike Mottau and Joe Corvo are free agents, but Corvo likely isn’t coming back, and the other two are questionable as well.
But there are a couple of issues throwing a wrench in the plans this offseason.
For starters, “backup” Tuukka Rask is a restricted free agent, and Boston will have to give him a new contract. If he’s truly the goaltender of the future, he’ll want to be paid like one — especially with Thomas having just one more year on his contract.
The Bruins sound serious about upgrading their top six forwards — or top nine, as Chiarelli has indicated — but the question becomes whether they can they conceivably pay two goaltenders as No. 1 keepers and still afford to bolster their offense.
The other key factor coming into play is that the owners and players have to come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, which could shift around the cap. Just like in the NFL offseason, it becomes difficult to maneuver transactions when teams don’t know how much money they have to work with.
Moving Thomas wouldn’t be a bad idea. He’s entering the final year of his contract, and it’s questionable whether the Bruins would keep him beyond that. At the same time, he’s the perfect rental for a Cup-ready team — maybe someone like Chicago or Tampa Bay — that’s looking to get one good year and make a run.
Thomas’ performance faded down the stretch of the season, and he didn’t exactly endear himself to the fans by shunning a trip to the White House. He simply never looked the same.
His pre-All-Star goals against average stood at 2.12 with a .933 save percentage and a record of 20-9-0. After the break, his GAA shot up to 2.63, his save percentage dropped to .903, and his record was 15-10-1. The playoffs were a mixed bag, as he allowed just two goals in the first two games of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals but then finished by allowing 2.8 goals per game — some of the questionable variety.
Thomas is now 38 years old, and while he’ll always have a soft spot in the hearts of Bruins fans, this summer may be the best time to move him. For a team that consistently plans ahead, if Boston thinks Thomas’ best days are behind him and Rask is ready, it would be a shrewd decision to make the move.
