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Mike Milbury, the greatest GM in league history, suggests sending Joe Thornton to AHL

During his tenure as general manager of the New York Islanders, Mike Milbury was the architect responsible for such incredible moves as trading Roberto Luongo and Olli Jokinen for Oleg Kvasha and Mark Parrish, dealing a young Zdeno Chara, the 2nd overall pick that would become Jason Spezza and Bill Muckalt for Alexei Yashin (whose buyout money is still being paid by Isles ownership today) and swapping 22-year-olds Todd Bertuzzi and Bryan McCabe for one season of Trevor Linden. So when Milbury has something to say about personnel management, it’s clear all of us should listen.

Milbury’s latest brilliant idea, unveiled during a NBCSN intermission panel discussion about the Sharks‘ future, involves solving the impasse between Sharks management and Joe Thornton by demoting the former Hart Trophy winner and current fourth-best assist man in the league to the AHL.

Even putting aside the fact that sending their best player to the minors is a stupid, stupid idea, the Sharks couldn’t even send Thornton to the AHL if they wanted to. Thornton’s no-movement clause, which was a central topic of this discussion so you know Milbury is aware of it, means he would have full veto power if the Sharks were planning to place him on waivers. That’s the kind of attention to detail that made Milbury so good at his job and makes him a valuable addition to NBC’s intermission panel.

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