Will Timonen Retire?

While Twitter and Broad Street Buzz blew up over night about reports of the Flyers giving Shea Weber a $110 Million offer sheet for 14 years, the thing I was thinking about is what will happen to Veteran Kimmo Timonen? Which is kind of weird, but two seasons ago the ex-Predator Timonen commented that he would love to play on a line with Weber. Perhaps a hint that the Flyers would try to gain the much needed defensemen. The news has been confirmed by several reporters, and CSN’s Sarah Baicker annouced on Twitter that it has been confirmed by a Flyers insider. That being said, it is still just an offer sheet, which means he hasn’t been signed on as a Flyer yet.  The question is what is Philadelphia giving up in order to meet the demands of the salary cap?

If Nashville can’t won up the Flyers offer, Timonen might get his wish. That is if he’s still playing. Which is the reason why I wanted to write to focus on Timonen’s future with the Flyers. I’ve written about Timonen extensively before, not just on this blog, but on my other blog as well, I was even speculating if he would get the C after Richards was traded. Rumor has it that he said he didn’t want it, probably because he is still trying to figure out when he was going to retire.  I’m a strong believer in our defensemen, especially since when I used to play sports I always took on this position, so I have a soft spot in my heart for blueliners. And for Finland.  Timonen has been my favorite Flyer, but with his recent injuries is it time for him to end his long career?

Timonen is a seasoned player, he’s currently 37 and has been playing hockey as long as I’ve been alive (that’s 22 years.) Timonen started playing for his native Finland for the Kalpa Kuopio Jrs, which both him and teammate Scott Hartnell owe a portion of, with former Flyers and Finnish native Sami Kapanen as the majority owner.  Timonen was drafted into the NHL by the Predators and played off and on for them and his native country until 2007, when Timonen was traded to Philadelphia along with Scott Hartnell. Since then he’s been a Flyer, and he has expressed an interest in retiring as a Flyer, but will this be his last season? Now due to the possible Weber deal with he retire much sooner?

Last season Timonen didn’t have that many goals (4) but he did have 43 points, and 39 assists.  Despite his age and his injuries he has been pretty active on the ice by playing in 76 of the seasons games. Although he has shown that he can still play at his age, his injuries later in the season really did a number on the Flyers defense.

Right now there is still speculation on when he will retire, his contract will expire after this season, so it’s more than likely that he will retire after this season. The only reason he would stay on for the next season is to play in Olympics, and he has expressed interest to do that as an NHLer.  With his recent back injury, we’re not really sure what is going to happen to Timonen, especially since we are not sure what or who the Flyers are willing to give up to acquire Weber.

I’m hoping that Timonen can pull it together to continue to be a solid blueliner for the Flyers. Maybe he can even pull a Teemu Selanne, and just continue to bring the force to the ice.

Thanks for reading!

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