Boston Bruins: Is this Joe Thornton’s last game in Boston?

Jumbo Joe looks set for what could be his last game in Boston.

The Boston Bruins welcome the San Jose Sharks to TD Garden on Tuesday night. This means that Joe Thornton will once again play in the building where his career started 23 years ago.

Given his age and contract situation, this could very well be the last time Jumbo Joe plays in Boston.

We all know the story. The Bruins drafted Thornton in 1996 to be their franchise center. And for the better part of eight years, he certainly fit the part.

Thornton had 454 points in 532 career games with Boston, and the team named him captain right before the 2002-2003 season. He looked set to lead the franchise for years to come.

However, the Bruins found themselves in a bad place in a few years, so they traded Thornton to the Sharks in 2006.

The Bruins went into tank mode after the trade, while the Sharks swam right to the top. Thornton finished with 125 points last season, he won the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player.

Since then, Thornton became the most prolific scorer in San Jose’s history. In 1046 games with the Sharks, he has 224 goals and 784 assists for 1028 total points. There was a stretch when it felt like he was always at or near the top of the league in points.

But, Thornton and the Sharks never were able to replicate their regular season success in the playoffs. They went to the Cup Final only once, where they lost to Pittsburgh.

The Bruins, however, had quite the run of success themselves after the Thornton trade.

Because of the trade, Boston had enough cap space the next summer to sign Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard. Both players helped turn the Bruins from a laughing stock into a playoff team, then into a contender, then finally into a champion.

Plus, the Thornton trade gave Patrice Bergeron the chance to grow into the franchise center role. Bergeron doesn’t have the points to match Thornton, but it’s no stretch to say that he’s had the better career.

Looking back, the Thornton trade is a pivotal moment in Bruins history. In fact, it’s one of the franchise’s biggest turning points. Before the trade, the Bruins were perennial losers who consistently came up short. After the trade, they went on a decade-long run as a contender.

Therefore, as bad as it appeared at the time, the decision to trade Thornton to the Sharks was a good one for Boston. The Bruins surely didn’t get enough in return, but the move initiated the franchise’s rebirth.

Nonetheless, after all these years, it’s still crazy to see Thornton in a Sharks uniform. There was a time where it looked like he’d finish in the rafters in Boston. Instead, he’s played almost double the amount of games in San Jose than he did in Boston.

On a personal note, it’s definitely sad to think this might be the last time I get to see Thornton play in Boston. I watched Thornton grow from a young skinny kid to a powerful franchise center. He was my first favorite player, and he was the reason I wore number 19 when I was younger.

If this is truly Jumbo Joe’s last skate in Boston, let’s hope it’s a good one…for him and for the Bruins.