Joe Thornton to begin season in Europe
NHL veteran Joe Thornton will be starting the 2020-21 hockey season in Switzerland. A report by NZZ Sports states the 41-year-old has agreed to play for HC Davos of the Swiss National League at least until the next NHL season starts.
Thornton has a special connection to HC Davos. He played for the club during both NHL lockouts in 2004 and 2012 and also met his wife there. They spend summers in the area and Thornton usually works with a trainer there to prepare for the upcoming season.
Thornton is currently an unrestricted free agent in the NHL. There have been some rumours linking him to the Toronto Maple Leafs, with players with the team said to be calling him in an attempt to convince him to sign there. There's been nothing official yet, though. It's hard to imagine Thornton playing for anyone other than the San Jose Sharks, the team he's been with since the 2005-06 season.
One of the more interesting things to note about this stint with HC Davos is Thornton will no longer be considered a foreign player as he now has a Swiss passport. Teams in the National League are limited to just four non-Swiss players. The National League season got underway on October 1st.
Update: Thornton has confirmed his return to HC Davos with a short video
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Tom Wilson | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Alexander Ovechkin | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Brendan Gallagher | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Josh Doan | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Pierre-Luc Dubois | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Victor Hedman | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack McBain | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Strome | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Guentzel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Carcone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Christian Dvorak | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zemgus Girgensons | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Paul | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brayden Point | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cam Atkinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| John Carlson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Desimone | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 56 | 39 | 14 | 3 | 81 | |
Capitals | 55 | 36 | 11 | 8 | 80 | |
Oilers | 55 | 34 | 17 | 4 | 72 | |
Stars | 55 | 35 | 18 | 2 | 72 | |
Golden Knights | 56 | 33 | 17 | 6 | 72 | |
Panthers | 57 | 34 | 20 | 3 | 71 | |
Hurricanes | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | |
Wild | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | |
Maple Leafs | 55 | 33 | 20 | 2 | 68 | |
Avalanche | 57 | 33 | 22 | 2 | 68 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||