I would be really cautious about expecting above-average results from Thomas if he ends up playing for a team with a lesser quality defense than Boston (which means pretty much every other team in the league).

It would seem he was already in rapid decline in the second half of last season, managing only a 2.65 GAA and .906 SV% from January 1 forward. Granted, he won 19 of 35 games played in that stretch, but those peripherals really stink.

Perhaps the White House controversy played into it, and he can recover his form without that type of distraction, but I'm not so sure.

Having said all that, I did scoop him up in this summer's supplemental drafts in both my keeper leagues...no harm in seeing what happens if you have the bench space.

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10 team roto, Keep 17 + 45 farmers (Farm GP limits 246 F, 328 D and 200 G). Dress 9F 5D 1Ut 2G (G A +/- PPP PIM SOG W SV% GAA)
F- Kovalchuk Spezza Skinner Tavares Williams M. Richards Brown Hartnell Bergeron Simmonds
D- Ehrhoff Franson Suter Wisniewski Goligoski
G- Ward Lehtonen
Bench: Pavelec Thomas Doan Pronger Simmonds Carle Hornqvist Whitney
Farm highlights: Orlov Armia Puempel Kucherov Josi Weal Hamonic Rodin Muzzin McNabb Salak Dubnyk Bachman Dumba Ceci Dansk Maatta Gaunce

Thomas said he's taking the year off, so I would expect him to be back in 2013-2014 (if the NHL lockout ends).

People are writing him off like crazy, I'm not ready to do that just yet.

Could have pretty decent value if he lands on a good team.

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macv@dobberbaseball.com
DobberBaseball Columnist- http://baseball.dobbersports.com/ind...layout=default
Detroit Red Wings coverage
Twitter- @MacVincent1

Do you guys think a team like Columbus might take a crack at Thomas? They really need some stability in net but I'm not sure Thomas would want to sign with an up and coming team.

Where else do you guys think he might be a good fit? (other than Detroit)

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Ultimate Fantasy Pool
12 Team H2H Keeper League
F and D: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, GWG, SOG, FW, HITS
G: GS, W, L, GA, GAA, SA, SV, SV%, SHO

C - Tavares, Kopitar, Kadri, Roy, Jokinen
LW - Neal, Ennis, Ott, Conacher, Whitney
RW - Kessel, Silfverberg, Jagr, Bennett
D - Suter, Brodin, Schenn, Robidas, Niskanen

G - Lundqvist, Miller, Brodeur, Thomas

FARM - Lehner, Vasilevski, Mrazek, Jensen, Ceci, Pouliot, Oleksiak

Personally, I think it's Detroit-or... Minnesota?

Here's what we know about Thomas:
1. He's a family man.
His family is in Michigan.

2. He's old.
Old guys don't come back to play on teams with a bunch of young kids or that are rebuilding.

3. He's a republican.
Don't give me shit for this... but... (I have enough Republican friends to know that) Republicans are pretty good & frugal with money.
So Thomas won't be at any financial hurt for cash. It's not like he's going to sign with a team because he needs the money.
(And please, please, let's not derail this thread... it's just one small point).


When players get old, their wishlist is as follows:
1. If they haven't won a cup, they want a chance to win the cup.
2. If they have won a cup, they are looking for either:
2a: A good location for their family... or
2b: A friendly locker room environment (i.e. good teammates).

The one thing that could deter Thomas from Detroit is that I doubt he has many buddies on the team. Buddies might be formed Bruins... or... maybe guys he's played with on Team USA. The Team USA guys are pretty young in general... but two of them did just sign in... Minnesota.

Minnesota, another team with a goalie with an expiring contract.
Yup, Niklas Backstrom's contract expires this year... and Minnesota might look to go in another direction. I've speculated that I could see Mike Smith in Minnesota because his wife is a US Olympic skiier (Minnesota = good skiing/snow). But, Minnesota could also consider Tim Thomas for a year or two and pair him with fellow US-Olympians: Ryan Suter & Zach Parise. With Heatley & Koivu, the lockerroom in Minnesota might be considered a more-veteran lockerroom and that might be attractive to Thomas.

1. Detroit
2. Minnesota (if they don't sign Mike Smith)

Pengwin seems to have some interesting theories going on here... and they all have merit. You've certainly laid out a few interesting arguments

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10 team full keeper: 4C/LW/RW,6D,2G,5BN

G,A,P,+/-,PIM,SOG,GWG,PPP,SHP,Hit,Blk,FOW
W,GAA,SV,SV%,SHO

C- Giroux,Hanzal,M.Richards,J.Staal
LW- Lupul,JVR,Tlusty,Zetterberg
RW- Backes,Clarkson,Havlat,Kessel
D- Bogosian,Carlson,Enstrom,Kulikov,Markov,Yandle
G- Miller,Hiller,Crawford
BN- Kuba,Ruutu,Robidas,McDonald

Prospects- Armia, Connolly, Couturier, Etem, Forsberg, Girgensons, Huberdeau, Kucherov, Nyquist, Okposo, K.Palmieri, Stransky, Toffoli, Barberio, Gardiner, Gormley, Josi, Marincin, Moore, Morrow, Savard, Vatanen, Allen, Bernier, Campbell, Fasth, Hackett, Mrazek

It's funny... because my track record for speculation of UFA signings is awful.
Somehow, the guys always sign somewhere else.

(Now, my performance predictions on the other hand... have been very, very good.)