Bruins trade suspended G Tim Thomas to Islanders

Chiarelli wouldn’t say if Thomas could ever return to the Bruins, but didn’t give any indication that it was likely to happen.

“I don’t want to speculate on that,” he said. “Tim can be a character and he can also be principled in a lot of different things. He is/was a heck of a goaltender. I liken him sometimes to that left-handed pitcher that’s a little quirky but wins a lot of games and throws 200 innings a year.

“I don’t know how it would have played out.”

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