Big Bad Blog
WEEI.com Blog Network
RSS
Peter Chiarelli conference call: Bruins not expecting return of Tim Thomas, Joe Corvo 06.01.12 at 4:54 pm ET
By Jashvina Shah

Peter Chiarelli

Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli confirmed goalkeeper Tim Thomas said he wants to sit out the 2012-13 season, citing familial reasons.

Chiarelli said on Friday that he will have to suspend Thomas if the goalkeeper does not play next year, but Thomas’ cap number will still impact the team.

“As of right now I’m operating under the premise that there’s a strong possibility that he’ll be taking the year off and we’ll have to go about our business without Tim Thomas for the year,” Chiarelli said.

If Thomas does not come back, Chiarelli said the Bruins would use Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin as the goalkeepers.

“We’ve got two very capable goalies in Tuukka and Khudobin so I’d be more than satisfied if that’s who we have to go with,” Chiarelli said.

Even though Thomas’ exploration into taking a year off coincides closely with the expiration of his no-trade, Chiarelli said he doesn’t think that factored into Thomas’ decision. The Bruins general manager said the reason why Thomas wants a year off is because the goalkeeper cares about his family and wants to play in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Chiarelli added that Thomas had expressed issues of exhaustion before.

“I remember one of the things that he told me after, the year before, we met, that he was really tired,” Chiarelli said. “And we had exit meetings after we won the cup and he was really tired. And he said to me after these exit meetings he definitely was worn down a bit.”

Thomas isn’t the only player with a questionable future as the Bruins are still involved in various contract negotiations. On Friday team announced the signing of Daniel Paille and Chris Bourque.

Chiarelli said Bourque, the son of Hall of Famer Ray Bourque, has a chance of making Boston’s lineup and playing with skilled players.

“He does have those attributes,” Chiarelli said. “He does have the ability to shoot and find seams, but he also has a great element to his game where if he has to play lower down the line that he can do that.”

While Chiarelli said he could not comment on other contract negotiations, he said the Bruins have decided not to re-sign defenseman Joe Corvo.

Since these contract negotiations are occurring with the CBA set to expire soon, Chiarelli said the Bruins are approaching the situation cautiously.

“You have to have an element of caution to your moves because there is uncertainty after the deal expires,” Chiarelli said. “What the cap will be to this summer really doesn’t play a whole heck of a lot into how we make our decisions.”

Read More: Chris Bourque, Daniel Paille, Peter Chiarelli, Tim Thomas Print  |  Email   | Bark It Up!  |  Digg It
  • Jack Burton

    ESPN has a different take on the accounting here, stating that the contract would just sort of take a year off and then go back on the books for 2013-14 for a $5M hit and $3M in salary.  Chiarelli says the cap hit would be $5M for this year, but I’m assuming he will get paid $0 as he is suspended.  I guess I’m trusting Chiarelli’s quote on this one.  I don’t know much about NHL salary cap rules, so sorry if this is stupid, but for one of those teams that just want to be a bit over the cap floor, is there any reason why the Bruins couldn’t do a trade that more or less gives him away?  Something like Thomas and a 4th round pick for a 6th round pick?  To the low salary team, a player with a big cap hit but won’t be paid provides no negative value to them that I can think of, and to the Bruins it would clear cap space that could be useful.

  • Johnny Spygate=Johnny douche

     Why would another team do that? To be nice and help the Bruins out? Any low salary team is going to want to keep it that way and why absorb the 5 million cap hit along with being responsible for the 3 million Thomas is owed just in case he changes his mind? The problem is the only way the Bruins will get cap relief is if Thomas were to retire or the Bruins can find another team that thinks he would reconsider and play for them. The problem is you wind up with nothing for a top flight contender in either scenario.

    Basically the Bruins don’t have to pay Thomas the 3 million but the 5 million cap figure stays on the books. In other words if the NHL cap is 70 million and the Bruins are at 65 million including Thomas’ cap hit than If Thomas is suspended the Bruins would only be on the books for spending 62 million real dollars but still be at the 65 million cap level and only be able to spend 5 million more as opposed to Thomas retiring and being able to spend 10 million.

  • Johnny Spygate=Johnny douche

     *contender*= goaltender

    Damn spell check.

  • Jack Burton

    It wouldn’t be just to be nice, of course.  They could net a draft pick or prospect or something of value.  My trade proposal wasn’t really meant to be a specific deal (and probably too Bruins-friendly), more so a basic framework to give the low payroll team some compensation to have a guy on their books for fake money only.  There are teams out there that will only spend as much as the floor because they are required to.  If they can spend less real money by increasing an accounting figure, they might want to do it.  Even if they aren’t trying to barely clear the minimum payroll, if they know they will come nowhere near the maximum anyway, Thomas on the books doesn’t limit their ability to spend elsewhere.  You are correct that Thomas could always change his mind.  If there are doubts about his sincerity in taking time off, the deal might have to reflect that — maybe a conditional pick if he changes his mind.  However, I think that Thomas actually playing is definitely worth $3M, so I think that provides positive value, not a burden.  Even if he was too expensive for their tastes, I think he would have value in another trade.

Bruins Box Score
Bruins Schedule
Bruins Headlines
NHL Headlines