How Sharks great Thornton, NHL icon Jagr almost became teammates

Editor's note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.

Joe Thornton and Jaromir Jagr playing on the same hockey team?

It could’ve happened.

Jagr asked the not-yet-officially retired Thornton in the summer of 2023 to join his Kladno team in Czechia, a source told San Jose Hockey Now.

It would’ve been a pairing for the ages ... literally. Jagr, 51, was playing his 36^th year of pro hockey, six years removed from his last NHL shift with the Calgary Flames. Thornton, 44, was just one year removed from his final NHL shift with the Florida Panthers.

Thornton, still itching to play hockey, ultimately declined the offer.

But what would a Thornton-Jagr partnership have looked like on the ice?

Two of the greatest players of their generation playing together, at any age, would’ve been a sight.

Jagr scored 1,921 points, second in NHL history only to Wayne Gretzky. Thornton had 1,539 points, 14^th in league history.

And just for fun, how about Jagr-Thornton ... in their prime?

Who better than Pete DeBoer, who coached Jagr in New Jersey from 2013 to 2014 and Thornton in San Jose from 2015 to 2019, to answer the question?

DeBoer also shared his biggest coaching mistake with Jumbo in San Jose.

“Oh my god, they would have had the puck the whole night, the two of them, between the size of them and the way they both like to hang on to the puck and how competitive they both were, a lot of similarities there,” DeBoer said of the 6-foot-4 Thornton and the 6-foot-3 Jagr.

As DeBoer alluded to, Jagr and Thornton were renowned for their puck protection skills. Together, they’d be playing "Keep Away" from the rest of the NHL.

Jagr and Thornton, of course, would still need a linemate.

DeBoer turned to a familiar face

“I would have liked to try Joe Pavelski, a finisher like that,” DeBoer said.

In Jagr and Thornton’s generation, there might not have been anybody more savvy in front of the net than four-time 35-goal scorer Pavelski.

“That's probably a natural fit,” DeBoer said. “A guy like Pav would have been fantastic there.”

DeBoer used a similarly constructed line in the 2016 playoffs to great effect, Thornton centering Pavelski and skilled big body Tomas Hertl, and this trio helped lead the San Jose Sharks to the Stanley Cup Final.

DeBoer shared two other ways that Jagr and Thornton were alike.

“Two great hockey guys, both rink rats," DeBoer said. "Both loved being at the rink, working on their game. That would have been a dream pair, for sure.”

Sharks general manager Mike Grier, who played with Jagr and Thornton, echoed DeBoer.

“Jagr was the same way [as Thornton], showed up every day, worked, did extra things, and was always available,” Grier said.

Thornton, who's having his No. 19 jersey returned by the Sharks on Saturday, still shows up at Sharks Ice almost every day.

“I loved going to the rink — and I know my wife can tell everybody — I showered at the rink every day," Thornton said on Thursday at San Jose City Hall. "It was a day off? I went to the rink, I rode the bike, I worked out. I loved going to the rink, and I still go to the rink every day now. If it’s with my son or if it’s not, I’m always at the rink. It really is my happy place."

That’s part of the reason why Jagr keeps playing for Kladno, and why many thought Thornton would emulate Jagr and never retire.

The Jagr-Thornton pairing was a fantasy, but it sounds like they would’ve been peas in a pod.

“There's only a handful of players that really make other players better, and he was one of those guys,” DeBoer said of Thornton, and he might as well have been talking about Jagr too. “That's why he's one of the best of all time. Regardless of who you put with him, when he was in his prime, he made them better.”

That was, in the end, what led to DeBoer’s greatest mistake with Thornton as Sharks head coach.

In 2018-19, San Jose’s last playoff campaign, a 39-year-old Thornton still was carrying his linemates, one of the best third lines in hockey with Kevin Labanc and Marcus Sorensen.

But the next year, when the Sharks’ fortunes fell, after the departure of Pavelski and others, DeBoer didn’t react quickly enough.

“My only regret with Jumbo is, during my last year there, I wish I would have ... I kept him at center, played him on the third line, he was starting to slow down a little bit ... I should have put him on the wing with Couture, Tommy Hertl, but I kept him at center,” DeBoer admitted. “I have a regret about not thinking outside the box there and putting him on the wing and playing him with some really good players, instead of keeping him as a third-line center and hoping he could turn a couple guys, work his magic, and turn a couple guys into really good players. But we didn't have enough depth for that.”

These were the 2019-20 San Jose Sharks’ opening night lines:

See more

#SJSharks lines tonight:

Meier-Couture-Yurtaykin
Bergmann-Hertl-Radil
Sorensen-Thornton-Labanc
Karlsson-Goodrow-Gambrell

Dillon-Prout
Vlasic-Burns
Ferraro-Heed

Jones

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 3, 2019

“That's something that I regret because I think he still had probably another one or two good years in him there in San Jose,” DeBoer said. “But when you're a coach, it's not easy to think outside the box like that and move one of the best centers of his generation to the wing.”

Maybe a few more points that season would’ve led to a trade before the 2020 deadline, allowing Thornton to chase the Stanley Cup one more time.

But anyway, that’s all in the past. It’s too bad that we never got to see Jagr-Thornton together, last year or before.

“Worth the price of admission,” DeBoer said. “I don't know how much in Czech you'd have to pay to go watch those two guys in their prime, but I would have paid to do it.”

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