Thomas’ Return Possible

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The decision whether to keep unrestricted free agent Steve Thomas is one the Mighty Ducks will have to make this summer.

He was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks on March 11 in a trade deadline deal and was considered a rent-a-player at the time. Thomas’ play on the ice and influence in the dressing room may have him back in Anaheim next season.

General Manager Bryan Murray said that player personnel decisions are still a long way off but did say that Thomas, “has played well and made big contributions to the team in every way. All that we will take into consideration.”

Thomas, 39, scored 10 goals in the last 12 regular-season games. He has three goals and four assists in the playoffs, including the game-winner in overtime Saturday.

“We will look at all the players this summer,” Murray said. “We will sit down as a staff and do what is right for the organization. Of course, we don’t know what Steve wants to do for next season.”

Thomas, whose family lives in Toronto in the off-season, is playing in his first Stanley Cup finals in his 19-season career. He said he would decide about his future when the series is over.

“We’re involved right now with something that is much more important,” Thomas said. “I can’t think about anything but the final. I am enjoying this to the nth degree.”

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Mighty Duck captain Paul Kariya and Devil captain Scott Stevens both had assists in Thursday’s game, their first points of the Cup finals.

The last time a team won the Stanley Cup when its captain played and failed to score at least one point was 1968, when Montreal’s Jean Beliveau played in one game against St. Louis.

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Steve Kariya, younger brother of the Duck forward, played this season for the Devils’ American Hockey League farm team in Albany, N.Y.

Asked who Steve is rooting for in the finals, Paul seemed taken aback.

“He’s pulling for me,” he said. “I’m assuming.”

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Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere gave up six goals, equaling his career high. He gave up six in a 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Feb. 21 this season and six in an 8-0 loss to Dallas on March 21, 2001.